army with previous nursing experience

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I am currently an ADN with 5 years of experience. This January I will start toward my BSN with the goal of joining the Army. Does anyone know if my years of nursing experience with my ADN will count toward my rank once I join? Also, I am currently cured, but have a history of cancer, will this affect my ability to join up? And finally, can anyone give my any good info on the AMEDD Officer basic course? Is it difficult? What are the living arrangements like? My brief interaction with a recruiter and my scouring the internet has not been very helpful thus far. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

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Specializes in Med/Surg, ICU, educator.

These are things you need to speak to a recruiter about, they'll know the answers or be able to get you in the right direction

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I served 11 years in the Army, but it was as a medical specialist then LPN. So I am more familiar with the "enlisted" side. From what I remember, with the BSN you should be able to go in as an officer. I'm not sure about the ADN. I have known some people with an associate's degree in other fields. But they came in at a higher enlisted rank, not an officer.

As stated above, you can get more information from your recruiter, or he/she can direct you to resources that will give you the specific information you need. Have you visited the following site? It has good information that might give you some answers. And maybe they can send you some information. Good luck!

http://www.goarmy.com/amedd/nurse/

Also, this is basic info about joining:

http://www.goarmy.com/index.jsp#/?marquee=officership&channel=careers

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Specializes in ED, CTSurg, IVTeam, Oncology.

According to this page: http://www.goarmy.com/JobDetail.do?id=315

"You must have an associate's degree in nursing or a three-year nursing diploma or a bachelor of science in nursing for the Army Reserve; have a bachelor's degree in nursing (BSN) from an accredited school of nursing for Active Duty..."
So while you can be an officer with an Associates, you can only serve as an officer in the reserves. I do not know what will happen if a reserve unit is activated and an associate prepared RN is ordered to deploy; will they reduce his or her rank to Non Commissioned Officer (ie Sergeant) with the reduction in pay for the duration of the deployment? Your questions should be asked of the Officer recruiter that you speak with.

The other potential issue is your history of cancer. That may knock you out of the game entirely. I suggest you bring copies of your medical record with you as your prior illness may preclude you from service. This may seem unfair. But the military has a vested interest in getting personnel that are in top physical condition.

And good luck. It's always a pleasure to see another feel the spirit of serving one's nation. :yeah:

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Moved to the Government and Military forum where you may get some more better answers

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Specializes in ICU-my whole life!!.

AMEDD Officer's course is easy for some without prior military background. If you get to go, stick with the prior service folks who will be happy to mentor you along on those subjects you are having trouble on.

As for your experience time, 5 yrs would gain you the rank of 1LT and with some time in grade towards the next one which is CPT.

As for the previous Hx of CA, you will have to get cleared by the MEPS MD and will have to show all previous papers. What kind field of nursing did you work on? If you have ICU or OR experience, this could be to your advantage.

Do not worry about officer training. That part is easy. Concentrate on getting in. Once in, anything is doable. Living conditions are in a hotel like environment with all meals provided. Off on the weekends. You will do like 5 days of field training and get to roll in the dirt.

Good luck. Let me know if you need more info.

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Thanks for all the info so far. My background is in step-down and cardiovascular obs. I plan on getting my BSN first and then going active duty. So I'm really curious if my Associates experience will count toward rank in active duty? From what I've read, most of the people talking about experience counting toward rank say they have BSN or MSN experience. Since I can't go active duty with my ADN, will they accept that experience as relavant?

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Specializes in EMT, ER, Homehealth, OR.
according to this page: http://www.goarmy.com/jobdetail.do?id=315

so while you can be an officer with an associates, you can only serve as an officer in the reserves. i do not know what will happen if a reserve unit is activated and an associate prepared rn is ordered to deploy; will they reduce his or her rank to non commissioned officer (ie sergeant) with the reduction in pay for the duration of the deployment? if you are activited or do agr (active guard & reserves) there is no change in your status. you will stay either a lt or captain. your questions should be asked of the officer recruiter that you speak with.

the other potential issue is your history of cancer. that may knock you out of the game entirely. i suggest you bring copies of your medical record with you as your prior illness may preclude you from service. this may seem unfair. but the military has a vested interest in getting personnel that are in top physical condition. good advice, not only for personnel in top physical condition but if deployed there is limited medical care at some sites.

and good luck. it's always a pleasure to see another feel the spirit of serving one's nation. :yeah:

time spent working as a adn will count for your time in grade for the army. as for the navy only the time after you have completed your bsn. not sure of the af, but i think it does count.

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They only count the time working as a nurse as a BSN only. They won't count your ADN time. You will come in as a 2LT very likely because the ADN time will not count. So you will not get any constructive credit as ADN only BSN. If you come in as an ADN nurse you will not come in as an officer. So my straight up advice for you is get your BSN before you commit or join the army. Go ahead and stack up studen loans if you need to because when you come in it will be paid off up to like 50k I think. Also, pick up your bonus and only commit to 3 years. Even if the bonus is less because after the 3years there is a Retention bonus if you get certified in medsurg or ccrn or whatever it is your area is and its 20k a YEAR after that.

I came in the army with the 8A(critical care identifier) and took the 30k for 4 years... I kick my self because I would have gotten 20k a year for each year if I reuppped. So instead of the 30k I would have took the 20k.. so its an extra 10k.... if this makes sense to you lol.

so get your BSN and then join the army.... or seriously consider the AF or Navy... overall they have nice stuff...lol

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Specializes in EMT, ER, Homehealth, OR.
they only count the time working as a nurse as a bsn only. the army will give you time as a adn, this comes from personal experience. the navy will only give you time as a bsn, not sure about the air force. there is some areas of nursing for all services that will not count even if you have a msn, i.e. working in a nursing home. they won't count your adn time. you will come in as a 2lt very likely because the adn time will not count. see above, you should come in as a 1lt. so you will not get any constructive credit as adn only bsn. if you come in as an adn nurse you will not come in as an officer. correct for active duty, but army reserves will bring you in as a officer. so my straight up advice for you is get your bsn before you commit or join the army. go ahead and stack up studen loans if you need to because when you come in it will be paid off up to like 50k i think. also, pick up your bonus and only commit to 3 years. even if the bonus is less because after the 3years there is a retention bonus if you get certified in medsurg or ccrn or whatever it is your area is and its 20k a year after that.

i came in the army with the 8a(critical care identifier) and took the 30k for 4 years... i kick my self because i would have gotten 20k a year for each year if i reuppped. so instead of the 30k i would have took the 20k.. so its an extra 10k.... if this makes sense to you lol.

so get your bsn and then join the army.... or seriously consider the af or navy... overall they have nice stuff...lol

agree about getting your bsn before you join if you are going active duty. if you want to join now do army reserves as a nurse corp officer, apply for the strap program, which gives you a monthly allowance around $1900, you will be non-deployable. if you stay reserves the payback is 1 year for every 6 months or less in the program (2:1). if you go active the payback is 1:1. if you go active after being in the reserves you will not get a accession bonus but will get the student loan repayment. as i tell everyone who is considering joining the military look at all the branches to see which one is the best fit for you.
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