Occupation in the military.

Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN · Nov 28, 2011

I could have sworn we had a nursing and the military forum around here...if you can find it, there's lots of good resources there.

You need a BSN to be commissioned as an officer in the military; otherwise you'd go in as an enlisted. There's also an age requirement that varies among between branches; check with the branch of the military that you want to go into for more information.

Based on the experiences of some of my friends in the military, you do get to put down preferences for where you want to be stationed and a lot of the time they can be accommodated. However don't expect to spend your entire military career without ever being transferred, deployed or seeing a combat zone, because you can and will be. One friend got right out of officer candidate school and was ready to start her career as a Navy nurse, and her first tour was an unaccompanied (no family allowed) tour in Iraq. It wasn't her choice, but that's the breaks when you're in the military--in the end, you go where they tell you to.

I know the military has a lot of applicants now because the job market sucks, so it's probably harder to get into now than it was a few years ago. Still, it couldn't hurt to ask and see what opportunities could be available for you.

Editorial Team / Moderator · Nov 28, 2011

Moving this to the government/military forum: https://allnurses.com/government-military-nursing/ (Meriwhen, it's under nursing specialties. :))

To answer the OP's question, yes, it is difficult to get in right now. All branches of the service are very competitive. The Army isn't even looking at any new grads at the moment -- applicants must have 2 years of experience, minimum.

I recommend checking out the various military nursing websites (you can easily Google them) and contacting a healthcare recruiter if you're serious about serving. Good luck!