Navy nurse candidate program?

LeChien, BSN, RN · Mar 12, 2016

Contacting a recruiter might help.

sailornurse · Mar 13, 2016

You need to post in the Government & Military forum. When you talk to a recruited be sure it is not an enlisted recruiter. You need to speak to a recruited for Nurse Corps Officers. Also, if you search in the Military forum, you may find more answers.

Aquafina1 · Mar 13, 2016

Thank you so much!

elisabethm · Mar 13, 2016

Hello!

I am a nurse serving active duty in the Navy, and I actually came in through the NCP. My recommendation to you is to contact a healthcare recruiter as soon as you have your acceptance letter from a BSN program. (ADN's are not accepted by the military.) There are so many pre-nursing students who don't make the cut that a healthcare receuiter most likely won't respond until you have that acceptance.

In the meantime, keep your grades as high as possible. The program is very competitive. You will basically need straight A's.

Also, consider the other branches as well. Contact Army & Air Force recruiters. (Just make sure you are talking to healthcare recruiters, NOT the general recruiters for enlisted because they won't have the right info.) The military isn't hurting for nurses like it once was, which allows all the branches to be quite selective. If one branch doesn't have room for you, another might.

So for now, study study study, get yourself into the best BSN program you can, and stay open minded about all of your options. I love my job and am so glad I joined. Good luck to you!

elisabethm · Mar 13, 2016

Also, don't be discourged by the lengthy application process. I first went to the recruiter in March, was turned away because I wasn't competitive enough (at the time, I thought I was about to receive 2 B's that semester....I ended up pulling my grades up to A- 's by the last minute)...I then received an email in August saying the program had "opened up" and I might now have a chance. From then on, I worked on my application from August until I was finally accepted at the tail end of the following April. All of your friends will tell you you're crazy and to just give up, but it is so worth it once you're finally in!

Aquafina1 · Mar 14, 2016

Thank you so much! I didn't know I had to have my acceptance letter,I read somewhere that it's good to get in there ASAP. I will use this as my motivation, I mostly have B's but I see I need to do better!

cwescogame · Mar 14, 2016

What was the process you took to get started? Did you talk to all the branches before deciding on which one?

erinnelle · Mar 19, 2016

How in depth was the physical exam process? Do they actively look in your medical records to confirm no prior? I had a friend in the Army say the don't look at any kind of history and just go off of what you tell them?

jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA · Mar 20, 2016

You can lie and tell them that there's nothing wrong with you. Realistically, they don't have much way to tell if you're lying. Obviously, you could get in serious trouble if they find stuff later that clearly has been there since before you joined (pins, screws, etc). On the whole, they really can only look at what stuff you give them access to.

Aquafina1 · Mar 29, 2016

What? Lol no I'm not doing that I don't want anything jeopardizing my opportunity for free money, a secure job, and education

Aquafina1 · Mar 29, 2016

I haven't gone to them yet, I'm sorry. I have yet to find an officer recruiter, only enlisted ones and they are not always the best people to ask when it comes to this because they just want you to hurry and enlist.