Please help im so confused

NursePamela · Jul 31, 2009

#1 get it in writing!!! Get everything in writing! and I would not hold your breathe about the no deployments. Other than that the military is a great way of life.

olderthandirt2 · Aug 1, 2009

"I was told i can practice in a icu setting the whole time and have a opportunity to go to nurse anesthesia school"

Unless you have ICU experience---I wouldn't bank on working in Critical Care and even then......it is not guaranteed. I know plenty of ICU rns in the Military who are NOT assigned to an ICU. Nothing is guaranteed. Can you get a civilian ICU job?......it will help you in the Military.

On the otherhand, I am in the Military Nurse Anesthesia program (USAGPAN) and it is incredible. It FAR exceeds civilian graduate programs and is ranked 2nd in the nation. (missed 1st by .1 )

The Army pays me to attend school. No loans, and the best training you can get.

good luck,

c.

athena55, BSN, RN · Aug 3, 2009

I agree with NursePam and OTD:

Make sure you speak with a Health Care Recruiter.

NO ONE CAN GUARANTEE THAT YOU WILL NOT BE DEPLOYED FOR 3 YEARS. NO ONE.

Anything that is promised to you, as stated by NursePam, you need to get it in writing.

You will be expect to work 80+ hours/2 weeks. I say "+" because of the "hidden" volun-TELLING projects you will be required to work on, often on your "days off". Your salary is dependent upon your rank.

Yes, you can have a social life. But remember, once you sign on the dotted line and raise your right hand to take your Commissioned Officers Oath, the Government owns you.

Any of the above is not meant to dissuade you from seeking more information or submitting your application packet to the Armed Forces of your choice. Just be aware of what is out there, talk to a Health Care Recruiter, make informed decisions now.

Best of luck to you!!!

just_cause, BSN, RN · Aug 4, 2009

You mentioned you can't find an ICU job in NY.. have you looked at moving out of state or would you be willing?

Do you want to join the military? Army?

If you are just looking to work in the ICU - I'd recommend doing that and not joining the military... otherwise if interested start looking at from being in the military vs not... rather then joining to be in the ICU as there are a lot of additional 'lifestyle' and job sacrifices that might be a surprise to you.

Iworecords, RN · Aug 5, 2009

rather then joining to be in the ICU as there are a lot of additional 'lifestyle' and job sacrifices that might be a surprise to you.

Hooah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No deployment? OK -- don't count on it lololololol And if you do deploy what could you face? Well let's see -- giggling to myself

How do you like living in a tent with 8-10 other people? Your bed might be a cot with a sleeping bag. Your closet -- a piece of parachute cord strung between tent posts. Oh your tent will not have heat or ac. If you are lucky you will have a couple of light bulbs. At night the creepy crawlies come out -- mice -- rats -- snakes -- and you'd be amazed how scorpions can walk along the underside of the tent roof. Don't worry -- only the black ones are poisonous -- or maybe it was the red ones lololololol

Your bathroom? How about a screened latrine -- 3 holes -- hopefully with toilet seats -- located far away from your tent -- a long walk in the middle if the night with a flashlight. You soon learn sitting and concentrating is not done in private. When the weather gets warm, the flies swarm out from the 55 gallon drum that is your sewage collection system when you lift the toilet seat cover. You learn to lift the seat cover -- check to see if the drum is there -- it might have been removed to be stir and burned. If it isn't there you will need to find another latrine.

Your shower? Try a GP Large tent with a bunch of shower stalls off the side. The tent will give you some privacy but you will undress/dress in front of your peers (same sex). If you are lucky there will be a wooden bench along one side to put your clothes -- if not you will hang them on the shower stall and hope they don't get wet. Your shower stall will be a small wooden cubby with a wooden slat floor. The water is filled in the containers above at least once a day -- maybe a couple of times a day -- from a water truck. Pick the wrong time of day to get your shower and you will be talking to the guy filling the water lololol If your hospital has a heater to go into the water truck -- you might find warm/tepid shower water. Most times tho -- unless you are there just as they have filled the containers -- IF you find water -- it will be cold. You will use a tent peg to control the lever that allows water thru the shower head. Wet down -- turn off the shower -- soap up -- turn on the shower -- rinse off. No long showers!!!!!!!!!! If you run out of water -- well -- hopefully you will find a shower stall with water in it.

Where do you eat? Hummmmm -- you don't eat in your tent!!! It draws the creepy crawlies!!!! You will eat in a mess tent. Meals are served at specific times -- if you are on duty, it will be MRE's. Hopefully your mess SGT's are good with rehydrating pork chops -- cooking chicken 400 ways -- and know to soak the lettuce and other fresh veggies -- bought on the economy -- in chlorine water. If not -- or if the refrig truck transporting your frozen food was turned off and then back on in route to your hospital -- you will be visiting the latrines frequently. Oh the mess tent will be crowded -- but there will be more flies than people lolololol

Now for your hospital. See that open area away from your living quarters? See those conex's? That's your hospital!!!!!!!!!!!! You will build it -- and they will come. If you don't know how to put up a DEPMED hospital -- you will learn -- and you will get good at it. Forget about manicures -- forget about makeup. You will sweat like a pig even if its just above freezing. Oh forgot to tell you -- until your ER -- Pre-op -- and at least 1 of your OR ISO's is up and running -- you won't have tents to sleep in or showers. Just a little incentive to make sure when the first wounded come across your threshold you will be ready.

Sounds unbelievable? It couldn't happen to you? Take it from someone who spent 4 months up in the desert -- it happens! And our job didn't finish when the war was over -- then we started treating EPW's. It was not unusual to treat 300 each evening in the ER. And after they stopped coming in droves -- then we treated civilian emergencies. Eventually we pulled down our hospital -- and put it back into the conex's -- and some went home -- and others remained doing other jobs in country.

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · Aug 5, 2009

Uh, I did two deployments with the AF during Southern Watch/Desert Storm - we had heat AND a/c in our tents.

They'd been standing for six years, mind you - but we had climate control. :)

(If you want to be spoiled, I recommend the AF. If you're really hard core - and I'm NOT that hard core - go Army. LOL.)

We also had real toilets that flushed. And sinks. Yes, in the desert. We did have shower tents, though - and you learned really quick what the best time of the day to take a shower was, because the water was either REALLY hot or REALLY cold - no temp control. Best time: about three hours after the water bladders were filled during the day. At night the water was FREEZING COLD.

NO MILITARY SERVICE IS A MISTAKE, regardless of the branch you choose. You'll do nothing but benefit - even if you HATE it and get out, you'll have invaluable experience.)

Iworecords, RN · Aug 5, 2009

Uh, I did two deployments with the AF during Southern Watch/Desert Storm - we had heat AND a/c in our tents.
They'd been standing for six years, mind you - but we had climate control. :)
(If you want to be spoiled, I recommend the AF. If you're really hard core - and I'm NOT that hard core - go Army. LOL.)
We also had real toilets that flushed. And sinks. Yes, in the desert. We did have shower tents, though - and you learned really quick what the best time of the day to take a shower was, because the water was either REALLY hot or REALLY cold - no temp control. Best time: about three hours after the water bladders were filled during the day. At night the water was FREEZING COLD.
NO MILITARY SERVICE IS A MISTAKE, regardless of the branch you choose. You'll do nothing but benefit - even if you HATE it and get out, you'll have invaluable experience.)

While at school, I did some clinical at Plattsburgh AFB -- and the Chief Nurse there swore me in when my commissioning orders came down. It was my first real taste of military nursing and can say -- that even tho I was going Army -- they could not have been nicer :) Actually my going into Army nursing became a running joke lolololol

Back in Desert Storm, I came out of the desert and visited the Army hospital at Dhahran Air Base on my way to Khobar Towers for R&R (2 days and 1 night of flush toilets lolololol). Compared to our living arrangements the nurses at Dhahran were basking in luxury!!!!!!!!!!! They were still living in GP Large tents but they had fans lolololol

Now you know who had it good? The Navy nurses over on Bahrain!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Seabees had built their DEPMED hospital -- even poured concrete floors!!! They had a liquid O2 system shipped in from the states so there was no dragging the big tanks around. I walked thru their hospital and thought to myself -- this is nice Several years later I ran into a Navy nurse who was there and she told me how they were housed in one of the international 4 star hotels and were bused to work every day.

Each service treats their nurses differently. And even within the same service -- on deployment -- you see different conditions according to when and where the hospitals are set up. If you are first or second on the ground, the conditions you will face will be far different from those if you rotate in months afterwards.

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · Aug 6, 2009

:0)

I've been to Bahrain back when it was mostly tents and CONEXes, and you're right - it was fancy digs. But you should see the US Naval Activity there now - block out the intense heat (and the lack of shade) and you'd almost swear you were in a miniature version of Little Creek. :0)

NiteQwill · Aug 6, 2009

Are you saying that deployment are "an inconvenience?" I can't read into what you wrote, whether you are being serious or sarcastic.

If the former, I would say that it is a disservice to those who serve outside the wire with absolutely NO AMENITIES for you to complain about a "4 month deployment." Try 16+ months, living outside the wire, getting shot at/blown up, 23+ days of no showers/toilets/fresh clothes, and a medical responsibility of 25 Soldiers with a medic bag barely enough to treat 6-8 Soldiers.

...an Army Combat Medic for 8 years...

rather then joining to be in the ICU as there are a lot of additional 'lifestyle' and job sacrifices that might be a surprise to you.
Hooah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No deployment? OK -- don't count on it lololololol And if you do deploy what could you face? Well let's see -- giggling to myself
How do you like living in a tent with 8-10 other people? Your bed might be a cot with a sleeping bag. Your closet -- a piece of parachute cord strung between tent posts. Oh your tent will not have heat or ac. If you are lucky you will have a couple of light bulbs. At night the creepy crawlies come out -- mice -- rats -- snakes -- and you'd be amazed how scorpions can walk along the underside of the tent roof. Don't worry -- only the black ones are poisonous -- or maybe it was the red ones lololololol
Your bathroom? How about a screened latrine -- 3 holes -- hopefully with toilet seats -- located far away from your tent -- a long walk in the middle if the night with a flashlight. You soon learn sitting and concentrating is not done in private. When the weather gets warm, the flies swarm out from the 55 gallon drum that is your sewage collection system when you lift the toilet seat cover. You learn to lift the seat cover -- check to see if the drum is there -- it might have been removed to be stir and burned. If it isn't there you will need to find another latrine.
Your shower? Try a GP Large tent with a bunch of shower stalls off the side. The tent will give you some privacy but you will undress/dress in front of your peers (same sex). If you are lucky there will be a wooden bench along one side to put your clothes -- if not you will hang them on the shower stall and hope they don't get wet. Your shower stall will be a small wooden cubby with a wooden slat floor. The water is filled in the containers above at least once a day -- maybe a couple of times a day -- from a water truck. Pick the wrong time of day to get your shower and you will be talking to the guy filling the water lololol If your hospital has a heater to go into the water truck -- you might find warm/tepid shower water. Most times tho -- unless you are there just as they have filled the containers -- IF you find water -- it will be cold. You will use a tent peg to control the lever that allows water thru the shower head. Wet down -- turn off the shower -- soap up -- turn on the shower -- rinse off. No long showers!!!!!!!!!! If you run out of water -- well -- hopefully you will find a shower stall with water in it.
Where do you eat? Hummmmm -- you don't eat in your tent!!! It draws the creepy crawlies!!!! You will eat in a mess tent. Meals are served at specific times -- if you are on duty, it will be MRE's. Hopefully your mess SGT's are good with rehydrating pork chops -- cooking chicken 400 ways -- and know to soak the lettuce and other fresh veggies -- bought on the economy -- in chlorine water. If not -- or if the refrig truck transporting your frozen food was turned off and then back on in route to your hospital -- you will be visiting the latrines frequently. Oh the mess tent will be crowded -- but there will be more flies than people lolololol
Now for your hospital. See that open area away from your living quarters? See those conex's? That's your hospital!!!!!!!!!!!! You will build it -- and they will come. If you don't know how to put up a DEPMED hospital -- you will learn -- and you will get good at it. Forget about manicures -- forget about makeup. You will sweat like a pig even if its just above freezing. Oh forgot to tell you -- until your ER -- Pre-op -- and at least 1 of your OR ISO's is up and running -- you won't have tents to sleep in or showers. Just a little incentive to make sure when the first wounded come across your threshold you will be ready.
Sounds unbelievable? It couldn't happen to you? Take it from someone who spent 4 months up in the desert -- it happens! And our job didn't finish when the war was over -- then we started treating EPW's. It was not unusual to treat 300 each evening in the ER. And after they stopped coming in droves -- then we treated civilian emergencies. Eventually we pulled down our hospital -- and put it back into the conex's -- and some went home -- and others remained doing other jobs in country.

Iworecords, RN · Aug 7, 2009

Are you saying that deployment are "an inconvenience?" I can't read into what you wrote, whether you are being serious or sarcastic.
If the former, I would say that it is a disservice to those who serve outside the wire with absolutely NO AMENITIES for you to complain about a "4 month deployment." Try 16+ months, living outside the wire, getting shot at/blown up, 23+ days of no showers/toilets/fresh clothes, and a medical responsibility of 25 Soldiers with a medic bag barely enough to treat 6-8 Soldiers.
...an Army Combat Medic for 8 years...

As you were -- you misread the whole thing. It was meant for those civilian nurses who think joining the Army will be a cake walk after they collect their big bonus and milk "Uncle" for further education -- without having to pay the piper. Better they know what they could face rather than cry in their beer when it's wheels up. I would rather scare off a warm body while gaining one ready, willing, and able to take the challenge!!!

I was not complaining about my experiences -- heck I had a ball :smokin: So much so that I remained in country -- earning 2 hershey bars on my right sleeve. I joined the Army during the Vietnam War -- proudly wearing the uniform for 30 years -- and the only complaint I had was "Uncle" took his sweet old time deploying me lolololol

Iworecords, RN · Aug 7, 2009

:0)
I've been to Bahrain back when it was mostly tents and CONEXes, and you're right - it was fancy digs. But you should see the US Naval Activity there now - block out the intense heat (and the lack of shade) and you'd almost swear you were in a miniature version of Little Creek. :0)

I only got to Bahrain twice -- once on official business and once after the war to go on the Love Boat -- that never left the dock lololol Where Saudi was interesting -- and Kuwait was heartbreaking with all the damage -- Bahrain was like a jewel -- even in the heat. A friend who retired from the Navy said it was one of the best kept secrets for an accompanied tour before the Iraq War.