Military Nursing?

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I attended Loyola University Chicago nursing program for 1 semester (they dont give a lot of financial help to their international students) and one day we had a presentation about military nursing.

At the time I didn't have my green card and could not join.

Now that I do have a green card and want to go back to school and pursue a nursing degree, military nursing is on my mind.

Can someone with experience in military nursing help me by answering these questions:

1. Which came first the chicken or the egg ;) --> do you join the military first* or do you need to be accepted into nursing school?

* if joining military comes first, do you receive priority being accepted into nursing school?

2. In LUC military recruiter mentioned that the tuition is payed by the government and you also receive "spending money" monthly. Too good to be true?

3. What happens after nursing school? How many years do you serve? Do you ship out to war zones?

4. Is PTSD common for military nursing? (scared about war zones :[ )

5. Army/Navy/Air force/Marines ......? any advice?

6. Training/boot camp for military nurses?

7. Lastly, you can join the military without citizenship?

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Specializes in Urgent Care NP, Emergency Nursing, Camp Nursing.

All nurses in the United States Uniformed Services are commissioned officers and I'm pretty sure you need to be a citizen to get a commission so you may be SOL until you get your citizenship.

Additionally, there's a whole forum devoted to Government and Military Nursing under the Specialties tab - asking your questions there will likely get you answers a lot faster than asking them here.

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Thank you so much, I'm new to this site and I did not know there was an entire site for military nursing.

again thanks so much :)

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Moved to the Government and Military Nursing forum

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Specializes in US Army.

You can enter the military as enlisted with a green card, but you are restricted to a few MOS (jobs), no security clearance, and can only stay on active duty for

If at the 8 year mark you do not have US Citizenship you will receive an administrative discharge. However, you can become a LPN (68WM6) through the military as this is an enlisted job. RNs are Officers and this requires a BSN and US Citizenship.

If you happen be a native speaker Farsi, Arabic, or Pashto etc., etc. The military has a special fast track program for them, but the job would be as a translator. You would earn GI Bill benefits which will pay for your school when you get out. Or you can use tuition assistance while in the service.

Best bet would be for you to go and speak with a military recruiter of the branch of service you would like to join. Rules and requirements change all the time, so the best source of current info would be your local recruiter.

Good luck.

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Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.

Just to add to what Jarnaes wrote -- be sure you speak to a healthcare recruiter, not just the regular recruiter. The healthcare recruiters will be able to provide you with more accurate, specific information. Welcome to the forum, and to allnurses! :) Here are some links for you to browse:

Army Nurse Corps

Nursing Healthcare - Officer Opportunities in the U.S. Air Force - AirForce.com

Nurse : Health Care : Careers Navy: Navy.com

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