DA - Military Nursing

jeckrn, BSN, RN · Jun 3, 2014

The only issue I see is that you do not have any RN experience. Right now from what I understand you need 2 years experience for the Army, not sure about the Navy but would not be surprised if its around the same. Once you start working try to get as many certifications as you can to make yourself more competitive. You need to contact a health care recruiter, not the local enlisted recruiter, to obtain up to date information. You can go to goarmy.com and look for the link to Army Medicine under the careers & job tab. For the Navy its navy.com and follow the links. Not sure how old you are but age waivers are not as easy to get as before.

PEDSNURSE2NP · Jun 3, 2014

Thanks for the advice! I wish I had considered this sooner. I heard it's competitive. I will be interviewing for a step down unit next week! I am 25 years old.

jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA · Jun 4, 2014

For the Air Force, it takes at least 4 months to apply and 8 months minimum (total) from the time you first contact your recruiter to when you show up for training. You definitely need to get a civilian job no matter what branch you want to join. You can't afford to wait around and not work, because that will look bad. Nursing in any branch is very similar (some cultural and special assignment differences), and ,if you decide to apply to multiple branches, definitely try to keep it hush-hush around your recruiter.

PEDSNURSE2NP · Jun 4, 2014

Thanks. I understand the process takes some time which I am okay with. Time is on my hands. I started removal procedures for my neck tattoo per the navy guidelines that you cannot have a neck tattoo. That process can take up to a year. As stated, I will be interviewing for a cardiac step down unit at the hospital I am currently employed with. So I hope I get the position while I spend time to apply for commission. As for branches, I am leaning toward AF or Navy. Do you know how the application works, do I apply for a specialty?

jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA · Jun 4, 2014

You apply for whatever specialty you are best qualified for. In your case it's probably going to be med/surg (clinical nurse). I don't think step down units will get you the critical care identifier. I also want to caution you that the military is doing more and more outsourcing of it's critical care to civilian hospitals. Most of the AF bases that even have an ICU (forget about step downs) contain single digit beds that are usually under capacity. When not deployed, it's likely that the acuity will be far below what you're used to in a civilian hospital.

I just want to give you that info since I find many people are surprised by that fact.