Navy Nurse Sea/Shore Lengths, etc.

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Hi everyone!

I'm currently in my last semester of nursing school and the Nurse Candidate Program, and will be headed to Navy Hospital Camp Pendleton after commissioning & ODS this summer. I'll be moving with my wife and two kids. I realize that generalizations are hard in the military, but does anyone have an educated guess of how long we can expect to stay at Camp Pendleton? Following that, is it a "guaranteed" sea rotation, or are sea billets still application/volunteer basis mostly (this is according to another post I found from 2006)?

I get the sense from others that sea rotations and combat zone deployments are usually taken by ICU and ER nurses. Is that still true?

I have always leaned towards pediatrics and possibly PICU, and hope to be selected for DUINS soon in my career to obtain my DNP. We'll see if needs of the Navy allow for that direction, but that is the specialty I would like to pursue.

I've searched on here and other forums, but most info I find is 10+ years old, and given how things seem to change constantly in the military, I figured it might be nice to get a current take on things. Apologies if I've screwed up any terminology; I'm learning as I go, and can't wait to officially start in July!

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Specializes in Critical Care.

CONUS orders are 3 years accompanied or unaccompanied. OCONUS are 2 years unaccompanied/3 years accompanied. Operational tours (Field Med with Marines/Ship's Nurse/FST) all 2 years regardless of location and accompanied/unaccompanied.

You can expect to stay at CP for 3 years and probably stay on the med/surg or L/D for 18 months before transferring to a speciality area. Unless you get to the ER/ICU there is little to no chance of getting a "sea rotation" without 1945/1960 codes, as you apply for those speciality billets.

As far as DUINS and PICU, just let your leadership know what your goals are (learning your job on the floor you are assigned). I'm not sure if CP has a PICU since NMSD is right down the street; you should look into that. Hope this helps

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That does help a lot, thank you!

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With a 1945K how likely are you to get selected for sea rotation/field med/fst? I would actually like to volunteer for these opportunities if possible but like vinstfa has mentioned most posts are fairly old and seem to mention that the 1960s are more readily selected for these positions.

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