Hello everyone. I am a new nurse in the Navy reserve. If you are interested in Navy nursing or have any question about application process, testing, medical exam, background verification, selection board, accession process, Package preparation, MEPS, quota, credentialing, interviews, drills or units, just ask and I will do my best to answer them. I am not recruiter and my posts are based on my personal experience and may or may not reflect those of the Navy. Thx.
My question for you is are you joining to be an NP or an RN? Remember its hard to switch jobs in the military. You have to apply and they may not need NPs when you do. For ER nurses, they like level 1 trauma center experience....mass transfusions, managing drips, etc.
As a blanket statement, NPs are poorly utilized in all 3 branches of the military. From my Air Force perspective, our deployment teams (Air Force calls them UTCs) have few NPs/PAs on them. On active duty, they are often used to staff stateside bases. NPs rarely deploy abroad as NPs...more often they deploy as RNs in a management role. All of our Air Force ICU NPs deployed to civilian hospitals during COVID as RNs.
The most unfortunate part of advanced practice nursing in the military is that you are still part of the Nurse Corps....especially at the O-4 rank (Major/Lt Commander) and beyond. That means you are often used in leadership roles rather than clinical roles...lots of performance reports and meetings. If your goal is to travel and serve, then you'll be okay. CRNAs are the one exception and are used heavily clinically in stateside and deployed locations.
Having said all that, going to schools that require clinicals on active duty is nearly impossible. Your schedule isn't flexible enough. Reserves is definitely doable. I'd wait and apply once you are wrapping up; the app takes about a year from start to finish.
If student loan repayment or sign-on bonuses are being offered, then everybody gets them. The amount fluctuates regularly and is based on how badly they need people. You usually have to sign a contract for a certain number of years of active duty in exchange.
I have a BS in Health Administration and just completed an Entry Level MSN program. I asked my recruiter and he wasn't sure. My application was just submitted a few days ago and I find out in November.
It's a Cerner product that the military has tweaked slightly and called "MHS Genesis."
Acuity is almost universally lower with the exception of people stationed at San Antonio and people deployed. Everybody else's skills suffer a bit. You get to go to a bigger civilian hospital for a few weeks before you deploy, but that's about it.
I have few months left on my MSN and then I will be eligible to apply for reserves so my question is since reserves is a long game if your aiming for retirement how does it affect your reserves status if your civilian job changes like change of specialty, promotion to management position or changing career like NP, CRNA, etc.? do you need to change job also in your reserves position? like example from med surg nurse to critical nurse. thanks!
As a current reserves/guard nurse, your civilian job has almost nothing to do with your military job. In my unit, we have enlisted E-5 EMTs who are RNs with masters degrees in their civilian jobs.
If you earn new credentials on the civilian side, you still need to apply for the corresponding military job when it becomes free. Extra certs and degrees help some for future promotions but don't guarantee them and certainly don't make them instantly happen.
As a current reserves/guard nurse, your civilian job has almost nothing to do with your military job. In my unit, we have enlisted E-5 EMTs who are RNs with masters degrees in their civilian jobs.
If you earn new credentials on the civilian side, you still need to apply for the corresponding military job when it becomes free. Extra certs and degrees help some for future promotions but don't guarantee them and certainly don't make them instantly happen.
but what happens for example you are an ICU nurse in the reserves and then you transferred to ER in your civilian side or you became NP won't you be disqualified or de credentialed as an ICU nurse in the reserves side since your experience change now. thank for answering!
They're generally not very strict, although it's ultimately up to your unit's chief nurse. Really your self report and a one page form your civilian manager signs (or you sign) is the only verification they have. If you're comfortable doing the job (ER, ICU, etc) then I wouldn't worry about it. Plenty of NPs and CRNAs serve as RNs in my unit.
jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA
1,665 Posts
My question for you is are you joining to be an NP or an RN? Remember its hard to switch jobs in the military. You have to apply and they may not need NPs when you do. For ER nurses, they like level 1 trauma center experience....mass transfusions, managing drips, etc.
As a blanket statement, NPs are poorly utilized in all 3 branches of the military. From my Air Force perspective, our deployment teams (Air Force calls them UTCs) have few NPs/PAs on them. On active duty, they are often used to staff stateside bases. NPs rarely deploy abroad as NPs...more often they deploy as RNs in a management role. All of our Air Force ICU NPs deployed to civilian hospitals during COVID as RNs.
The most unfortunate part of advanced practice nursing in the military is that you are still part of the Nurse Corps....especially at the O-4 rank (Major/Lt Commander) and beyond. That means you are often used in leadership roles rather than clinical roles...lots of performance reports and meetings. If your goal is to travel and serve, then you'll be okay. CRNAs are the one exception and are used heavily clinically in stateside and deployed locations.
Having said all that, going to schools that require clinicals on active duty is nearly impossible. Your schedule isn't flexible enough. Reserves is definitely doable. I'd wait and apply once you are wrapping up; the app takes about a year from start to finish.
If student loan repayment or sign-on bonuses are being offered, then everybody gets them. The amount fluctuates regularly and is based on how badly they need people. You usually have to sign a contract for a certain number of years of active duty in exchange.