military nurse

[jessica09]

I want to be a nurse so bad!!! But, a couple of days ago i went to lackland, air force base...and i loved seeing everyone in uniforms!!! so i have decided that i want to be an air force(or any other military) nurse. what are the steps in becoming a military nurse??? where do you start??? would i have to go through basic military training(boot camp)???

[BrownBoiRN, BSN, MSN, DNP, APN]

so..it is better if i get my bsn first???

Your decision. The question is whether or not you want serve as an enlistee or as an officer first. If you don't mind enlisting first then you can go to school almost free and get your BSN. It's up to you. Officer training in the Army is 9 weeks at Ft. Sam Houston in Texas.

[carolinapooh, BSN, RN]

If you want to be a nurse in the military, you should go in as a nurse. Once you're enlisted it becomes very hard to apply; you have to fulfill requirements like time at your base, time in rank, time in service - and it's even more competitive than coming from the outside.

Get your BSN and then come in as an officer from the start.

[Cursed Irishman]

As for what you should decide to do.....

If are young and want to get your career started now then you should enlist in the National Guard or Reserves attend AIT and complete your initial contract as a combat medic. Use your tuition assistance and national guard education benefits to go to school and complete your BSN during this initial contract. At the end of your initial contract most likely you will either be finished or close to finishing your bachelors degree and instead of re-enlisting commission as an officer on active duty. This option gives you the financial means to complete your bachelors while gaining hands on nursing experience as an combat medic/LPN in the Army. This is just one option.

Having done almost exactly what this poster is suggesting: this is not a good option. Depending on what state/component you join, funding is not always guaranteed. Out of the three years it took to get through my program, I only received funding from the army for two semesters. From what I understand, depending on the state, funding has dropped even more. Not to mention, the process for joining is annoying, even as an enlisted member; why go through it twice if you know what your goal is from the begining? To top it off, while being deployed as a nurse has some leeway, as an enlisted member there is virtually no leeway. Sure I've got all the scare badges from being enlisted, but the extra time and re-routing due to deployments added years to accomplishing my goal.

[jessica09]

so....to not go through basic military training...you have to already have a bsn???

[Hungry4Success]

Jessica, There is no way to get away from "military training" wether it be officer or enlisted training. either way you will go to training. Its simply that to become an nurse in the military(only exception is Army reserves, which would accept an ADN) you must have your BSN. Now my best advice/opinion is to really listen to what Cursed Irishman said. If you know you want to be an officer either get your pre reqs done and apply to a 4 year school then ROTC OR go to school, get your BSN and then put together a package to go to Commissioned Officer Training, which would take you straight from civilian life into the military as a nurse.