Navy Nurse

[MissPri]

I am already a Nurse for the last 2yrs & I am thinking of joing the Navy or Airforce as a Nurse so how does that work ? Do I still have to go to Bootcamp or A-School ? Will I be stationed on a Ship which is where I want to be ? What rank if any will I have ? How are Woman treated on Ships ?

[ArtClassRN, ADN, RN]

Perhaps an appointment with a Navy or Air Force recruiter would be helpful?

[SouthpawRN]

If you want to be on a ship, how about a cruise line nurse, I bet the food is better and the ports of call too.

[jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA]

Contrary to popular belief, the vast majority of Navy nurses do not practice on ships. Most actually staff base hospitals on land similar to their civilian counterparts. Aside from the two humanitarian ships (the Mercy and the Comfort), only the biggest ships have any nurses at all. Even when they do, you're talking about only a couple of nurses for the whole ship. Enlisted medics (corpsmen) are the entire medical staff on most ships. The nurses that are assigned to ships are typically those with an ER or ICU background.

Your first duty station will almost certainly be one of the big three (San Diego, Portsmouth, or Walter Reed). The three military branches generally give about 50% credit for civilian RN experience. That means you need at least 4 years of experience to come in at a higher rank than O-1 (Ensign).