Miliary options for pre-nursing student????

Studylots34 · Jan 14, 2014

Hi! I was like you, was a CNA for 2.5 yrs and wanted to join the military...so I did. I was a Hospital Corpsman in the Navy for 5 years. It was a great experience!! But, let me tell you- even working at a Naval Hospital on the east coast THE WHOLE TIME...there was no way to get all my classes done!! There are a few "duties" you have to do. I had clinic duty every 2 weeks and command duty every 15 days. Sure, command was every 15 days, but it was TIRING. Id work the clinic, go to duty, have a 11pm-7am watch (sitting at a desk not sleeping) then go back to the clinic and work AGAIN. The longest shift I worked was almost 4O HOURS....it was hard to get a B in English that semester because I was so tired. Doing science w/ labs at the local community college was basically impossible. There were days I worked in the clinic from 6am-7pm, so image doing a nearly 3 hours class twice a week. They've also put so many restrictions on the enlisted side. YOU DONT WANT TO GO ENLISTED. Stick it out, finish your BSN...then go in. Trust me. As enlisted you get treated like a child!! And theres many people who join to just take "the easy way out". And if your a hard worker like me, your going to go insane with some of the idiots you'll have to work with. At least being an officer it'll be worth the pay. AAAAANND let me tell ya, going from enlisted to officer WHILE active duty (or reserve)- hard as hell. Thats why I threw my hands up in the air and I'm out now, and loving every minute of it!!:) Be careful with recruiters...THEY WILL TELL YOU ANYTHING TO GET YOU TO JOIN. I was told I could become a x-ray tech right out of the "medic" training you do right after boot camp. HAHAHA. No. Didn't happen. The military is very tricky, and can be very unreliable. Please, for me, and all other disgruntled enlisted members that had dreams like you and I, just finish school THEN join:) It'll save you a lot of angry wasted days in your life.

Studylots34 · Jan 14, 2014

I'm sorry write even more...but my husband wanted me to write this (also prior enlisted Corpsman) and its a good point. The tuition assistance that the recruiters will tell you about, has a lot of restrictions! You need to be at your first command for at least a year. And as a single person in the military fresh out of boot camp you'll live in the barracks, no housing allowance. So your pay check will be kinda small...paying for school out of pocket will suck. Anyways, tuition has to be approved through your chain of command as well..that entails having a good evaluation as well as a certain score on your exam that you take twice a year. There are other restrictions that can hold you back depending on your chain of command. Where my husband worked, you had to do well enough on you physical exam, also twice a year. He had to get an excellent score to be able to get tuition assistance. So to get a good eval these days you need to work well (teach people, have responsibilities at work such as being in charge of biohazard, MWR ect), have command involvement, community involvement, go to school, and get excellent scores on your PRT. Competition of enlisted can be intense. Just make sure you really know what your walking into, if you do join. Feel free to write me privately if you want. I'm sure everyone on here think I'm crazy by now haha!

Dranger · Jan 14, 2014

Hello , I am 20 years old. I have had my CNA since May 2012 and I worked on an adult med/surg unit for 1 year as a tech and starting in November I started working at Hopkins in their PEDS ED. I am extremely interested and sold on being a Nurse in the USAF or the Navy. I will not be finished school with a BSN until Fall 2017 if I stay in civillian life and if everything I have mapped out goes according to plan. However, I do not want to wait 3 years to begin my military career. Has anyone had experience or does anyone have knowledge on going from a tech to an RN BSN in the military? I know that I can do it if I join the Reserves, and then after attaining a BSN I can switch to active duty but I would much rather be an active duty tech and be able to attain a BSN. I've done a lot of research, but I was looking for anyone who had experience in this or knowledge about it. I am going to talk to a recruiter but again, wanted any insight on anyone who has done this. Thank you so much for reading, and answering!

I have answered this question a million times here is a link to the most recent discussion. In short you have no chance for along while.

https://allnurses.com/government-military-nursing/pursuing-nursing-career-898421.html#post7697848

It's impossible to get a BSN on AD (you are owned by Uncle Sam everyday all day if they want to) right now and almost impossible with a BSN and no RN experience to get into the military. Please read the thread.

1. Military isn't going to train you as a tech/medic (CNA means nothing) then give you all the time in the world to get your BSN on active duty. Just no.

2. The military is full on new nurses for a long while

3. ROTC is super competitive for nursing right now

4. Also going from reserves to AD almost never happens.

The only shot you have is to try and get contracted with an ROTC unit at a local college that has AFROTC (this is not easy you need to be well rounded academically, athletically and leadership wise) otherwise you have no chance.

Just reality

kmarie08 · Jan 14, 2014

No way, you're very helpful thank you! And thank you for your kindness! I'd love to talk separately, I really want to do this I just don't know the best pathway to go about it. :)

Dranger · Jan 14, 2014

No way, you're very helpful thank you! And thank you for your kindness! I'd love to talk separately, I really want to do this I just don't know the best pathway to go about it. :)

Lol I just told you the best way to go about it and I have experience as a recruiter for the military....

RunBabyRN · Jan 15, 2014

I'm another former Navy corpsman. I looked at going that route while on active duty, but you are literally government property, and you do everything on THEIR terms. You CANNOT go to nursing school while on active duty unless you go through a commissioning program, and from everything I am hearing from here and from friends still active, those are nonexistent anymore. I LOVED my job as a corpsman, and I was able to get some general ed done, but that's only because I had a pretty cushy duty station in a clinic, where I basically worked 7:30-4 M-F, aside from duty.

And OHMYGOD can I attest to what Studylots34 said about the idiots you work with when you're hardworking. We had a bunch of corpsmen who were, as we called them, "vital signs techs," meanwhile I rarely left on time, because I had an awesome doc that I worked with who would teach me anything I wanted to know, and who let me perform minor procedures, prescribe meds, order labs and X-rays, and do full visits. I learned so much because I had initiative, but you'll see people advance ABOVE you who are, as you hear a lot in the military, s**tbags.

And yes, they'll say ANYTHING to you if they want you to enlist or re-enlist. And again, you're government property. And you can't just quit if you hate it.

ArmyWife_23 · Jan 25, 2014

I also looked into the military nurse corp. I went and talked with the recruiter with my husband when he was looking to join the army. I was seriously looking into it but we could have been stationed in different locations so we decided I would stay civilian. The recruiter we spoke with said to make sure and wait until having my BSN before joining. I think the Army Nurse Corp or any nurse corp would be amazing to be a part of! Good luck with your choices! :)

Dranger · Jan 25, 2014

I also looked into the military nurse corp. I went and talked with the recruiter with my husband when he was looking to join the army. I was seriously looking into it but we could have been stationed in different locations so we decided I would stay civilian. The recruiter we spoke with said to make sure and wait until having my BSN before joining. I think the Army Nurse Corp or any nurse corp would be amazing to be a part of! Good luck with your choices! :)

They actually work really hard to match spouses together and if you are both Army it isn't that hard. Getting into the Army as a nurse is 100x harder. All officers must have a BA/BS so the BSN is a no brainer...