General Advice/Input/feedback on Military Nursing Needed

[sharma005]

Hi everyone, I'm 25 years old male, just graduated with my BSN RN. Since high school I've wanted to join the military (not sure which branch or division) but I've put that on hold for the past 6-7 years trying to get through school, several family issues, and personal matters. Now I'm hoping to pursue that path with my nursing degree. I was just hoping someone could guide me in the right direction. Whats the lifestyle of a military nurse. Do nurses have the same responsibilities as they do working in a general hospital or clinic. Anyone know any major differences in nursing roles and responsibilities between the different branches of military. I'm just trying to get a little bit of a clear picture before I make a decision on where to go or what to do.

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

There is a ton of information in this forum — perusing the threads or using the search function will probably yield a lot of great information. The Army won't currently take you without 2 years of experience. You need to have a high GPA to be considered for any branch — 3.5 is a typical minimum, but you will be competing with applicants with higher GPAs. You also need to be able to pass physical fitness tests and have no disqualifying medical conditions. You best bet is to contact healthcare recruiters for each branch (Navy, Air Force, and you might as well try Army — who knows when they will loosen up requirements). But honestly, I would not expect much of an answer until you have passed your boards, if you haven't already. The military is very competitive. Good luck!

[jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA]

Yeah, there's a lot of info on this site. Generally, it's 80% the same thing. I've been a civilian and a military nurse. The differences are largely the deployment piece and the additional duties. From an Air Force perspective, you generally can expect to deploy 6 months out of every 2 years (it varies based on specialty and current events). The additional duties (maybe 4-8 hours extra per week) are things you do outside your patient care role, such as infection control, scheduling, managing the defense travel system, etc.