Military ED RN requirements

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Hi, I'm interested in what the requirements are for an ED nurse in the military is.

Background: 8 month new nurse, working in a medsurg unit. Thinking about transitioning to ED after a year. I have all my certs including TNCC

I like to enlist into the military as a nurse, but I'd like to know what the requirements for an ED nurse are for any of the branches you are all familiar with.

Thank you

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Specializes in EMT, ER, Homehealth, OR.

First of all you do not enlist as a nurse but commission as an officer. You have to have a BSN for all services, each service has different requirements to obtain your ER nurse designation. You will need to contact a health care recruiter for each service to find out what the present requirements are and what bonuses available. To find out how to contact the healthcare recruiter (HCR) go to each service recruiting website. It can take several months before the HCR gets back to you because nurses are not in high demand right now. Do not speak with the local enlisted recruiter they will try to enlist you not get you commission. The process can take greater than 1 year from the time you start your paperwork until you are commissioned.

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Specializes in Adult Critical Care.

The current Air Force requirements for an ER nurse are 1 year of full time RN experience in a civilian ER. ER experience typically only counts if it's a level 1 or 2 trauma center. Your CEN would boost your application but isn't a hard requirement.

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Thank you. I made the mistake of talking to a strip mall recruiter. I now know what you mean. Not to bash medsurg nurses in the military, but I heard that if you get in as one, your job title won't change and you won't get any additional training if you wanted to. Such as, once a medsurg nurse at time of enlistment, always a medsurg nurse until you get out. Is this true?

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I'm going to finish up my one year at my medsurg department, and then hopefully apply and get into our ED (I work at a level 1).

Would this experience help me get anywhere in getting in as an ED nurse? I can't take my CEN or any specialty course until after 2 years of being a nurse, so I'm just trying to improve my chances with what I have. Any suggestions? Thank you

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Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.
I'm going to finish up my one year at my medsurg department, and then hopefully apply and get into our ED (I work at a level 1).

Would this experience help me get anywhere in getting in as an ED nurse? I can't take my CEN or any specialty course until after 2 years of being a nurse, so I'm just trying to improve my chances with what I have. Any suggestions? Thank you

There is no practice requirement for CEN. I took it when I had been an ED RN (and RN period) for 10 months.

Again, officers don't enlist. When I applied, the Army required 1700+ hours of ED time sometime in the two years immediately preceding application. Your clinical educator or manager will have to fill out very extensive skills paperwork. CEN is definitely a plus. TNCC is not a big deal. And no, med/surg nurses don't always remain as such. I know plenty of 66H nurses who went on to different courses to change identifiers, such as OB or OR or ED or ICU.

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Specializes in Adult Critical Care.

For the AF, yes you can cross-train from med-surg to ER. However, there are a lot of hoops to jump through. Therefore, it is faster and easier if you get the ER experience before you join.

I actually initially commissioned as a med-surg nurse in the AF. Then, I applied to an AF training program to learn how to be an ICU nurse. You do have to wait at least 2 years before doing that. The AF's ICU and ER fellowships are 1 year long.

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