I'm a pre nursing student who will be going into the military...

navyman7 · Apr 3, 2012

Check out my posts under military nursing questions answered. This may be a good start to some of your questions.

Mslecia20 · Apr 3, 2012

I am also on the same path as you however I chose army I am prior army and loved it as enlisted sO I would now like to see the officer side of things as an RN and hopefully starting in the army nurse candidate program.

aliaysonfire · Apr 3, 2012

thanks for the replies!

jeckrn, BSN, RN · Apr 4, 2012

-i would like to know one bsn program is better than another for getting into the military- i want to go the route of np rather than management eventually. no as long as it has the proper credentials, can not recall which one, just check any nurse recruiting website since they all execpt the same. what is important is your gpa.

-i would like to meet others who are trying to do the same thing, and read about their experiences

-i am wondering if the military will send me for more advanced degrees- and how so! yes, they will send you for advance training and varies by service. expect a couple of years before you can apply.

-and anything else you can tell me to help me have a better chance to be accepted into the officer training school.

-when is the right time to contact a recruiter? i have read somewhere the navy will will pay for you to complete your bsn.. i can't find much on it other than "contact a recruiter."

i would love to get into a program that will give you a 1300$ stipend to finish school! lol. if you want to get into a program you need to contact them now, it can take months to complete the paperwork and be boarded. if you are not having the military pay for you education you can contact a recruiter 12 months before graduation.

i am sure i will have more questions when i think of them!

i am wanting to go into the air force, but after reading so many of the posts on here, i am not sure if it is the best for me- i really don't want to miss out on something good because i "blindly" chose air force. you should check out all 3 services to see which one is the best fit for you.

i am grateful for any helpful replies. it feels like i'm in elementary school trying to plan what college i'm going into, please bear with me, i have a one year old son and a very supportive husband (he grew up in a military family) and am trying to give my husband some direction on "where we are going!/how long it will take" (ha! he lets me do what ever i want!)

i am not sure how much experience as a rn each service is requiring for a direct commission. the army is requiring 2 years if they are not paying for the education. so you need to contact the recruters asap to find out what each service is requiring right now. even if they tell you something now and you would have to wait a year or two after graduation to obtain your commission keep in contact with the recuriters since requirements can change.

aliaysonfire · Apr 13, 2012

AH HA! thank you for shedding some light on the subject! that makes a lot of sense- sounds like I need to get a move on then. Thank you jeckrn! :bow:

aliaysonfire · Apr 13, 2012

8200 IH-10 West Ste 101San Antonio, TX 78230

210-341-6802

[email protected]

So this is the air force health professions recruiter that is the closest to us. I chatted with a regular af recruiter today and that was all he could give me. He said that I needed to contact him 6-9 months before graduation... (of course, from my BSN!) that's like a whole friggen year away! gaaaah!

CSUnursegirl2b · Oct 20, 2012

I see it has been a while since anyone commented on this but I thought I'd comment. I know you said you were looking at Air Force, but have you considered the Navy? I'm currently talking to a recruiter about the NCP. It's a program for BSN students. It is competitive but they will give you a stipend for your Junior and Senior year of your BSN degree (in exchange for service years of course :) ). Good luck with whatever you choose :)

aliaysonfire · Oct 20, 2012

Ya I am considering the navy as well. I really want do this. I do not think I'm very competitive in my GPA though. I think I'm going to apply when I'm in my BSN program, I will have already become an RN by then. I will look into it once I'm in this spring semester and can relax a bit in school

rndiver82 · Oct 30, 2012

Ya I am considering the navy as well. I really want do this. I do not think I'm very competitive in my GPA though. I think I'm going to apply when I'm in my BSN program, I will have already become an RN by then. I will look into it once I'm in this spring semester and can relax a bit in school

Just thought I'd post a few pointers:

I'm a newly accessioned AD AF RN here in San Antonio. My suggestion is simple:: DO NOT RELAX. I noticed in other posts you are concerned your GPA isn't competitive. Whatever you can do to improve it, do it. The military is having to get EXTREMELY selective because of budget cuts, the draw down and the simple fact that nurses simply are not retiring as fast as they were. And with the civilian world economy, there are exponentially more applicants than spots. A single year may only have 80 positions to budget for, yet they will receive 30+ applications from 1 health care recruiter. Consider how many health care recruiters there are world-wide and you get the point. It's extremely competitive, so don't get a false sense of relaxation. Constantly push yourself. Once you are able to pass your NCLEX and start your nursing practice, get certifications and keep ALL of them current. Log all preceptor and volunteer hours you can.

Free time? Work out and get in shape. Fitness is HUGE in the military. One logged PT failure can literally keep you from a promotion, especially when you're an officer. I had this very conversation with a superior officer today. He has seen a very dramatic change in the tightening of the standards in the last 4 years alone. So don't think you can relax any time soon. I've been a nurse 7 years and will tell you, even with a specialty, 600+ hours of documented preceptor hours, a 3.9 GPA for my BSN (3.7 combined), 450 hours of community volunteer hours, documented participation in multiple marathons and charity event I had to apply twice for the nursing corp. I have seen Flight Nurses who are Captains in the Guard get turned down for an AD commission (they wouldn't have even gone to COT!).

I'm not telling you this to discourage you at all. I fully encourage any nurse to apply, but understand you really have to WANT to be here. It is like a professional athlete in some respects: there are thousands of people out there who are raising their bar inorder to get your job. You have to keep raising that bar to stay in the game or you fill get benched. It's becoming that type of a mindset in the military. You really have to watch yourself and develop yourself under amazing amounts of stress and peer pressure in order to stay relevant to your chain of command.

Good luck and again, don't be discouraged, but don't relax.