Options for becoming Navy nurse?

[hannahk1901]

Hi there, I have been browsing all sorts of threads on here looking into military nursing, specifically Navy nursing. So I made an account so I could ask my own questions! I have just recently become interested in becoming a Navy nurse for many reasons. I have requested to talk to a recruiter via their online request form.

Here is a little bit about myself-

I am 18 and a sophomore at a private university, I just recently applied to a nursing program and I will find out in March if I got accepted to their BSN program. My GPA is not too great, I did running start and finishing that I had a 3.3 and from this last semester (My first semester of "real" college) I got a 3.45.

My questions are-

What are all of my options for getting into the Navy as a nurse? I have read about NCP, ROTC (not an option for me at my school), and direct accession.

Could someone explain to me what exactly direct accession is? I haven't really read anywhere what it is or what it entails.

And regarding NCP, how competitive is it? Is my GPA going to hold me back? And the financial aspect, I understand it is $10,000, and then $1,000 every month for up to 24 months? Does that mean that if I were to only do the program for my senior year, then I could get $24,000 to help pay for tuition and fees? What if that $24,000 exceeds my tuition for that year, can I use it to pay of loans from my previous years?

Would volunteering at a VA hospital help me get accepted?

And lastly, the officer recruiter is 5 hours away from me because I am going to school across state, how will that work? I plan on calling them soon, I have just been trying to figure out if this is something that I am really interested in (which I think it is!).

If you can answer ANY of these questions for me that would be amazing.

[jeckrn, BSN, RN]

Direct accession is when you already have your BSN. By a recent post by some RNs attempting to join the Navy there was no slots for direct accessions this fy. As far as NCP I do not know about it. Your best bet is to contact a heakthcare recruiter for upto dmate info.

[dolphins421]

NCP is probably your best option. Once you get an acceptance letter from a BSN program you can get the ball rolling with your recruiter. Until then you're pretty much useless to them

[midinphx, BSN]

It's not too early to call a health care recruiter and get some preliminary info. It won't lock you in just to call. Direct Accession is probably your route. It is for nurses who have their BSN and license. In the past, nurses were accepted while still in school with the contingency that they get both as planned. Times are changing and it's harder to get in. Get your grades up.

[hannahk1901]

I requested to talk to a medical recruiter about a week ago, and today someone called me to ask a few questions and said that a recruiter would be calling me within the next two days. I am going to see if there is anything I can do to start the application process before I get an acceptance letter (hopefully). I will definitely work on getting my grades up, it has been the non-nursing prereq classes that have been screwing me over (religious/worldview classes at my university).

Thank you guys for your responses! I am definitely going to try NCP and if that doesn't work out, then I'll try direct accession, but from what I've heard direct accession is more competitive.

Thanks again!

[oaktown2]

I would definitely try for NCP and then if that didn't work out, try for DA. Things change all the time, so keep in touch with your health care recruiter. Regarding the money for NCP, you will get the $10k if you are accepted, and then $1000 for each month that you are in the program, but unless you are in the program for two years, you won't get the $24k. I started applying to the program as soon as I had an acceptance to nursing school (which was a 2 year program for me) and still only managed to get a year of NCP stipend. Things just don't move quickly in the government. But I didn't apply for the money. If you are accepted, you receive the stipend and bonus as if you were receiving a paycheck, so you can use the money for anything you want. And at the end of the year you receive your W2, just like with a paycheck! :-)

In terms of extra activities, think of applying to NCP in the same way that you applied for college or a job. You want to do things that will make you stand out, show initiative and leadership skills, anything that is going to make someone say, we think this person will make a good naval officer.

Good luck with it. Last I heard they weren't looking at new grads, but again, things change, so if this is what you really want, keep going for it and don't let them tell you no.