Navy Nurse Corps 1st duty station

[ERmurse86]

Hello all. If this has been answered already, please redirect me to the correct thread. I am currently speaking with a Navy recruiter about direct accession into the nurse corp. I am prior enlisted in the Army reserve (9 years) and am now looking into AD. Does anyone have any insight into the possibility of getting Balboa in San Diego, CA. as 1st choice duty station. The recruiter said it would be one of the BIG 3, but given that I have experience, and am not requesting loan repayment incentives, I figured I could negotiate my first duty station. I am looking into signing a 4 year commitment. Also, does the Navy have MOS identifiers for specialties (I work as an ER nurse, and would like to stay in the ER), as the Army has 66H for nurses and 66T or 66M for critical care nurses. The recruiter told me that the Navy wants their nurses to be "well rounded", but I would not be too happy about having to work in med-surg again. Thanks again.

[jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA]

Can't really help you with Navy specific stuff. I can talk about the Air Force, which definitely does have designators for ICU, ER, OR, OB, psych. Even if they have the identifier, that doesn't mean you'll really be there for life. You could be forced to be an executive officer (desk jockey) for a commander. You could be stuck in an ER that's closer to an urgent care (which really is most military ERs). Especially after your 1st assignment, you might be put in a management role in a non-ER unit. My last unit manager on a med-surg floor was a career ICU nurse.

I don't know of any career military nurse that didn't step outside of their comfort zones at least once or twice. My point here is that you should be willing to be flexible and not go into this with the notion that 'ER in San Diego' is all I want to do. Otherwise, I'm not sure you'd be happy with military nursing.

[ERmurse86]

Hi jfratian. Thanks for your response. I understand the military pretty well. I actually work at SAMMC in the ED and my counter parts are AD Army and Air Force. I understand that I will be placed on other roles that are not clinician ER nursing, or even nursing for that matter. I look forward to taking on a leadership role in the future. My question was more towards negotiating my 1st duty station and not being placed on a med-surg floor d/t the Navy possibly not having specific designators for critical care positions. I spoke to an AF nurse recruiter too, and he told me that the AF did not currently have needs for nurses, but that we could start the application process in hopes for positions becoming available in the beginning of FY 2017. AF would have been awesome though. Thanks again.

[vinstafa]

Since you are prior (even though Army) you probably already know, the needs of the military (in this case, the Navy) comes first; however, with prior experience as a RN comes with perks. If selected, your duty station locations will increase because of having experience (it shouldn't be limited to the Big 3, but the detailer will push them because they will have the most billets available).

When I came in my recruiter told me that I had to put the Big 3 down because that was what I was going to get, but when I first talked with the detailer my options were just about anywhere with an ICU.

As far as the identifier goes, make sure you are being identified and credentialed as a 1945 (ER). This may take more paperwork to prove your experience working in the ER, but it will be beneficial in the long run. I came in as a 1960 (ICU) and that's where I ended up.

Also, how long have you been a practicing RN with a BSN? This will help in promoting faster and possibly coming in as a LTJG and not an ENS. It's 2 years civi with BSN=1 year toward rank.

Hope this helps.

[ERmurse86]

Thanks vinstafa. It does put my mind at ease more. My recruiter didn't mention anything about 1945 or 1960, even though I asked. I have a couple of years in the ER and am credentialed as such (acls,pals,tncc, pending cen). I also asked him questions about rank with experience and prior service (it gets trickier in regards to oe pay since I am reserve) but he simply stated I'd come in as an ENS. Even though rank isn't a deal breaker for me, I'd obviously prefer to be able to negotiate a more advantageous position for myself. My recruiter did mention negotiations with the recruiter about a duty station, but didn't put much emphasis on the subject. I appreciate your feedback.

Lastly, for the identifier, should I have my recruiter do that process? I'm guessing the answer is yes?

[vinstafa]

1945 for ER and if you pass your CEN, make sure all that paperwork is in your package and you should be a 1945K. 19xx is the SSC and the letter indicates years of experience or nationally certified.