Navy Nursing: Enlisted vs Officer

Specialties Government

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Hello everyone,

My RN brother wants to be a Navy Nurse but since he is a foreign Grad from Philippines he can only apply for enlisted according to our local recruiter agency. He currently has a green card status and only US citizen can apply for officer. He has to wait another 2 years before he can apply for US citizenship.

In Navy Nursing, Can anyone share some disadvantages of being enlisted compare being an officer?

thanks

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Specializes in CRITICAL CARE.

You can't practice as a registered nurse as enlisted. You'll take an ASVAB, select a rating (job specialty), boot camp, A school/C school. If he wants to stick to healthcare as enlisted, he'll be a hospital corpsman (HM). If he wants to practice at his full capacity in the Navy as a registered nurse, commission, and receive a billet, he'll just have to wait until he attains his citizenship. Best of luck!

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Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.

Unless he graduated from a US school, he will not be able to commission.

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Specializes in Adult Critical Care.

I would highly recommend that he use the 2 years waiting on citizenship papers to obtain an MSN from a US school. That should make him eligible for an officer's commission in the military despite not having a BSN from a US school.

There's a significant difference in pay between officers and enlisted. An O-3 with 4 years of service makes more money than an E-8 with 26 years of experience. I would say on that basis alone it's worth getting the MSN. As the earlier posters have stated, the military won't let you practice as a nurse unless you are an officer.

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