Navy Nursing

[jayedzee]

I'm currently a high school student, I'm in my senior year. I have decided I wanted to go into the Navy after I finish college. I've always wanted to be a Nurse since I was a child, and I have also wanted to take after my parents who were in the Navy. I decided I wanted to do both. I do want to finish college, and attend the required training for Naval Officers.

I have a few questions

1. What kind of training do Navy Nurses have to endure before becoming an official officer? (Ex: Boot Camp, ODS, OCS, etc.) Must you attend boot camp like a sailor would?
   
2. How should I approach the Navy? Should I inquire during college or until I'm almost done with schooling? (EX. the NROTC)
   
3. How much do Navy Nurses travel or get deployed
   
4. Do Navy Nurses wear the NWU (camouflage) or the standard service khaki? or even both?
   
5. If you go to college first before commissioning, how does that benefit you when it comes to pay-grade and ranking? (Ex: Ensign, LTJG, Lieutenant, LCDR)
   
6. ​Can Navy Nurses also help aide like Hospital Corpsman? (Helping disaster affected areas?
   
7. Do Navy Nurses have the chance to get deployed on a ship?
   

[SoldierNurse22, BSN, RN]

1. No boot camp. You'll go to officer's training, which is mostly classroom from what I've been told.

2. NROTC is a good option as direct commission will require you to get some experience before you'll be competitive to join. The service is full right now. Either way, prepare for a long road and ensure that your GPA is top notch.

3. That's highly variable. Deployments are decreasing however as the drawdown takes effect.

4. They can wear both depending on the area they work in and the uniform of the day.

5. You must go to college before commissioning. Do not try to come in as an enlistee if you want to work as an RN in the service. The chances of you being able to switch over from enlisted to officer are slim to none. Coming in after college versus in college will not likely have a big impact on what grade you come in at unless you have considerable prior experience as a nurse. I've seen a few nurses come in at 1LT (the equivalent of LTJG), but they had about 8 years of CCU.

6. Yes. I knew one Navy nurse who deployed to Haiti after the earthquake and served on a ship for a number of months after the disaster.

7. Yes, but it is highly, highly competitive and (as mentioned above) decreasing in likelihood by the day.

I am an active duty Soldier. The information above is very general. Please visit this page for further information:

Government / Military Nursing

Information Source: working alongside Navy nurses at Walter Reed-Bethesda.

[RunBabyRN]

I was a corpsman, so my responses are based on the RNs I worked alongside, and much of my info is from 10 years ago.

1. No, from what I understand, it's more classroom-based than boot camp (though there is plenty of classroom time in boot camp as well).

2. I would talk to a nurse recruiter to get their input. NROTC is a good idea, certainly won't hurt anything. From what I understand, right now, because the military is trying to downsize, the Navy is looking for experienced nurses, not new grads. It's more competitive than it was historically.

3. Deployments and travel vary really widely based on what's happening in the world, your rank, your duty station, etc.

4. Uniform varies based on duty station and uniform of the day. Uniforms have changed since I was enlisted.

5. If you are going in as a nurse, you will be an ensign. You won't get any special ranking for that. MDs go in as LT, and I'm sure there are other officers that can go in higher than O-1, but it's not particularly common. If you were prior enlisted (which, bear in mind, is NOT a guarantee to get commissioned later), you get a boost in pay in the lower officer ranks.

6. You can definitely get into disaster areas. I know people who did disaster relief for Katrina (I got out the weekend prior). If disaster relief is something you want to do, look at Doctors Without Borders, or volunteering in your area. There are a lot of other opportunities.

7. Yes, there are nurses on some ships, generally carriers and hospital ships (I'm sure some of the smaller ships; others may have better info on that). If it's anything like HM, it's very rare. Corpsmen are VERY rarely on ships. Many ships only have one HM.

[jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA]

Disclaimer: I'm AF not Navy.

I encourage you to consider ROTC. It is the only way your will lock your spot in the nurse corps. The caveat is that your grades have to be good while in college, since you aren't guaranteed active duty if you enter this way (reserves). Everybody who enters this way starts as an O1.

There is a direct commission route for experienced medical personnel (as well a JAGs and chaplains). With 4+ years under your belt, you would come in as a higher rank. Many nurses do enter as O2s or O3s. MDs/PharmDs/DOs/DDSs come in as O3s, O4s, O5s, and very rarely O6s. DDSs and MDs aren't bound by the force shaping rules that govern how many people can hold a certain rank; they auto-promote to O5 with appropriate time in grade. The problem here is that you only get 50% credit for your civilian medical experience, therefore this route takes longer.

[bbshman]

As a Navy nurse, I can say the above is all true. If your college doesn't have NROTC you can do the Nurse candidate program. After graduation and the NCLEX exam is ODS. yes, mostly classroom abut every AM PT. Deployments are hard to come by as an ensign, but as time in and experiences increase your odds are better.