Military/VA RN's - Please post experiences for Students

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I would like to help our student nurses recognize the value of entering into military service or working for the VA system. To do this, I would ask all of our members that are military or VA employed to lend your experience here. Please take a moment to post information for our students that you might think is helpful for them.

Would love to see information about dealing with recruiters (military ... that is) and how to effectively negotiate with them. Would like to see information posted about experiences that you have and any recommendations you have about entering military nursing or the VA system. THe VA can be a difficult place to navigate and any information on how to get into the VA would be helpful also.

We have many students that monitor this thread and I think this information would be very helpful to them.

Also, for the students reading this thread, please feel free to add your questions. We have many experienced military and VA nurses that view this thread and I am sure they are willing to help answer your questions.

I will make the thread a sticky in the hopes that it does become popular. Thanks for your help.

Specializes in long term care, agency, correctional.
All branches of the military require a BSN (I believe - Military people help me out please). I am not sure what the age cut off is, but perhaps others reading tyhe thread can answer.

I am not enlisted yet. I am a LPN. I have been told I will be a 91wm6 which is a practical nurse in the Army. I tried all of the other branchs Army is the only one with this option. I also think they might take associates RNs.

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I was wondering if any VA RN's who are currently employed can give me any information about the hiring process.What happened was I had faxed my resume to my local VA hospital back in 2/06,they had called me in for a interview 7/6/06,I went and met with the nurse manager and we interviewed,she said she had a few interviews left,but I would be hearing from someone after the interview process was over,she dais sometimes it takes 6 months.A few days ago I decided to call the staffing coordinator whose number the manager had given me,he stated the nurse manager was brining him tha packets that evening then they are sent to personnel,Well this morning he had called me and said what he now needs is for me to fax him 2 professional who I have worked with and he gave me the number,I was shocked he had called,could this mean I am on my way to employment with the VA?What comes after this point?Any information would be gladly appreciated as I am very excited,with the VA do they actually offer you a position?Thank You for your response.

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Specializes in Med/Surg;Hm Health;House Super; ER.
All branches of the military require a BSN (I believe - Military people help me out please). I am not sure what the age cut off is, but perhaps others reading tyhe thread can answer.

Since I've been researching all branches for myself, let me see if I can help (though answer may not be perfect!).

Army -You have to have a BSN for Active Duty, BUT they will allow you to join the Reserves w/ an ASN/ADN & pay you a monthly stipend to go to BSN school (plus GI bill) while in the Reserves. During this time, though you'd be in Reserves, you are nondeployable in "student status" until you're finished w/ your BSN. After you're done, you can stay in the Reserves or join Active Duty...both w/ a minimum obligation.

Navy -You can have just your ASN/ADN on entry, but they want you to get your BSN. I had conflicting info here, as one recruiter told me you will be working Full Time while at the same time aquiring your BSN (which takes time), & the other info I got was the same as the Army, in that you will just be focusing on your BSN program the whole time & then will go into working full time after that. They will pay you for your BSN schooling.

Air Force -You can't join until you have your BSN, period. They will, however, reimburse you for your school loan once you're finished & then you can join the A.F. Be sure to send your application to be processed about 10 months before you plan to join, I was told by the recruiter.

You must have a GPA above 3.0 for all of these, I believe. Also, you must work your way up from there. I hope this helped!!!:nurse:

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Specializes in Hospital, med-surg, hospice.

I'm an RN that serves those who first served us, I work in a VA hospital in a large metro hospital; first of all if you are an RN be prepared to work; you will do it all, we don't always have NA's, we do total pt. care, and I mean every thing, you will pass meds, do assessments, charts, admit and discharge, charge duties, and baths, incontinence care, start IV's, draw labs when needed, etc..the staff nurse will get plenty experience in the VA hospitals..:wink2:

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Specializes in ER,ICU and Progressive Care Unit,Peds.

To respond to Care&Joy:

I am an RN in the Navy, and I'm not sure where you got your info from on this one, but I can tell you that to be a RN/Naval Officer in the Nurse corps of USN you must be a BSN prepared nurse. IF you have asn/adn you will come in as a corpsman either E5 or E6 depending on your work experience, BUt you will have a better chance at promotion due to the degree. You can use your GI bill or TA to get BSN but you are still committed you your Active Duty requirements. Don't listen to everything the recruiters tell you!

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Army -You have to have a BSN for Active Duty, BUT they will allow you to join the Reserves w/ an ASN/ADN & pay you a monthly stipend to go to BSN school (plus GI bill) while in the Reserves. During this time, though you'd be in Reserves, you are nondeployable in "student status" until you're finished w/ your BSN. After you're done, you can stay in the Reserves or join Active Duty...both w/ a minimum obligation.

curious where you got this info. have heard of ADN Reservists who were activated+deployed.... :nurse:

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Specializes in Ortho, Med surg and L&D.
curious where you got this info. have heard of ADN Reservists who were activated+deployed.... :nurse:

I've heard this too, one of my former reservists coworkers was deployed.

Gen

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I've heard this too, one of my former reservists coworkers was deployed.

yes, and they didn't usually come back for about 18 mos.

that's 1.5 years of school you would've missed.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

If you are in any component of the US military, you ARE deployable, unless you have a physical/medical waiver.

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It sounds to me like the military likes to keep everyone guessing. This troubles me a little considering my daughter is thinking about joining the Army. It's very confusing and hard to get real answers that you can count on. There are many different opinions on the most basic subject matters such as pay scale and requirements. This should be cut and dry information. Especially for parents who are at the mercy of putting their childrens lives in the hands of strangers. She is currently in a local nursing program and it doesn't make sense to me for her to quit in the middle of it just to join the army to become a nurse. Can someone give me an unbiased opinion of the advantages and disadvantages of doing this? Other than the obvious of course. Patriotism, tuition reimbursement etc.

Thanks, Concerned Dad

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Actually, the military is pretty cut and dry. Lots of regulations and such. Pay is VERY cut and dry. It is the same across all branches. You can go to Military Pay Tables to see the current rates for all ranks.

With regards to nursing it would be best to speak to a Health Care Recruiter or find someone that is in the business. If you speak to regular recruiters they may not be totally familiar with requirements and processes. For the most part people fall into a bell curve and most info pertains to them. However, there are exceptions (ie different education, experience, prior military service) that fall outside the norm and require special attention or waivers. You will find that just about everything is waiverable if the "need" is there. Take my case for example. I had retired from the Army NAt'l Guard in 2001. I was an Armor officer. With some life changes I changed civilian careers to nursing and graduated in 2005. I was seriously considering the military but the recruiters said I couldn't come in because I was already retired (Army and AF) and the Navy wouldn't touch me. Fast forward a year later and all of a sudden I am desirable. I have had to get a bunch of waivers for age, retired status, traffic tickets, etc but they want me now and it looks like I will be in the Army Nurse Corpse this year. The caveat with recruiters is to get what you want in writing, no exception!

I don't know your daughter's background or desires for the military but the basic answer for nursing (RN, I am assuming she wants to be an RN) is that if you want to be on active duty you need the BSN. Army Reserve will commision with an ADN and like another person mentioned if you are in the military in any capacity you are deployable. My recommendation, if she wants to be an RN and is in a BSN RN program right now, is to stay the course and finish then look to the military or possibly look to ROTC for educational assistance and a taste of the military. Don't get out of any RN program. The military isn't going to train your daughter to be an RN. That has to come from civilian schooling. Now, after graduating, she would go to an officer nurse course but the requirement there is previous RN education. If she is in a CNA program then she would have to decide about being a medic in the Army or Navy. The services do train for these positions. They are enlisted positions whereas the RN is a commisioned officer. They do get to do a lot but it is not an RN. My current Charge nurse was an Army medic and then went to Nursing school and received his commision as an RN. They have programs to pay for that as well.

This is getting long but feel free to contact me for any further questions. I have 2 boys (Jr and Sr in HS) and I have talked to them about the military. The military can be a very positive experience. Choose the right career, work the system and come in with the right attitude. There are a lot of benefits. For nursing, the army will pay for you to go and work on your Masters Degree for 2 years (ie be basically a civilian for 2 yrs with full pay to go to school) for a 4 year commitment (and there are some impressive programs available). You have to be flexible and understand that you could go anywhere in the world (but that isn't a bad thing).

Bob

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Thanks Bob. This is very useful information. I had a productive conversation with my daughter today and we are both feeling a little less stressed about the situation. I think the recruiters realize there is a small window of opportunity to sign someone up so they sometimes pressure people into making a quick decision. Just want whats best for her, not the Army.

Thanks again, Mark

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