Navy Nursing Education Reqs

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So, I graduate from my ASN program in MAy and have been considering going into the navy for nursing. I already know that they require at least a bachelor's degree, but will the navy accept a master's in nursing instead if I do my ASN to MSN? '

Also, any information regarding ODS, deployments, specialties, and anything else of the sort would be so appreciated!

Thanks guys!

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Specializes in Adult Critical Care.

Yes, the MSN works. No RN experience you attain prior to the MSN will count towards your initial rank, however. Other branches count all RN experience.

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2 hours ago, jfratian said:

Yes, the MSN works. No RN experience you attain prior to the MSN will count towards your initial rank, however. Other branches count all RN experience.

Thanks for the info! Do you have any advice regarding ODS, deployments, and how the rank system works?

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Specializes in Adult Critical Care.

I'm AF not Navy. ODS, their officer basic course, differs from what I did. The most common deployment locations for Navy nurses are Kandahar, Afghanistan or on one of the 2 hospital ships (Mercy or Comfort). I think they do 6 month deployments too; I don't know the frequency for them.

I can tell you that you'll want to get civilian experience in the area that you eventually want to practice in (ER, ICU, etc). Otherwise, the military traditionally starts new grads in inpatient med-surg for the first couple of years.

New nurses enter as O-1s (Ensigns in the Navy), while nurses with experience or masters degrees enter as O-2s or O-3s (LT JG or LT).

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