In the Navy now- heading to NNMC in April! Questions...

[FroEJ25]

Well, everything finally went through, and I did the oath of commissioning on 12/4, so I am now officially committed. I'll be heading to ODS in March (the soonest they could get me in), then on to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda after that. Well, supposedly Bethesda; that's what the paperwork says now, but its subject to change. It was my first choice, so hopefully that's where I'll be. I think I may have shot myself in the foot doing the 3-year commitment; need to put in 4 years to get the post-9/11 GI Bill, and could have pocketed an extra $10,000 (pre-tax) if I had gone 4 years, but oh well.

So, my questions. Anyone know if there are guidelines about how close to the hospital you have to be? I.e., do you have to be able to report for duty within a half hour or live within a 20 mile radius, something like that? I am a little familiar with the area, and know I would be more comfortable in Frederick, Germantown, or another outlying area, but don't know if that would be allowed. I don't mind a long commute- I used to drive an hour to work each way, but now would prefer public transit. I imagine taking the MARC in from Point of Rocks or Harpers Ferry is right out; I think it would be at least a 1.5 hour commute each way, looking at the schedule. Not to mention the limited hours of operation- wouldn't really work with a 12 hour shift. Any thoughts?

Anyone know what the hospital is like? I keep reading that it is the "flagship hospital" for Navy medicine, and it's getting a huge amount of extra funding to construct new facilities to absorb the patients from Walter Reed, so that's exciting. And I expect that its been better funded than Walter Reed for a while, since NNMC has gotten more high-level civilian attention, but is it a top of the line facility? Comparable to Johns Hopkins or Mayo? Not that I would have a good frame of reference, coming from Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids Michigan; just want to know what others think. Actually, not sure if I can ask that- can we speak honestly if a facility is sub-par? So many rules to learn now...

Few other questions that I had a hard time having my recruiter answer- how long until I get something other than med surge? I know its going to be at least 10-12 weeks, but I've heard it can be a couple years (ugh, hope not, I want to get through that ASAP). I don't know if my 5 years working as a molecular biologist for the CDC will help (probably not). And what is the deal with days off? If I'm working a 12 hour shift, and use a day off, do I still get 30 days? Doesn't really seem fair to people with 8 hour days; I'd effectively get 50% more time off. Also, she provided some confusing answers regarding how shifts work in the hospital; I assume NNMC will be like a civilian hospital, with 2 or 3 shifts providing 24 hour care, and a fairly even distribution of staff between those shifts. She seemed to indicate that most shifts were daytime, which I find hard to believe. Anyway, I like the night shift, so I wouldn't really mind too much if she were wrong...

Wow, that turned into a big post. Obviously, I'm pretty excited about this move, and finally getting commissioned after nearly a year of effort. Any input that those of you in the know can provide will be greatly appreciated; I know I'll get a mentor assigned once I get closer, but its never too early to start planning...

Jon

[wtbcrna, MSN, DNP, CRNA]

Well, everything finally went through, and I did the oath of commissioning on 12/4, so I am now officially committed. I'll be heading to ODS in March (the soonest they could get me in), then on to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda after that. Well, supposedly Bethesda; that's what the paperwork says now, but its subject to change. It was my first choice, so hopefully that's where I'll be. I think I may have shot myself in the foot doing the 3-year commitment; need to put in 4 years to get the post-9/11 GI Bill, and could have pocketed an extra $10,000 (pre-tax) if I had gone 4 years, but oh well.

So, my questions. Anyone know if there are guidelines about how close to the hospital you have to be? I.e., do you have to be able to report for duty within a half hour or live within a 20 mile radius, something like that? I am a little familiar with the area, and know I would be more comfortable in Frederick, Germantown, or another outlying area, but don't know if that would be allowed. I don't mind a long commute- I used to drive an hour to work each way, but now would prefer public transit. I imagine taking the MARC in from Point of Rocks or Harpers Ferry is right out; I think it would be at least a 1.5 hour commute each way, looking at the schedule. Not to mention the limited hours of operation- wouldn't really work with a 12 hour shift. Any thoughts?

Anyone know what the hospital is like? I keep reading that it is the "flagship hospital" for Navy medicine, and it's getting a huge amount of extra funding to construct new facilities to absorb the patients from Walter Reed, so that's exciting. And I expect that its been better funded than Walter Reed for a while, since NNMC has gotten more high-level civilian attention, but is it a top of the line facility? Comparable to Johns Hopkins or Mayo? Not that I would have a good frame of reference, coming from Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids Michigan; just want to know what others think. Actually, not sure if I can ask that- can we speak honestly if a facility is sub-par? So many rules to learn now...

Few other questions that I had a hard time having my recruiter answer- how long until I get something other than med surge? I know its going to be at least 10-12 weeks, but I've heard it can be a couple years (ugh, hope not, I want to get through that ASAP). I don't know if my 5 years working as a molecular biologist for the CDC will help (probably not). And what is the deal with days off? If I'm working a 12 hour shift, and use a day off, do I still get 30 days? Doesn't really seem fair to people with 8 hour days; I'd effectively get 50% more time off. Also, she provided some confusing answers regarding how shifts work in the hospital; I assume NNMC will be like a civilian hospital, with 2 or 3 shifts providing 24 hour care, and a fairly even distribution of staff between those shifts. She seemed to indicate that most shifts were daytime, which I find hard to believe. Anyway, I like the night shift, so I wouldn't really mind too much if she were wrong...

Wow, that turned into a big post. Obviously, I'm pretty excited about this move, and finally getting commissioned after nearly a year of effort. Any input that those of you in the know can provide will be greatly appreciated; I know I'll get a mentor assigned once I get closer, but its never too early to start planning...

Jon

Okay, keep in mind I am AF stationed at NNMC and I just finished up my nurse anesthesia clinical there for the last 18mo.

Public transportation might be a problem depending on where you live d/t some of the stations opening at 0500 and some not opening till 0600. I don't know what the exact rules will be for your unit, but in general the military usually expects you to be within 1hr of the hospital. Although, I know of at least one person that works in the ER at NNMC that lives in W.Virginia at least 1.5hr-2hr away.

NNMC is one of the top 3 Naval Hospitals. NNMC tries to stay at the front of research. Right now it is medium size teaching hospital by civilian standards, and is expanding to one of the largest military hospitals in the country. In 2011 it will become a tri-service hospital, and you will have all the military medical branches stationed there.

As far as staying on med-surg, I can only relay what I know from my Navy friends and you should expect 1-2yrs on med-surg before being allowed to transfer to another unit. Your days off you don't have to take leave for, but that also doesn't mean that every day off during the week you will be off either. There will be a lot of times you will be expected to come in on your days off for appointments, meetings, extra duties etc. I believe all the floors work 12hr shifts. There will be plenty of chances to do night shift, but you will probably rotate from nights to days about every 3mo.

I think I answered most of your questions. You might also try to PM LtDan on here he is/was stationed at NNMC, and maybe able to give you more insight.

[docbkh]

Semper Gumby ... Always flexible.

Learn it, live it, love it.

I wouldn't spend too much time/energy trying to figure out what you may be walking into... the military likes to keep things "interesting". Your most reliable information will come from your unit leadership, all of which may change at any moment in time (your assignment, your leadership, and/or the information). Plan on not making plans until your leadership give you their approval. The US government now owns you. They can tell you where to live, when to work, and if/when you get any time off. This is reality... I have experienced it first hand. I'm not saying that the military is bad, I actually miss a great deal about it. Until it is realized that you need to have permission to eat, sleep, and sh*t... it could be very stressful.

Good luck with your adventure!

[nyirishman]

When was your packet accepted? My wife's packet was accepted back in late September and she is still waiting to swear in and get her ODS date.

Bethesda is our first choice also as my wife has family in NoVa and I have family in NYC. Plus for our son the ice hockey is better in MD than Portsmouth or SD.

We toured NNMC in the summer and it was a neat place and the sailors seemed to enjoy working there. They were pretty brutally honest about life in the Navy so I don't think they were dolling it up.