Navy or Army nursing

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · Apr 28, 2010

.... I always am in culture shock when people refer to 'front lines' as simply being in Iraq or Afg...
I accept that as part of the job or an expectation. Nurses are 99.9% not on what is considered a front-line, nor should they be unless you have a larger problem
The fact is there is some danger whenever you are deployed but is largely minimal when compared to those actually on the "front lines". Some will feel offended by this - but there is a disparity between the 90% of those deployed that will operate to support the remaining smaller percentage that take care of business. Does this mean 1 is more important then the other? No both but are necessary... but to diminish the danger, stress, work of those grunts, engineers and others outside the wire would be in poor taste.
Both navy and army have great options. I would look at the locations of primary hospitals, I would look at the general job classifications available, I would look at 'who do you know' as soldiers or sailors and to you tend to like being around.
Aside from that I say both are great choices and almost comes down to a personal preference. best of luck.

You don't offend at all. And I'm sure the intentions here are not to diminish the work of anyone. But based on what I've been told by both medical and line who have been to both locations, a civilian off the street has no idea of any of it - and may be under the impression that the closest any non-infantry personnel get to the wire is some posh location in Dubai or Qatar. And any deployment to either location certainly isn't that.

And if you're flying medevac, you're damned close to the outside - from what I've been told, anyway.

armyicurn · Apr 28, 2010

I hate to be the bearer of the cold bucket of water, but it's very possible that you'll get to see the front lines in the Navy as you are in the Army--I know of several Navy nurses (and yes, all are female) who got stationed in Iraq, Afghanastan, and Africa at joint command bases for 6-12 month tours. Yes, the odds of you getting sent there are lower than if you were in the Army...but in reality, if you're in any of the armed forces, there's a real risk of seeing the front lines.

BINGO! Admiral Mullen said that his Navy has to do their share on the war on terror. No one is safe. The AF may have cushy jobs but they keep closing their damn facilities and are now wedging into army facilities. You are not safe regardless of the branch. For next year, the Army only has 65 openings for recruiting RNs. I hope you can see what this means. We are making the numbers because they are giving bonuses like no tomorrow and the brass is starting to treat us better. Regardless of where you go, Go Army :yeah: You won't regret it.

armyicurn · Apr 28, 2010

I'm not into nursing with either the Army or Navy. However, as the gf of a U.S. Soldier I can let you know that as a woman you won't be in the front lines, most women in the Army that I know of (this is just me personally) have jobs in offices etc.
Also, if you want to be a nurse in the Army I would look into training in the Army b/c they would pay for all of your training. And you'd be getting your seniority in.

Not true. If a female RN is part of the FST, you will be close to the lines. Not right where the fighting is but when you are in a combat zone, all hell around you is the front line. Gender does not protect you in a combat zone. You wear the uniform, be ready to do the job regardless of where you go.:twocents:

armyicurn · Apr 28, 2010

Sorry to say that plenty of Army women are being injured and killed in both Iraq and Afghanistan - and if you're medical it's not going to matter whether you're male or female.
I'm not sure what you mean by "getting your seniority in"; all the services give constructive credit towards time in grade for years spent as an RN, but a new grad would not have this.
All of the services pay for the training of their nurses in their respective specialties.

What the poster meant about seniority is about time in rank. If you worked as a civilian RN, you get some credit towards your next rank. :twocents:

chul_soo · Apr 29, 2010

I hate to be the bearer of the cold bucket of water, but it's very possible that you'll get to see the front lines in the Navy as you are in the Army--I know of several Navy nurses (and yes, all are female) who got stationed in Iraq, Afghanastan, and Africa at joint command bases for 6-12 month tours. Yes, the odds of you getting sent there are lower than if you were in the Army...but in reality, if you're in any of the armed forces, there's a real risk of seeing the front lines.

hm... from my experience, i've never seen an army nurse go on patrol because they had to... of course there were a some that wanted to see the outside of the fob and tagged along here and there.

i've been with the infantry for 4 1/2 years deployed both to afghanistan and iraq and never saw a nurse out on patrol. the farthest out that i've seen nurses were at the FST (forward surgical team) in a small fob. of course, they either flew in or... drove in with a big group... so i suppose u "might" have to hold ur weapon for the purpose it was made for, but i really think it's rare. hey, who knows? u might even get your CMB (combat medical badge) if your in the army. but very rare to see a nurse that got a CMB while they were a nurse but some have it because poo* does hit the fan at times u least expect it...

i agree with the 6-12 month deployments though. espically if you a CRNA

chul_soo · Apr 29, 2010

Not true. If a female RN is part of the FST, you will be close to the lines. Not right where the fighting is but when you are in a combat zone, all hell around you is the front line. Gender does not protect you in a combat zone. You wear the uniform, be ready to do the job regardless of where you go.:twocents:

I would say "hell" 5% of the time and 50% false alarm because they end up sending the wounded to a different base and your teams waiting till someone over the radio tells you to stand down... Of course I've seen other FST's have nothing going on for months and others stay busy because IED's are planted every few blocks. FST's are a pretty safe gig, minus the rockets that are aimed at the fob. But the chances of getting by one of those are too rare. Most of the time, those rockets misses the fob all together and end up hitting the village next to the fob. Also the fobs have done a good job putting up walls and hescos.

If you like trauma and action, FST's the place to be. CSH's are too big and too many people out rank you. FST's are a lot more independant. Kinda like, "out of sight, out of mind", type of thing.

vegas2009 · Apr 29, 2010

A lot of people think that, just because someone is a commissioned officer -- that someone won't be directly in battle. Maybe this was true way back then?? Not anymore though. The enlisted personnel aren't only the ones out in the fields. I suppose it depends on one's rank. The higher up, the lesser chance of being sent out to the front lines.

It is a lot harder NOW to get promoted (as an officer) in the Air force, Navy and maybe the Marines. Probably because, more and more active duty officers have more education -- compared to 20-25 years ago?

The Army has higher turnovers (I hear), but maybe that's changed now too? As far as promotion goes -- maybe it's less hard with the Army? -- compared to the Air force, Navy and the Marines.

armyicurn · Apr 29, 2010

Talked to my buddy who is a recruiter for the AMEDD. He said that for next FY, only 65 slots are open for RNs. That is it!

CEG · Apr 29, 2010

I'm not into nursing with either the Army or Navy. However, as the gf of a U.S. Soldier I can let you know that as a woman you won't be in the front lines, most women in the Army that I know of (this is just me personally) have jobs in offices etc.
Also, if you want to be a nurse in the Army I would look into training in the Army b/c they would pay for all of your training. And you'd be getting your seniority in.

really.not.true. There are no women in the infantry but there are female mps, signaleers, engineers, artillary, etc and they are far from offices. There aren't so many jobs these days that are closed to women. And there is really no "front line" as we think of from WW I. The female truck driver may get shot while the male infantryman stands guard safely.

izzycatswimRN · May 2, 2010

I just want to toss in my 2 cents about the Navy. I'm currently in their Nurse Candidate Program and I have inquired very thoroughly about the chances of deployment and everything. In regards to getting put on a ship, nursing positions on Navy ships (not the medical ships...but this still applies according to my recruiter who spent time as a ship nurse) they are VERY hard to get. The list of nurses wanting to do ship assignments is HUGE. My recruiter told me it took her 3 years to get the 6 month position she had on a ship. They keep very limited medical personnel on the ships apparently. And obviously, priority goes to the higher ranks for assignments like that. In regards to going with Marines...yeah you can if you are attached to a Marine unit. Navy nurses don't just get sent with them..at least that is my understanding. Maybe this helps you some!

allnurses Guide · May 2, 2010

I just want to toss in my 2 cents about the Navy. I'm currently in their Nurse Candidate Program and I have inquired very thoroughly about the chances of deployment and everything. In regards to getting put on a ship, nursing positions on Navy ships (not the medical ships...but this still applies according to my recruiter who spent time as a ship nurse) they are VERY hard to get. The list of nurses wanting to do ship assignments is HUGE. My recruiter told me it took her 3 years to get the 6 month position she had on a ship. They keep very limited medical personnel on the ships apparently. And obviously, priority goes to the higher ranks for assignments like that. In regards to going with Marines...yeah you can if you are attached to a Marine unit. Navy nurses don't just get sent with them..at least that is my understanding. Maybe this helps you some!

I did my clinicals at NNMC and I know for the OR nurses (and for the other Navy nurses also I believe) it wasn't uncommon to get deployed on the Mercy or Comfort. The Navy nurses that I worked with seemed to get deployed just as often as AF nurses. I think the amount of deployments mostly depends on your speciality ICU/ER/OR nurses seem deploy the most no matter what branch of the service you are in, and at least in the AF no nursing speciality is non-deployable you are just deployed as med-surg nurse if your speciality is not needed.

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · May 4, 2010

A lot of people think that, just because someone is a commissioned officer -- that someone won't be directly in battle. Maybe this was true way back then?? Not anymore though. The enlisted personnel aren't only the ones out in the fields. I suppose it depends on one's rank. The higher up, the lesser chance of being sent out to the front lines.
It is a lot harder NOW to get promoted (as an officer) in the Air force, Navy and maybe the Marines. Probably because, more and more active duty officers have more education -- compared to 20-25 years ago?

We have a joke in the Air Force.

We send our officers to war. Fighter pilot, bomber pilot - all officers.

(Before you freak out, I'm an ex Air Force cop - I know who's on the ground for the Air Force because I WAS on the ground for the Air Force - it's a joke!)

It's harder to get promoted in the Air Force because we're smaller and therefore have fewer officer slots relative to the number of people competing for them. It's more competitive because of education, yes, but it's harder because we're smaller and it's always been harder in the AF for that reason.

It's getting harder across the services because of drawdowns and because when the economy sucks the military prospers, so there are more bodies competing for the same number of available slots.