Navy Nursing

[jaydeecruz]

Consideration of Navy Nursing

I'm 17 years old, and have recently taken my ACTs. Lately, I have been looking towards the Health Care Provision and mostly into Nursing. Recently, I have made somewhat a decision on joining the Navy as an officer and a Nurse. I though, have a few questions.

1) What is the most common way? I would I like to get my College Degree in Nursing (RN most specifically), but how does the Navy fit into it? Do I attend school first and finish, then enlist? Or do I attend school while serving as a Navy? What's the most common and efficient way? How do these things work?

2) If are those question standards answered, what are the benefits of going to school & being in the navy? Will they help me pay for my tuition or is it the other way around that once I'm finished with school, they'll help me pay off the bills?

3) What is the basic training as an officer and a nurse in the Navy like? What are the Physical Requirements?

4) How long is Active duty and reserve?

5) Do I Enlist right after college or during college?

6) Some advice on Pros & Cons of Navy Nursing? (Would like some input)

7) What are the benefits in civilian nursing after I have served my time?

My mother's side of the family has a lot of history in the military, most especially in the Navy. I am the only female of my mother's blood, who has consideration in joining the Navy. I percieve life in a different outlook, I believe there is more to than just busting my ass off in college and paying off debt, and then getting a job in the career I want and be settled for the rest of my life, I believe the Navy is a good settlement for me, I believe it can do alot for me, not only helping your fellow brothers and sisters but serving and fighting for my country.

[zzbxdo]

Get your BSN first and then enlist. Previous experience required first for critical areas otherwise you start in medsurg. If you enlist as an E, you have to put in sometime before they assist with education. I'm leaving out majority of the details but it's faster and more productive to get your license first before signing up. Grad school is a different subject especially on what you want to do.

As a nurse you're an officer. You can Google the requirements and training expected of officers, the expectations are nothing really unless you're obese.

Your contracts are given to you upfront and you kind of choose. Typically you can choose 2-4 years for starters. If you have lots of family you can ask them or just look at their site, it's not that hard.

I think you can begin the process like physicals before you get your license(BSN) , but that is the ultimate requirement. You shouldn't enlist as ensign while you're in school.

Pros - good money, benefits, potential to travel, experience and new technologies. You are treated well with great autonomy and have expectations to do so.

Cons - relocation and moving, norms of military rigidity

Check out the military nursing forum and you'll find everything you need there. It's a lot of information to absorb.

[SoldierNurse22, BSN, RN]

A few caveats to the above post: as an officer, you commission, you do not enlist.

While the money and benefits are decent now, they likely will not stay that way as the ACA and budget cuts/drawdown start to affect the military.

Government / Military Nursing

Finally, while you may think the Navy "can do a lot" for you, keep in mind that isn't how the Navy sees things. Tuition reimbursement is going to get harder and harder to come by. The drawdown is going to mean that the person willing to sacrifice the most (leave, free time, etc) is going to promote while the others separate.

This is a highly, highly competitive time to join the service. Don't go in uninformed.

[Studylots34]

Whatever you do, just don't enlist when going to college. It'll make the process much longer and you'll regret it. If you want to go officer, finish your degree, get some experience then talk to a recruiter about becoming COMMISSIONED. Not enlisted. Pros of joining the Navy: Experience. Cons: They tell you where to work and when, not a for sure thing for you to pick what area you want to work. So if you don't like psych, well you might work there and theres not a damn thing you can do about it.

[RunBabyRN]

1- If you want to commission (not enlist) as a Navy nurse, you will first need to complete your BSN (bachelor's in nursing). You are MUCH better off going in this way than by enlisting, hoping to get into a commissioning program, going to school very part time, hoping you don't get deployed during the semester, having 15 transcripts because you have 6 classes here, 3 classes there, one online somewhere, etc.

2- It's been awhile since I've looked at the nursing commissioning programs. I considered it when I was in, but the programs have changed. Do a simple Google search to find out what programs they have if you were to enlist, then try to commission. Be aware that it is increasingly difficult to do this. The military is trying to thin out their personnel and they are contracting out a lot of stateside work, meaning most active duty personnel are finding themselves overseas, in more dangerous work. The people I know who are still active have been deployed much more often in recent years than they were in years past, even when OEF/OIF were "new".

3- You have physical standards to which you must adhere, and if you fail, the military is kicking people out. Again, a quick Google search of physical readiness standards and tests will yield you the current standards. These are measured every 6 months.

4- Your active duty and reserve time would depend on your contract.

5- You would want to speak to an officer recruiter while in school. Be aware, however, that the military, like most other nursing employers, are preferring, if not requiring, experienced nurses, rather than new grads. New grads are having a very difficult time right now (granted this may change by the time you graduate) finding work, civilian or military.

6- Pros and cons. I was a hospital corpsman, so I can't speak specifically to RNs (though I have friends who were Navy nurses, so I can speak to what they've told me). Pros- job security, steady pay, health benefits, camaraderie. Cons- you're government property, and are treated as such. This means they can put you anywhere they want at any time. They will tell you what you want to hear, then pull the ol' bait and switch (I have seen this a thousand times in different scenarios), and it's all perfectly legal. They don't care what kind of nurse you want to be or what kind you have experience in, they will put you where they want you. If you hate OR, tough, they'll put you there if they want to. You can be reprimanded for getting a tattoo or dyeing your hair, or going too far away on the weekend. Every single thing about you is up for scrutiny, particularly as an officer, as you are held to a higher standard. If you are reprimanded, they can take away your ability to leave the base, your pay, and can penalize you in other ways.

Like SoldierNurse22 said, the Navy doesn't care what they can "do for you," only what you can do for them. I can tell you first-hand that going for the sake of tuition reimbursement is NOT a good idea (I recognize your reasons go beyond this), as there are no guarantees, and it can be a high price to pay for tuition reimbursement.

7- You can get preference as a civilian contractor or with the VA as a veteran, particularly if you're a combat/service-connected disabled veteran. Depending on what you do, you may have experience that can help you get a job. If you serve for 20 years or more, you receive your pension, in addition to whatever you earn as a civilian.

[zzbxdo]

If you do decide to see someone for more information, specifically seek out the chief medical officer. Not sure the exact title but most recruiters don't know of the specifics regarding information toward nurse officers.