Navy Nursing vs. Civilian Nursing

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Has anyone here gone from Navy Nursing to civilian nursing or vice versa? I would love to hear people's personal experiences who started out in military nursing then went civilian or vice versa. What did you like about it? What did you hate about it? Which do you like more? Civilian nursing or military nursing? 

I will be completing my BSN program this December and am very curious about Navy Nursing. Some have advised me to wait, try to get into a new grad program as a civilian and then decide if I want to try and commission into the Navy. Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated! Thank you! 

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Specializes in ER.

NurseRN2b1204, I am a navy officer nurse and a civilian nurse. How old are you? What's your GPA like? Do you have any nursing work experience at all? What specifically do you want to know about Navy nursing? 

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daniel4navy said:

NurseRN2b1204, I am a navy officer nurse and a civilian nurse. How old are you? What's your GPA like? Do you have any nursing work experience at all? What specifically do you want to know about Navy nursing? 

Hi I am also interested in navy nursing. My expected graduation is May 2024. I am 23 years old (will be 24 when I graduate). GPA is a 3.38 right now. I have 5 years of experience as a CNA in various healthcare facilities. I am reallyyyyy interested in critical care because, of course, my end goal is CRNA. My questions are: Does active duty require you to travel? (I do not mind traveling, I just don't want to be forced to go to somewhere like Germany or Iraq ?) Will I be hired onto an ICU unit in a naval hospital or would I have to build myself up? How is the work-life balance?

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Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.

Check out allnurses Government/Military forum for prior discussions that may be helpful.

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Also very interested on this. I will be 25 when I graduate from my BSN program. No prior experience in nursing. Is it best to get experience in the field and then join? Also what are the benefits of navy nursing vs. airforce nursing? The end goal is flight nursing/critical care for me or possibly peds. Just wondering what life is like based on the two different branches. 

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