Military and Nursing

ArtClassRN, ADN, RN · May 22, 2014

"How is my experience in the military as a combat engineer help me find a job as a Nurse in the civilian sector?"

It doesn't hurt. Your experience as a Nurse Assistant is, however, extremely helpful.

Is it practical to get my LPN before RN or BSN?

It wasn't practical for me. If there are a bunch of great LPN jobs available for you to work while you get your RN, maybe it can be for you.

"If i wanna get my Master's/PhD, is Navy or Army (reserves) the way to go since they would pay for my education?"

In my opinion, based on the very small amount of information you have given and the huge assumption that your expectations of paid for education are real, then: "Hell yes."

I do have baby on the way as well. And I'm 22 Years old filipino guy.

Congratulations, thank you for your service and good luck!

SoldierNurse22, BSN, RN · May 22, 2014

If you're looking for payment for your schooling, you can use your GI bill, assuming you have enough time in service for full compensation.

If you're thinking of enlisting in Army/Navy reserve in order to somehow get compensation for college, I'd strongly discourage that. The nurse corps across the board is over strength. The chances of you getting compensation for tuition/college expenses decreases as the drawdown ramps up. The chances of you being able to commission as an enlistee are even slimmer.

Understand that applying to the active or reserve components of any branch right now is extremely competitive. Your best bet is to hop out, get your schooling done, get some experience, and re-apply to the nurse corps if that's really what you want.

nurse2033, MSN, RN · May 24, 2014

When you apply for schools and jobs, be sure to stress the organizational, leadership, followership, stress management, and task driven skills you have learned in the Marines. There are a lot of parallels that might not be obvious to someone looking at you on paper. I always encourage people to go for the RN, which can be two years just as the LPN. That will be one less step to have to make. I can't offer any suggestions on the GI bill, I commissioned after my schooling was done. Good luck, and thanks for serving.

kalevra, BSN, RN · May 28, 2014

How are you able to work as a CNA and active duty at the same time?

When I was in we got into formation at 0600 just to start running. We didn't get our till 1800-1900 on a good day if we were lucky. This was 5 days a week, how do you sleep and decompress?

kalevra, BSN, RN · May 28, 2014

Here is my background,

I was a combat medic in the ARMY whcih means I was also NREMT. When I got out, i went to RN school.

Fast forward a few years later. Going form ER, Telemetry, and finally ICU my Combat Medic Experience CINCHED ALL OF MY JOBS. Everyone assumes you can handle trauma and stress like no problem. Which just happens to be true, active duty on a combat line with deployments to Iraq is way way harder. My ARMY experience was critical.

SKIP LPN, focus on RN preferably in a junior college setting. You get to skip a bunch of bull classes that does not pertain to nursing on a daily basis, like Organic Chemistry. Junior colleges get the necessary classes and more bedside time. less theory and more hands on.

Dont know about advanced degrees sorry.

What state are you in? I was talking to some staff at two different colleges in my state. I was informed that because they take federal money, they set aside 10 seats per cohort only for veterans. If you are the only veteran to apply and meet all minimum standard, the seat is yours. If the seats do not get filled, they go to civilians.

504 medic · May 28, 2014

If you're interested in advanced degrees, pursuing an ROTC path might be a better option. It has the added benefit of guaranteed employment as a nurse right out of college...no need to job hunt. Doing things via a Reserves also means you will shoulder more financial burden for your family, need to split your time between Army/family/work, where as ROTC provided all sorts of benefits, and you will only split between Army and family. Good luck either way.

MarineNurseKTaguba · Jun 10, 2014

Im in RBE (remain behind element) unit. CLB-7, i go to work at 7-1630.. then go work in the hospital 17-23.. then i work 8-32 hours on the weekend. My RN supervisor is really cool she would let me get time off on holidays and 96s.. They're really short on stuff and me giving my weekend to fill their staff is a big help. We help each other. I also work as an interpreter for national health survey (part-time)

MarineNurseKTaguba · Jun 10, 2014

Im in RBE (remain behind element) unit. CLB-7, i go to work at 7-1630.. then go work in the hospital 17-23.. then i work 8-32 hours on the weekend. My RN supervisor is really cool she would let me get time off on holidays and 96s.. They're really short on stuff and me giving my weekend to fill their staff is a big help. We help each other. I also work as an interpreter for national health survey (part-time)

MarineNurseKTaguba · Jun 10, 2014

im in CA bro.. THat's a really nice post.. thanks for your input... How about doing criminal justice focus in forensics online. I really can't do nothing since im active right now. I can't go to clinicals. All i do is online classes and 1-2 main campus classes at a time. TA is limited and Marine Corps comes first.

kalevra, BSN, RN · Jun 10, 2014

im in CA bro.. THat's a really nice post.. thanks for your input... How about doing criminal justice focus in forensics online. I really can't do nothing since im active right now. I can't go to clinicals. All i do is online classes and 1-2 main campus classes at a time. TA is limited and Marine Corps comes first.

Knock out all the bull pre-requisite classes. Many are available online, such as math and English. My program alone had 1-2 years worth of classes before you could even take the core pre-reqs like anatom, micro and physio. Try to knock out as much bull classes before you leave active duty. It will make the transiiton easier.

Malenurse13 · Jun 11, 2014

On the LPN or RN question, I will break this down.

1) If you want to get in fast and be a nurse become a LPN through a private college. These are anywhere from 10 months to 18 months. To do it this way DO NOT go to a junior college, or community college. Reason is in #2

2) If you want it to take more then 2 years (don't forget pre-reqs) then go strait for your RN ASN or BSN. This can be done at a 2 year colleges. And usually have a waiting list to get into a program. The pre-reqs and waiting list apply to the LPN programs as well so you might as well go strait to RN at 2 year colleges.

Now private colleges will cost you more, but pre-reqs are usually not required.

FYI LPN rank is enlisted and RN rank is officer

You can bridge from LPN to RN (ASN and BSN)

I really wont mess with reserves while in school unless you find a state that will pay for your school. I know at one time some states gave tuition assistance for people wanting to go to college. So you could save your GI Bill. If you found one to do that, personally I would get your LPN then use the GI Bill for your RN/ASN. Remember this when you get out you can choose which ever state you want as home.