Interested in Navy

[Nrwich]

I am in the process of a BSN degree in nursing, but I am also very interested in the Navy.

From what I understand, upon completion of my degree, I can apply to become an officer, navy nurse.

But from what I hear, becoming an officer is more of a career choice (is this accurate?), and I rather not commit to any more than 4 years.

It seems an RN is a bit overqualified for a corpsman. Are there any alternative positions within the Navy fit for an RN?

[just_cause, BSN, RN]

Nrwich,

You can coordinate your commission in the navy nurse corp up to 2 years prior to your graduation date.

The commitment depends on which incentive you take.. they have the concurrent program for the last two years of your program, they have the loan repayment and bonus which you can apply after or just prior to NCLEX (not sure for the navy when you apply...) and the obligation for active duty remains about 3-5 years...

The real obligation for any commission / enlistment, at minimum, is the 8 years - so if you serve 3 years active duty you serve 5 years on inactive reserves... which does not impact you unless you are 'activated' which can occur in demanding times. It may not be likely but is something to be aware of.

I would not recommend any route other then being an RN in the navy with a BSN.

If that is not the route you want - I would recommend looking at working for a bit and doing any PA school pre-reqs... if you get accepted to a PA program the navy has a scholarship program which would pay your way through and pay a monthly stipend providing you serve upon graduation from PA school.

When you talk to a recruiter you need to be referred to a navy health care recruiter - this will not be co-located with the standard navy recruiting center, they will likely advise you to be a corpsman....A navy nurse is not an 'overglorified corpsman' a navy nurse is just like (and works with) civilian RNs. I'm assuming this was not your statement but that of a non- health care recruiter.

v/r