Navy Nurse Questions

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I'm sure this question has been asked more than once, so please bear with me. I've been sifting through all the information I can find, but I still don't quite understand...

I've just started toying with the idea of Navy Nursing. I graduate from a BSN program in December. But have very little knowledge about the military in general, less about the Navy specifically, and even less about Navy Nursing.

Specifically, I'm wondering about the following:

1.What are the requirements for being accepted?

2.What is the minimum length for which you can sign up?

3.After being accepted, what happens as far as training? (What kind, where do you go, how long etc)

4.After training, then what? What kind of setting do you start off in, how long will you be there, and do you get any real choice at this point in where you'll be?

5.What about deployments? How often and how long? Do deployments differ for nurses and if they do, how so?

6.What other things do I need to know but I don't know enough to know that I need to know them? :bugeyes:

Thank you so much for any insight. I'm planning on speaking with a recruiter soon, but I want to be a little more informed first. You know... wouldn't want to have “sucker” written on my forehead.

Good morning and happy mother's day to you too..!!!!!! Good luck with the recruiters...!!!!!!! Have a good one.!!!

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Specializes in ER, Trauma, US Navy.

Imacks4-

I see you're in Philly. If you want to tour Bethesda, just let me know, be happy to show you around.

LCDR Dan

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Specializes in Surgical Oncology.

LCDR Dan-

Thanks for the offer! I may take you up on it!!! I met with my recruiter today and he said that I could plan to visit to see how Navy nursing works at Bethesda and even another trip in July to a different base. I'm a little upset that I can't to the Nursing school program because I'm in a part time (second degree) program but I'll just start my packet now and hopefully find out by the time I graduate. How do the tours of the bases work?

Thanks !!!

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Specializes in ER, Trauma, US Navy.

Imacks4-

It all depends, if you are bringing the recruiter, they will set it up. If you come by yourself, I can meet you at the gate, get you on base, and then you and I will discuss what we do. It would really be up to you. I'm offering because I can discuss the goods and bads of the Navy as well as give you the inside look. It's up to you. I get deployed this summer for 2 weeks, so just let me know.

LCDR Dan

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Specializes in Surgical Oncology.

LCDR Dan-

I would love to! Thank you so much for the invite...I'm currently on break from school, so I could pretty much come down whenever....I really want to see how Navy Nursing works before I make that final decision. I think being able to see the good with the difficult aspects will really help. Let me know when would be a good time for you, thank you so much for this opportunity!!!!!

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Specializes in ER, Trauma, US Navy.

Did you want to do it soon or while on summer break? Let me know, I have a 2-week deployment coming in June, so just need to work around that.

LCDR Dan

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Specializes in Surgical Oncology.

Sent you a PM, I felt bad taken over the thread....

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hello everyone,

i am new to this forum and very new to nursing. in september, i will begin a two year adn program in washington state. i have a ba in english lit and am interested in possibly pursuing a career in the navy or air force as a nurse. my long term goal is to become an np or crna and i want to know if these sub-specialties are valued in the armed services?

also, i have read that i must have a bsn to be commissioned a nurse in the military. is this a hard and fast rule or do they allow exceptions for those of us with a bachelor's degree that is not healthcare related? would i be better served to do a one year rn to bsn program and then join or do an rn to msn program and join?

my biggest concern is that i will be 40 by the time i take the nclex and i've gotten different information on whether or not i will have hit the age ceiling for active duty entrance. plus, if i need to have my bsn or msn degree to join, will the military "repay" the cost of that degree?

a few final questions---how difficult is officer candidate training (5 week course) in terms of physical demands and once active duty, do you have to live on base or can you live somewhat nearby in your own house? also, what are promotional opportunities like in the services--frequency, difficulty, ceiling for someone in nursing?

my wife is dental hygienist and does the military ever hire civilian rdhs for base work?

thanks for any information you can provide!

doug

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Specializes in Pediatrics, L&D.

First of all, I want to thank everyone who participated in this thread. It has been extremely informative and has definitely let me know that I'm making a sane and rational decision.

I've kind of chuckled over some of the comments about how hard the med/surg floor is or how pay isn't commensurate, etc., etc. I work at a major inner city county hospital on the pediatric floor. It's a really tough gig and we run our orifices off all night. (Yup, I'm a night shifter.) In addition, although the pay is pretty good, there are no guarantees for anything. For example, we're supposed to get 3 weeks paid time off every year. Well, that's all fine and well, but if you get cancelled for a shift and want your paycheck not to lose an entire shift's worth of pay, you have to use your PTO. In addition, as a night shifter, by using PTO I'm getting paid straight time, not shift differential, so it's a $3/hour pay cut. This summer has already been tough and I am already out of PTO. That means the next time I get cancelled (and I will get cancelled if census doesn't go up) I'm out an entire shift's pay. As I am the sole breadwinner for an 8 person family (yup, my husband is a SAHD and we have six beautiful children) this is a pretty horrifying turn of events. In fact, I have a job interview this afternoon to pick up extra hours opening cases for a pediatric home health agency.

I finish my RN to BSN program next summer. I'm already studying for my GRE. Does anyone know if for the DUINS program I need to take any of the specialty GRE exams? Would any of them be helpful in distinguishing myself from "the crowd" so to speak, even if not required? Also, do I need to take the ASVAB again (yup, at 18 I almost went enlisted in the Army. I have no clue what I was thinking! Much better to go in at 36 as a nurse and an officer in the Navy!!)... When I took it at 18 I got a perfect score in all areas... will they still use that information or will the two intervening decades (I feel so old! LOL) require me to prove myself again??

Oh, and here's a really big question... what about medical waivers? I have hypothyroidism and ADHD (yes, I am living proof that God has a sense of humor! :chuckle). I take Armour thyroid and Adderall. I've been on them for years and have no issues in terms of it affecting my job performance or my health. In fact, I graduated from an accelerated ADN program while working full time plus and caring for a then-disabled husband (thank heavens for some wonderful surgeons who put him back together) and six kids... and had the third highest GPA in the class and was awarded the Nursing Chair of Excellence Award, which is the highest award my school handed out. I want to make sure that my medications don't become a sticking point. (They were a no-go for the Army 18 years ago as an enlisted soldier. Obviously, being an officer in the Navy will be different, but I don't want to get my hopes up if I don't have a shot at this.)

I would very much like to be stationed at Bethesda for my first rotation. I will have over a year of Peds experience at the time I graduate with my BSN and that will include being cross trained in PICU/NICU and Peds ED. I will also come in with BLS/PALS/NRP/ACLS and my certifications in both pediatrics and Peds ED. I have prior experience as a tech in SICU, CVICU, L&D, postpartum and newborn nursery. I'm also a certified breastfeeding counselor. A major goal for my family would be to be stationed in Italy for any length of time... my husband is Sicilian and very much wants to have the children experience what Italy has to offer. Also, I have family in Poland and friends throughout Europe and it would be very nice to be able to visit them on my time off.

I agree with what was said previously... if you have never been outside of the United States it is hard to understand why anyone would be so passionate about the amazing country we live in. I've traveled a great deal... I even got to go through Checkpoint Charlie as a child before they tore down the Berlin Wall. (Not a military brat, but my mother's family is Polish Gypsy and it shows... she can't handle not traveling, and I reaped the benefits of that!) I got to visit East Germany (at the time), Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia (at the time) during the time that Communism still had a stronghold over the area. I got to go to southern Poland and meet my cousins (the non gypsy side of the family) who still live in the little farmhouse my great grandmother was born in.

I'm very proud to be a U.S. citizen and would love the opportunity to serve my country in this way. In addition, I see it as a chance to better provide for my family (sorry, but by the time you add BAH to the salary, even an O1 makes more than I do, plus a guaranteed salary), serve my country, and with the humanitarian emphasis of the Navy Nursing Corp, serve the world. I don't have any rose-colored glasses here... but after 7 years experience in civilian hospitals I can tell you, it's not sunshine and roses over here, either!

I put in a request on the Navy website to be contacted by a recruiter. Thanks again for all the info here and Dan, I particularly hope you're not on deployment right now and I get to hear from you!

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Specializes in Pediatrics, L&D.

LOL, I found one of my own answers. Hypothyroidism is only a disqualifier if it is uncontrolled (mine is not) and ADHD is only a disqualification if I'm on meds (or have been within a year)... so, time to get off the Adderall. I only went on it because I had a psychotic instructor in nursing school (seriously, she was, she took a shotgun to herself a few weeks after my rotation!) who heard me joking with a friend about ADHD, for which I had never been medicated and graduated with honors from ever yprogram I had ever been in and made it a stipulation that I get medication to remain in her class. I did it because it wasn't worth the fight to not do it. Honestly, I've only stayed on it because it has helped me with a stubborn metabolism to take off extra pounds from the last munchkin and at this point I only take it about once or twice a week.... so, time to go off of it completely. It will be just over a year before I graduate BSN, so that's perfect.

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Hi,

I will be graduating in less than a week now with my BSN then i will study for the nclex. i am really considering being an army nurse but i am a little scared cause i hear a lot of pp saying the army promises you a lot of stuff that u will not get!!! i live in ny now, starting salary in the hospital i want to work in is 72K. but i kind of want to leave ny and do something else. i guess im bored!

well i was thinking about becoming an army nurse and going to san diego... any suggestions any advice?????????

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Specializes in critical care: trauma/oncology/burns.

Ir0325:

Hello and welcome to AllNurses!

I can't speak for the Navy side of the House, but as an Army Nurse I can most honestly say "Army Strong just not Army Wealthy!"

You will not be making that kind of salary as an 0-1 or even 0-2

Most important advice I or any one else on this forum will give you is....MAKE SURE you talk with a Health Care Recruiter.

Here is a great website that might give you more insight on Army Nursing: http://armynursecorps.amedd.army.mil

Hey, congratulations on obtaining you BSN. Good luck with your Boards (NCLEX)!

athena

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