2nd degree to military nurses

[GHOT-Anes]

Are there any second degree nurses here that decided to join the military after nursing school or 2nd degree nursing students thinking about commisioning. If so, what were/ are some of the main reasons for doing so or wanting to do so.

Please share your expriences.

[USAFhopeful]

thanks for the wonderful response USAFhopeful. just out of curiosity why the Air force.

Hi,

I had strongly considered the Army Nurse Corps and actually processed through the medical / physical portion of the application process (and qualified). My boyfriend, who is in the Army and served in Iraq for a year, asked me to look into the Air Force. He felt it would offer a better lifestyle. After speaking with an AF recruiter, I learned that the nurse transition program for new grads is 10-11 weeks, rather than 1 year, as it is in the Army. This was appealing to me because it would allow me to concentrate and orient in the med surg field - rather than perform a year rotating through each clinical area (if that makes any sense). I just graduated from a 16 month accelerated BSN program and dread having to do another year of clinical rotations lol. Also, it seems that AF active duty nurses spend more consecutive years at their permanent duty locations than those who are in the Army. This may be untrue however, it was what I learned from my recruiter ;o) so I guess it's hard to say for sure. Because I have a horse - this would mean I would have to relocate her less often.

The AF offers less money with their incentives and and so forth but after doing a lot of contemplating, thinking and asking questions, I decided that it's the best branch for me to apply for at this time. I've got my fingers crossed.

[GHOT-Anes, CRNA]

Good luck