gee_mcgee

Hello, and thank you for responding! Your response was very helpful. When you say “18 months past your ROTC obligation”, do you mean that my first 4-year contract wouldn’t qualify me at all for the GI bill? I can’t seem to find that on the VA website, so if you could show me where that would be great. Thank you!

Hello @St.BaptistRN, I would love the chance to get your personal take on the ICUs at BAMC. Unfortunately, I am unable to send private messages because apparently I need at least 15 posts in order to have that functionality and I am fairly new to this website and therefore have not posted that many times yet. If there is any other way to communicate with you please let me know, because I really would love to chat. Thank you!

Hello everyone, I have heard mixed things about this so I would love some clarification. I am finishing up my BSN soon and would like to commission into the Army Nurse Corps. I am already enlisted right now in the National Guard and have gone through basic training and AIT. If I direct commission as a nurse, do I have to go through OCS or not? I have heard from some people that I will, however I have also heard that nursing is a “direct commission” branch and does not require their incoming officers to go through OCS. I know that ROTC is an option, however I am trying to figure out any other options since I want to try to stay reserves or national guard. Since I already went through basic training and AIT, I definitely don’t want to have to go through OCS. Any clarification would be gretaly appreciated!

Thank you for your replies @offlabel and @jfratian. I appreciate it, I will definitely keep BAMC at the top of my list. I am not planning on going through the army’s CRNA program. The plan as of now is to serve out my first active duty contract of 4 years, then return back to civilian life and use the Post 9/11 GI Bill to cover the cost of a CRNA school of my choice. If you have any opinions on that decision, I would appreciate feedback. My biggest concern is just getting accepted into a CRNA program, which is very competitive, and in order to gain acceptance I need good ICU experience. I’m concerned at the possibility of the army not giving me good ICU experience and having to get a civilian ICU job once I’m out of the army to gain the experience that I need, because that will push my timeline back even more and I’m trying to make this process as smooth as possible.

Hello everyone! I am about to graduate nursing school and will be commissioning into the Army Nurse Corps through ROTC. My ultimate goal is to do CRNA school, so my sights are set on getting into the ICU as soon as possible. I have heard that as a new grad nurse I will be required to begin in a medical-surgical unit and will have to wait a bit of time before being able to take the ICU course. My question is: what duty stations are best for a new grad nurse who wants to get into the ICU as soon as possible? My top three choices right now are Fort Sam Houston, TX; Tripler AMC, HI; and Landstuhl, Germany. However, I am willing to change these if any of these don’t provide good opportunities to transition into the ICU or if other stations that I haven’t listed here are better. I would love input from nurses who have been stationed at these medical centers, or any other medical centers, who can give me some good, relevant information! Thanks so much!