Joining Navy Reserves as an Operating Room Nurse

[tsaunds]

So I am attempting to join the Navy as a reservist. I work in the OR, but have no clue what the periop billet will look like for me. I wanted to get on here and ask anyone for some basic information. It's surprising how little I have found on this specific topic on the inter-web...

1) What does weekend drill realistically look like per month? And what about the 2 week annual drill? Are these basically the only times you will drill, or will you get called to extra training sometimes?

2) Will I be doing OR stuff on my drill weekends? Or is it more of a power point session? Or working in a clinic of some kind?

3) Are the dates of drill weekend and annual training pre-determined? Or do I have some say in what dates I go to for the year?

4) Is there a stipend for gas and travel (hotels/flights) to and from drills?

5) What are the actual benefits I can look forward to for myself and family? (education, insurances, discounts, pay)

6) What does deployment look like? How often are OR nurses deployed, and where do they go? My healthcare recruiter told me she has never had a nurse technically deployed, but that jobs get posted, and they are typically filled voluntarily by nurse reservists. In my head, reservists would replace active duty nurses from military hospitals while THOSE nurses go abroad. But, that is 100% made up inside my head. I have no idea what actually happens

7) I have heard reservists participate in humanitarian missions. I am interested in that. Is this kind of work typical, or once in a blue moon?

8) Years wise, how does the commitment to the Navy work? I have heard 3 years active reserves and 5 of inactive ready reserve. I am interested in retiring from the reserves one day, but would like some clear communication on this topic.

9) How do war time/ government shutdowns affect reservists?

My wife is leery because she has these same questions. I largely want to help her and I be very educated on this decision before I dive into the reserves. Thanks for your responses. Also, if anyone is interested, I would love to just have someone to call or text with random questions that come up, so if you're down with something like that, please let me know!

[NavyReserveORNurse]

Your first step is to get in touch with a Navy Healthcare recruiter; they can answer these questions for you. Best of luck!