Interested in joining military while taking nursing classes - need advice

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Hello all,

I will be starting nursing school on May 24th. I am 26 - already have a degree in music education. Back in college, I actually considered joining the marines and went through a lot of the steps in that direction, including passing the pft to become an officer. Unfortnately, at the time, I was still very confused about what I wanted and was too scared so when it came time to sign on the dotted line, I turned it down. Anyhow, 5 years later...as I was looking for part time jobs etc, a friend of mine in the navy suggested joining the military. I hadn't even thought about that since college and the more I think about it, the more I like that option. And I won't lie, the financial benefits were enticing. However, I still have nursing school to go through. Does anyone know if there are options with any branch for people like me who have yet to complete nursing school? I looked into the air force already and was told that I would have to wait until I am completely done with school. I checked into the army and it looked like maybe I could do the reserves while I finish school - haven't talked to anyone about it yet. It would be amazing if I could start something sooner just to help pay for living expenses and/or school.

Furthermore, I don't mind being deployed, but I am also hoping for something where the deployment lengths are on the shorter side... more than 4 months at a time seems like a lot to me? And to top it all off - I would love if I had a way to be stationed in the north east area - PA, DC, MD, VA etc. So if you know a branch that has a lot of first time nurses stationed in the north east, let me know. I know that I can't expect to get everything I want, but it doesn't hurt to know which branch I would have a higher chance of getting some of those things. :-)

And if there are absolutely no ways for me to start with a military branch until I graduate from nursing school, well I guess I'll have to wait those 2 years.

Thank you all for your help and advice!!!

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Specializes in Primary Care, FNP, AGACNP, Palliative Care.

One option is the Army Strap program which will give you a stipend of $1992/month while you are finishing your degree for 2 years. You will commission in the Army Reserves and will be on a non-drill and non-deployable status. Your only job will be to finish school. Upon completion of school depending on whether you accepted the strap program from national guard, reserves, or for active duty you will attend BOLC (Basic Officer Leadership Course) which is 9 weeks for active duty and 3 weeks for reserves/guard. Upon completion of BOLC you will PCS to 1st duty station if you are active or return to your home unit for reserve/guard. There are numerous threads regarding the strap program. If you decide to go active duty, after completion of BOLC, you will enter the Nurse Transition Program which is approximately a 10 month nurse residency program. After a year of nursing you can apply to one of the Army's 4 Generic courses in critical care, ob/gyn, psych, or perioperative nursing. If you have any more specific questions that can't be found on the threads there are numerous people on here such as myself who can help.

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Hi, congratulations on going back to school! I am doing the same thing. One year left on my BSN! I have looked into both the Navy and the Air Force. The Navy will pay for up to 2 years of nursing school. If you apply to the program and are accepted, I think you get up to $10,000 up front and then a monthly stipend. They also pay your tuition, fees, and books. When you graduate, you are commissioned as an officer. I would call a Navy Health Care recruiter in your area for more information. As for the Air Force, you can go in enlisted when you have one year left of nursing school. Then apply for a program to finish your degree, which they basically pay you that last year. Can't remember the name of that program, but it is on the Air Force website under the Education section for Enlisted. Or what I am doing is finishing my degree and applying for a direct commission into the Air Force as a nurse. You can do this up to 365 days prior to your graduation. The entire process seems to take about a year, so I would definitely recommend applying early. Good luck!

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Alright, so I stopped by the army recruiter's office today and spoke with someone about my options. I actually mentioned the STRAP program and he had no idea what I was talking about. Here's what he told me...

I would need to do a 10 week basic training. After that, I would do a 10 week medical training where I pick a medical speciality (nursing was not an option - although there was something similar to an lpn). After all of that, I can do my nursing school - and he said it would actually take less time because some of the classes I would take at the medical training would transfer. I would be on reserve status until I was done w/ nursing school. With having a degree already in music education, I thought I would have had officer training rather than basic training. And him not knowing anything about STRAP....Do I not know what I am talking about, or is my recruiter confused and I need to clarify things/ask more questions??

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Specializes in EMT, ER, Homehealth, OR.

What type of recruiter did you talk too? It sounds like you talked to an enlisted recuiter not a healthcare recruiter. Not all bachelor degrees can be used to become a officer and if you were talking with a enlisted recruiter he his going to steer you his way so he can make his numbers.

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If you don't want to be deployed for more than four months at a time, you may want to rethink your approach. Six months has pretty much become the standard deployment across the services.

And please - if you want to be an officer, don't try to do it by becoming enlisted first.

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hwcats,

I can't tell if you are starting in an ADN or BSN program. BSN is ideal and a must if you want active duty position as a nurse, a commissioned officer.

Getting acceptance letter to BSN is the key to starting this process.. you have been looking at reserves as a way to augment yourself through school but it may not be the best long term approach.. for both career and finance.

I suggest you look at both the Army and Navy for their "nurse candidate programs" both allow you to apply with your BSN acceptance letter prior to or during or after start of your junior year of BSN program... you do physical, clearance all admin paperwork gain acceptance and then gain a monthly stipend while in school and a small bonus at time of acceptance and at time of graduation, at time of grad / nclex you then leave for your basic course, training, and then first duty station with a 4-5 year commitment of active duty time and then the remaining time to finish your 8 year IRR obligation that any enlistment/commissioning will obtain.

This is an advantage as if you join 'reserves' you then have to do some training now, some training throughout the year and then when you graduate.. well you are in the reserves and it will take work/time to get active duty.

Other option instead of candidate program is shoulder some loans and apply for active duty 1 year out from grad date with hopes of loan payback... this is only a good idea if you could financially manage the loans should you not be accepted therefore some advantages of the candidate program if you have an expensive program.

So navy army and AF have nursing... marines do not they utilize navy hospitals. I'd recommend browsing over the websites and looking at the job specialties, you can think about which population you want to work with.. soldiers, marines/sailors, airmen (and everyone they evac), look at primary duty stations, etc.

As Carolina said deployments are more then 4 months, 4 months would be a hassle as it takes a few months to situated and then prepared to leave, it would be wash ;)

I'd take a look and also see is your goal active duty or reserve? If active duty / full time is goal I'd bypass the short term benefits of reserves if you can swing it.

v/r

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Specializes in Primary Care, FNP, AGACNP, Palliative Care.

Yeah it definitely sounds as if you spoke to an enlisted recruiter. Ask the enlisted recruiter for the name and number of the healthcare recruiter. Do not conduct any business with the enlisted recruiter it will not be beneficial for you. A healthcare recruiter will know exactly what the Strap program is and would never tell you to enlist first. Here are the links to the strap program to help you.

For Active/Reserve Duty: GoArmy.com Undergraduate Health Care Education

For National Guard: Healthcare Bonuses and Loans | Medical Professional | NATIONAL GUARD

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Thank you all so much for your advice! It has really been a HUGE help. I think I will take your advice just_cause and wait a year to apply to a nurse candidate program. At that point, depending on what my finances are, I may even wait until I graduate. I am starting an accelerated BSN program and my first class is on Monday next week! After all this research I've done and all the advice I've read from posters, I am really looking forward to finally signing on that dotted line :-) The time and effort people put into their responses is just amazing. Thank you all again :-) :-)

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Thank you all so much for your advice! It has really been a HUGE help. I think I will take your advice just_cause and wait a year to apply to a nurse candidate program. At that point, depending on what my finances are, I may even wait until I graduate. I am starting an accelerated BSN program and my first class is on Monday next week! After all this research I've done and all the advice I've read from posters, I am really looking forward to finally signing on that dotted line :-) The time and effort people put into their responses is just amazing. Thank you all again :-) :-)

I think you're making a really good decision. There isn't a thing wrong with being enlisted (I was, and a lot of us on the board were) but your ultimate goal is officer, so you're better off starting on that road.

I urge you to go ahead and find a health professions recruiter for the Army now; they can get you on track, answer any questions you have, and possibly even get you started with some preliminary paperwork (you might need a medical waiver of some sort, or some other sort of nitpicky stuff that you might be able to start on now - not trying to alarm or confuse you, but that recruiter would be a great resource). I went to an accelerated program myself and I know that time will fly by. Stress to the recruiter that you're serious about this, it's something you truly want to do and plan to do.

We're all here all the time - ask anything you like. I'm an AF RN but am happy to provide encouragement or answer any general military questions if I can. I know how excited you must be!

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Hey nursetobe,

Hope all is well.

I just wanted to follow up and see if you did decide to join the nurse candidate program.

Thanks.

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Thank you all so much for your advice! It has really been a HUGE help. I think I will take your advice just_cause and wait a year to apply to a nurse candidate program. At that point, depending on what my finances are, I may even wait until I graduate. I am starting an accelerated BSN program and my first class is on Monday next week! After all this research I've done and all the advice I've read from posters, I am really looking forward to finally signing on that dotted line :-) The time and effort people put into their responses is just amazing. Thank you all again :-) :-)

What is an accelerated BSN program length? What college are you attending? I graduate in may do I am trying to get informaiton :) Also how often do they accept students? is the program cohort based (only offer classes at certain times or every semester)? Is it online or face-to face? When will you graduate?

Thank you :)

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