Need help or advice for my plan to be an Army Reserve Nurse

Published

Hello,

I really want to serve in the Army as a Nurse in the Reserves. I have been researching my options for how to go about achieving this goal and was hoping to solicit some advise from those with more experience than I that frequent this forum.

I currently have a Bachelors degree in Communications. I need to go back to school, but having a house and child, I am limited in methods by which I can finance a career change.

My first step is to enlist as a 68W "Health Care Specialist". If I ship to basic and AIT at the start of the year, I should be able to enroll in my local community college for my prerequisites. I have been told I can get assigned to my local CSH unit. I will have to take one year of prereqs before I am eligible to apply to the nursing program. This program is pretty competitive (800 applicants for 100 accepted) but with my previous degree, good grades, and the experience as a 68W, I ought to be accepted.

I am hoping to get the following benefits when enlisting:

1) Student Loan Repayment - I want to pay off my existing loans (about $7k)

2) Reserves GI Bill

3) GI Bill Kicker (hopefully)

4) Federal Tuition Assistance

5) Enlistment Bonus - I hope to get between $7K and $10K

6) Education Career Stabilization - a 2 year deferment from deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan.

The first five options should help me pay for the next three years of schooling to get my ADN. I will probably have to take out some additional student loans, but I hope to be able to repay future loans later. The sixth benefit (ECS) is to help me get my prereqs and my first year of nursing school completed in one swoop before deploying.

After my two year deferment from deployment is up, I would be eligible to be deployed. This would be during my second year of nursing school. I have spoken with the people at the college and they assure me that I would still have my place in the program when I came back though I may need to retake some classes.

After I get my ADN and pass the NCLEX-RN, I would have one more year of classes to get my BSN. Enrollment is automatic after getting the ADN. Yay! I hope to go through AMEDD to go from an enlisted 68W to an officer getting the STRAP stipend and the HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM to pay off whatever incurred loans I would have needed to get.

I should then be an officer in the Army Nurse Corps serving with my local Combat Support Hospital.

Well... that is what the big plan is. Followed by 20+ years of service.

Here are some of my questions:

Does anybody else have any experience going from an enlisted reservist to an officer in AMEDD?

I have been told that if I enlist for 6 years, AMEDD shouldn't have any problem getting into the officers program before the full 6 year enlistment is up.

Does anybody have any experience with ECS (Education Career Stabilization)? Does it work as advertised?

Does anybody have any insight into any pitfalls or stumbling blocks I may face in my journey to becoming an Army Nurse?

I really want to serve and am trying to map out the next few years. I have spoken with enlistment and AMEDD recruiters. I was just hoping to see what insight this forum could add.

Thank you for reading this and any help you may provide.

Sorry for the long-winded post. :D

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med surg, Tele, ICU.

If you enlist as a 68w try to also get the lpn identifier(m5?,I think), that will knock a year off school and the army would have paid for it, and it's easier to go from an lpn-rn. Plans sounds good though. If you just take out a bunch of student loans though for your 2 years in your adn program and get in after and use the hplr(50,000$)to pay it off and strap(~2,000$)to go from adn-bsn that would work too, I just don't like the idea of being deployed in the middle of nsg school.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I'll agree with the concern about deployment during nursing school. The school has no legal obligation to hold a spot for you. It is not like a civilian employer's obligation. Also, my daughter considered a plan similar to yours and was told by an AMED (SP?) recruiter that ROTC would be a better approach. I understand your family and financial obligations are different than hers, but if you are planning to stay in for 20 years ....why the Army Reserves? Have you explored the Air Force options? Might be less deployment / separation from your child. Just some ideas....

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Here is my two cents: Do not enlist. In most situations you are the worker bee and higher education takes a backseat to the stuff that needs to get done. Better to wait a few years, get your RN and then commission. I have known many people who hold a degree and enlist. Every single one of them regrets it.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I think perhaps we need some more information before giving the best possible advice. Could you please give some more information about how you plan to balance motherhood, the service, a house payment and civilian employment? Seems to me that a lot of this plan is financially motivated (which decisions aren't in the real world?) and that perhaps there is more risk than necessary to accomplish a BSN....particularly when you already have a four year degree.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in EMT, ER, Homehealth, OR.

I agree with the above, do not go enlisted if you plan on going to RN school. First starting out in the military as an enlisted you are the worker bee as was previous stated. It would be hard to go to RN school while on AD.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

To clarify...

I would be enlisted in the Army Reserve - not active duty. And after I got my ADN and started my BSN year under STRAP, I would still be in the Army Reserve, not active duty.

The reason for going into the Army Reserve before nursing school is:

1) I need to stay in the city I live (Portland, OR) where I have a house and my wife has a career.

2) Be able to finance new schooling while paying a mortgage and raising a child without going into crippling debt

3) To gain positive work experience and the EMT-B certification that will give me a competitive edge when applying to a very competitive local nursing school. The Reserves would also allow me to go to school fulltime without having a job so I could focus on getting a 4.0.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in EMT, ER, Homehealth, OR.

How diffucult is it to get in your ADN program?

Up Vote Up Vote ×

"How diffucult is it to get in your ADN program?"

Pretty hard. I live in Portland, OR and most of the ADN programs feed directly into OHSU (a top 10 Nursing school) for a final year to get your BSN.

For PCC, there are 800+ applicants for 100 openings and 25 wait-listed slots. For all the other participating community colleges that feed into OHSU, the acceptance rate hover around 13%.

So yeah... it is very competitive and difficult to get in.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
"How diffucult is it to get in your ADN program?"

Pretty hard. I live in Portland, OR and most of the ADN programs feed directly into OHSU (a top 10 Nursing school) for a final year to get your BSN.

For PCC, there are 800+ applicants for 100 openings and 25 wait-listed slots. For all the other participating community colleges that feed into OHSU, the acceptance rate hover around 13%.

So yeah... it is very competitive and difficult to get in.

Again, I still say to get your ADN-RN first. Trust me, you do not want to enlist with your educational background

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Never mind.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

you might want to explore the BS to BSN programs, it is a condensed program usually 1 year for those without an RN but a prior BS degree. it might mean student loans but the army reserve will help you with those

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion