AKRN907

Thanks Sw88tpea, I really appreciate all your information on this thread and others I've read from you. I do have some more questions that I would love to ask you. I just have to make a few more posts before I can PM:rolleyes: One quick question though. Did it take 13 month to complete the whole application process for you to get in? That just seems like such a long process!

Hi Sw88tpea, just a couple questions for you. I am still in the decision making process of joining the Navy and am always looking for more information. Were you a nurse previously before being Commissioned, or did they just advance you to a special unit quickly? What is the "nurse grad program" is that something all Navy nurses go through, or only new grads? I have been a Nurse for 5.5 years, so just wondering how the process works from transitioning from civilian to military nursing. How are you liking Portsmouth? Is it a nice facility to work at? I still have a lot of learning to do about all of this, but any information you could give me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Great info! I have also spent time looking for books of this nature, with little luck, so I'm so glad to see these that I will definitely check out. I just finished reading Rule Number Two: Lessons I learned in a Combat Hospital by Dr. Heidi Squier Kraft. It is not specifically about nursing, but talks a lot about the nurses and surgical teams and things they experienced in Iraq. It was hard to put down.

Thank you jeckrn for all of the information, it has been very helpful!

Oh wow, that's interesting, I am also thinking of switching to OR (mainly because I am not sure I have found my main niche in nursing yet, and the Navy currently has a "critical need" for perioperative nurses, so have been looking into it). I currently have med/surg and some ED experience. When you signed on, was it to change to OR, or is that something you did after you got in? Did they put you through an OR training? How long was the training? How do you like the OR compared to what you did before?

Thank you for the replies! jeckrn, what area of nursing do you work in? Are you a Reservist, or is your civilian job holding your position the whole time you are on Active Duty? How has your military nursing experience been compared to your civilian experience? Have you deployed? Are you glad you made the change? Sorry for all the questions, and I hope not too personal. Feel free to PM me if necessary. I'm just trying to get as much info as I can and hear personal experiences of others and if it was what they expected. Thank you in advance for anything you can help me with, I greatly appreciate it!

Hello All, I have been an RN, BSN for 5 1/2 years. I have always been interested in nursing in the military and find myself at a point in my life that this could be possible. I am just wondering if there are others on here who did civilian nursing first and then went into the military and how the experience has been and what the differences may be. I understand everyone has their own reasons for wanting to serve in the military, but I'm interested in how the day to day nursing job is different. I have read through many posts on here, and hope my question is not too repetitive, but I have mainly found posts of new nurses commissioning right out of nursing school and would like to hear from some nurses who have had experience in both worlds and how they have compared. Do military nurses (not deployed) work normal shift hours (like 3-12hour shifts a week?) I did see another post where someone said they worked 5-6 12s a week and I'm wondering if this is a standard thing or if this was when deployed or what? (I do realize that when deployed it's pretty much non-stop work). I do understand that the pay is less than in the civilian world and there is no overtime pay, etc. I guess I would just like to know how nurses who have left the civilian world have felt about their military nursing experience. It is a major transition and life decision as you all know and any feedback would be greatly appreciated. I am currently leaning towards Navy and Air Force, but welcome any information I can get. Thank you!

Thank you for the reply, any and all info is much appreciated. Are you in the AFR? I have a lot of questions that I would like to ask someone who is actually in, because I know the recruiter can only tell me so much. When you deploy is it only one transport here, one transport there or is it a depolyment to a different locations for say 4 months or so? I am very interested in the flight nursing aspect of the Reserves...is that the most competative to get into? Can you volunteer to go as often as you want? Sorry for all the questions, I'm just excited to learn as much as I can about the whole process. Thanks again!

I'm very interested in AF Reserve nursing and am wondering how often Reservists deploy and for generally how long. I am not against the idea of deploying, it actually is very exciting to me and I originally thought that deployment was only for AD. So if you have any input, I would appreciate it. Thanks!

Hi All, I am just wondering if there is anyone out there in this situation and how hard it is? I have always desired to be an Air Force nurse and was very close to commissioning 3 years ago, but ended up getting married. I have never stopped wanting to be an Air Force nurse, but just didn't know if it would be feasible, because my husband is AD in another branch of the military so basically we would never be stationed together. However, I am now looking into the Reserves, which may be easier to work around, since "you serve where you live." Any thoughts on this? We don't have kids, so that won't be an issue. Is it difficult to change units in the Reserves if you move, say he gets transferred, etc. Is it damaging financially to go from a full-time civilian nurse to a Reservist? I would imagine I would still work civilian part-time, but is it a huge pay cut? Another question: I am really interested in flight nursing and see that it does require more time than the usual Reserve time...do you get paid more for this?