Navy Nurse Corps Question: OR nursing

jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA · Feb 25, 2019

I'm not sure if we have any current Navy nurses here. I'm active AF, but I'll take a stab at the rank thing.

From what I've heard, all 3 branches credit incoming rank similarly. If the 10 years is all full time RN experience and you earned all of it AFTER earning a BSN or higher degree, then you'll enter as an O-3: that's a Lieutenant in the Navy. The Navy doesn't count RN experience earned with an ASN or diploma; the Army and AF do.

Your prior enlisted time will give you federal service time. That means you'll start as an O-3 with 4 years of service. However, you won't get the prior enlisted 'E.' You need a 6 year enlistment for that (4 years PLUS one day).

I really don't know anything about the Navy's current needs.

The Navy bases for nurses (large hospitals) are largely concentrated at San Diego, D.C., and Portsmouth. Although, they do have ORs in other places...your odds of going those places seem much smaller though.

If you can find a Navy nurse, you should really dig into how much they really let you stay as an OR nurse. From what I've heard, the Navy likes people to get a wide range of experiences. But, the AF would never let me leave the ICU to do education and training or so other admin job.

tiffcrn, ADN, BSN, MSN, RN, EMT-B · Feb 25, 2019

Thank you! That does answer some of my questions. I did have a LTCD reach out today and he sent me all the medical documents to fill out. I’d be fine with almost any area of nursing as I have different experience. I am also nationally certified as an EMT and volunteer on an ambulance service. I earned my BSN in 2011, masters in 2017.

How is life active as a nurse? Do you have a family? How do they like the lifestyle? I enjoyed the navy when I was in but got out to go back to school. I had intentions of going back in but ended up getting married, having 3 kids, and more schooling. I’m at a point in my life I think we are ready for some changes.

My brother in law is AF he is a TACP. He and his wife seem to enjoy the AF.

jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA · Feb 26, 2019

I'm single so I can't comment on the family thing.

2/3 to 3/4 of the time you're just working as a nurse in a base hospital. The remaining time is spend training out of town or on deployments (which are unaccompanied temporary assignments to typically unsafe areas). My current cycle is 6 months on and 12 months off.

With active duty, you PCS (move permanent bases) every 2-4 years

PEK93RT · Mar 2, 2019

I'm an active duty RN in the Navy, current job is a student for another 2.25 years.

All 3 branches have recently cut their nurse corps due to military medicine wide cuts. That is not to say that the military is not recruiting, always upward mobility, as my senior folks are required to retire if they do not pick up a rank, mandatory age retirement, or max time in service for rank.

The military needs OR, CRNA, ICU/ER, APRNs, and med-surg nurses that are deployable. Expect to deploy at least once every 3 years(per duty station) for at least 6-9 months, unless the President pulls us out of these conflicts.

Regarding rank, if your goal is to retire (20 years of service), starting out at the lowest rank (ensign) will be beneficial, and provide 4 years till the rank of Lieutenant for you to learn the ropes. The military credits 2 years for a masters degree, 4 years of a DNP/PhD, and time of experience with a BSN or higher divided by 2. So if you have 10 years of experience would be credited with 5 years of service for rank only (does not count toward pay or toward retirement). With that being said, higher rank = higher pay, but also greater responsibility which you will be evaluated on for promotion. If you come in as a Lieutenant, you will be graded against others who know how the military system works and what is expected, what to do to earn higher marks and such. Which is why I would recommend starting as an Ensign first (not much is expected of you at this point, but to focus on clinical skills. At the rank of Lieutenant, you are expected to start doing administration roles, such as DIVO "nurse manager", and doing collaterals (teaching ACLS, BLS, etc, infection control tracking, and such).

Right now the current duty stations for the Navy in Bethesda, MD; Portsmouth, VA; San Diego, CA; Jacksonville, FL; Camp Pendleton, CA; Camp Lejune, NC; Bremerton, WA; Okinawa Japan; Yokuska Japan; Guam, USA; Naples Italy; Sigonella Italy; Bahrain; Rota Spain. Not an inclusive list, but the ability to go to each one is dependent on open billets and need for your billet (job). To make matters more confusing, all of the East coast this year is falling under the Defense Health Association (DHA), West coast 2020, and world 2021. What does that mean for Navy? I don't fully know yet, but it seems that each hospital will be tri-service, though for deployments you will be utilized by individual branches.

If your goal is to go into anaesthesia, nurse practitioner, or clinical nurse specialist, the military will pay full salary and benefits to be a student for 3 years (can apply at the end of your second duty station or ~6 years from entry).