EvaLuna

Thank you littlegreek for all this info. I'm really torn between the two specialties. I did work in the O.R. back in the day when they actually let LPN'S do stuff like that :chuckle I enjoyed my time there a lot and absolutely love Peds! I've also seriously been considering completing an MSN while I gather some R.N experience...most programs I've seen last about 2yrs...so I'm thinking its something to have under your belt while you are garnering experience. I wonder if you can tell me if this was sort of your strategy before joining? My DH says that would be a smart move and (as you allude to) moves the process towards captain quicker. How long have you been in? You say you're fairly new but came in with a MSN and will make captain soon I was wondering how long its been since you began. How do you like AF nursing so far? Any insights on life as a newbie is greatly appreciated. Thanks and Congrats! :balloons:

Thanks for the reply. I looked up the USPHS but they don't have very much info. in their website (other than precursory info. about specialties and how to sign up). Could you supply more info I remember way back in the day that they used to hire nurses for working in the Indian Reservations, at the risk of sounding daff is this the same thing? Any info. is always appreciated. Thanks once again!

Thanks for the reply P.R RN! Arriba Con La Raza! Fellow PuertoRican here! In regards to your question I am trying to find which deploys the least. My husband is a disabled veteran and I have concerns about long deployments. I think he leans more towards Army because of bitter experiences in the AF. He hates to talk about it but back when he was in (early 80's) there weren't many minorities in the AF and the way I understand it he had to deal with a lot of nonsense. He spent 7 years in Ramstein, Germany and he says there was a lot of stupid stuff that went on with the establishment at the time. He also says that the AF is much more "political" than the Army. I was astounded when he switched to Army upon rejoining after a brief time out. He acclimated better in the Army and went through the ranks quicker than the time it took him to make SSGT in the AF. He fought long and hard for his 100% service connected but he never badmouths the military (and I know he would love to relive the lifestyle vicariously through me :wink2: especially with me being an officer ) I dislike Med/Surg (worked as an LPN for many years before pursuing a teaching degree) My plan is to garner at least 1 year of O.R. experience before I apply so that I'll have more leverage as to assignments, bases, etc. Could you clarify for me what rank a BSN/O.R nurse would come in with? A former friend of my DH who was a nurse recruiter told me that for critical care you come in with higher rank, provided of course that you have your credentials. Do you know if this is true? Sorry for the long post...trying to do my due diligence :typing before taking this life changing step. Thanks again Boricua!

Hi all! I''m about to finish with nursing school and I'm contemplating specializing either in O.R or NICU nursing. I was wondering if anyone could advise me as to which of the two would be more "marketable" in the military. I'm leaning towards AF (my husband is a veteran with 10 yrs in the AF and 10 divided bet. Navy and Army) He advises that I join the Army because of quicker ascension than the AF any validity to this as far as nursing goes? Also, is there a difference in terms of the kinds of assignments or deployments one specialty has over the other? My friend (not military) was speculating that perhaps O.R. would have more overseas deployment (i.e. Iraq, Afgan.) than NICU which would have more demand stateside . Any thoughts on that? Any O.R or NICU military nurses out there that can share their experience it would be greatly appreciated as I mull over this decision as to which specialty to pursue. Thanks!

I think you bring up a valid point here witchyrn, I think it does have alot to do with personality. Prior to becoming an LVN I was a medical assistant in New York City and I worked for a "temping" agency. I did it all: cardiac, ob/gyn, peds, surgical, geriatrics, adult meds, etc. I learned so many skills from monitors to peds. phlebotomy that I eventually topped out at the max salary I could receive . When I completed my LVN I found it very difficult to adjust to just one specialty. So much so that I became a travel nurse just to continue the variety in patients and settings so to speak. In that respect perhaps O.R. would be a better fit since you will rarely see the same patients again and there are a myriad of procedures that are done in a busy O.R. I wonder if I could possibly pick your brain about what a typical day as an O.R nurse might look like? What capacity do you work in? Scrub? Circulating? How do you become a scrub nurse? I know when I worked at Children's Hospital they were very much respected in the O.R.; Not that everyone else wasn't mind you but there seemed to be more of a deference...Any thoughts on that? Sorry for the long post...thanks again for your insight...it is greatly appreciated!

Thank you so much for that insight. Having options is better than not having any but one can also get so bogged down by the decision making process that it becomes very frustrating. I'm really leaning towards O.R. we'll have to see how the internship goes. Thanks!

Hi all, I'm new to this thread and new to specialties as well. I've been struggling with the decision of where I'd like to focus my nursing. It used to be that one was advised to do a couple of years in Med/Surg so as to "make ones bones" and get as diversified experience as one could before 'qualifying' to go into specialties. I don't think this is true anymore as I've seen new grads get specialty positions right before they pass their boards! Sometimes they burn out before their preceptorship has even concluded! So far I've really enjoyed NICU and O.R. The university I'm graduating from gives us 220 contact hours on a specialty of our choice and my time to decide is coming soon. This is a top-notch university and they offer this option to nursing students so that they can hopefully have an edge towards entering the specialties. My question is, is it easier to begin O.R nursing and then transfer to NICU? Or is it simpler to begin in NICU and transfer to O.R? I really enjoy both but I don't want to pigeonhole myself into one or the other. As an LVN I worked at San Diego's Children's Hospital in the O.R/ PACU and loved working Peds. But I always found the NICU a rewarding challenge I would not mind undertaking. Also, is there a difference in amount of employment and transferability of one specialty over the other? An O.R. nurse friend of mine once told me that O.R. specialization is more transferable (i.e. from state to state) and that there are more positions to be found than NICU. Is this because there's less attrition in NICU ? This aspect is important because my husband is military and we move often. Sorry for the long question...I admire the work that you perform on a daily basis perhaps I may be able to join your ranks soon. Any reply is appreciated...Thanks in advance...

Hi all, I'm new to this thread and new to specialties as well. I've been struggling with the decision of where I'd like to focus my nursing. So far I've really enjoyed NICU and O.R. The university I'm graduating from gives us 220 contact hours on a specialty of our choice and my time to decide is coming soon. This is a top-notch university and they offer this option to nursing students so that they can hopefully have an edge towards entering the specialties. My question is, is it easier to begin O.R nursing and then transfer to NICU? Or is it simpler to begin in NICU and transfer to O.R? I really enjoy both but I don't want to pigeonhole myself into one or the other. As an LVN I worked at San Diego's Children's Hospital in the O.R/ PACU and loved working Peds. But I always found the NICU a rewarding challenge I would not mind undertaking. Also, is there a difference in amount of employment and transferability of one specialty over the other? A O.R. nurse friend of mine once told me that O.R. specialization is more transferable (i.e. from state to state) and that there are more positions to be found than NICU. Is this because there's less attrition in NICU :wink2: ? This aspect is important because my husband is military and we move often. Sorry for the long question...I admire the work that you perform on a daily basis perhaps I may be able to join your ranks soon. Any reply is appreciated...Thanks in advance...

Thanks for the replies everyone! I think most are right about not being able to override the Dept. of State. Unfortunately, the problem is with arrears . I guess that means I'm grounded until we can fix the problem . Thanks for clarifying things. I'll look at things stateside. Appreciate it!

Hi All! I'm finishing my BSN and considering going either Army or Air Force nurse corp. My husband is former Air Force and also did stint in Army. I'm interested in overseas however have one major impediment, my husband is unable to secure a passport due to past child support issues. My question is do they issue special passport to spouse and dependents or is this something that is taken care of at civilian level? I'm really interested only on overseas assaignments so any help from anyone with experience going overseas with family would help greatly.

Hi Clc, thank you for your service. I am considering the ANC and have an interest in being stationed overseas; particularly Germany. My husband was stationed there with the Air Force for many years and loved it. Although I think your post did answer my question, I'd appreciate further clarification. My ques. is regarding being assaigned overseas as a nurse, do you have a good chance of that happening as a new nurse or do you have to do your time stateside? Also my interest is in O.R. or NICU how are the prospects in the ANC in regards to preceptorships? Should I just work for 1 year civilian in the specialty of my choice? I don't care for med/surg. Also my husband is a disabled veteran and I have 2 small children, will there be a hinderance in terms of being assaigned overseas? Any info. you can provide would be greatly welcomed as I mull this decision over. Thank you in advance.

C-travel thank you kindly for your advice...you're spot on about everything having a price with the military. I have never served but I married uncle sam 19 years ago when my husband was in the Air Force. He served in every branch except Marines and finally was discharged disabled from the Army. We began a protracted 7 year battle with the VA for compensation and finally was able to win his 100% disability...so I have some idea how the military works...however, having said that he has this idea that I would do great as a nurse in the military. He was a recruiter himself and he insists its different for nurses. (I guess he just wants to live or relive his military memories vicariously through me ) He really misses living overseas, especially Germany and I guess he sees me joining as an opportunity to do that and yes as a recruiter he did teach me the catch phrase "needs of the military first", But you're right when you say "times they are a-changin" When he was stationed in Germany there were two Germanys and much has changed since the relative calm of the 1980's. As a nurse in the Army, especially OR which is what I'm interested in I guess Iraq is a real probabilty? I left nursing on 9/11/01 because I lived in NYC and well....it's a long story. I wanted to get away from death as far as I could go...so I pursued a degree in English (which has nothing to do with the medical field) and began writing. Now I was given the opportunity to go back to school for nursing, tuition and books paid, and my husband said I'd be insane not to take it...so here I am, considering this...I do love to travel, I was a travel nurse for 4 yrs. prior to getting married. And I was very much interested in CRNA when I worked in pediatric OR. so I guess I would like to pursue that further if I decide on the military.I don't like med/surg at all and would be nay to do that...is it mandatory if you have OR experience to still do the med/surg? I'm in my late thirties I don't know that I have that much stamina although I suppose I could hold my own...is this more important in the Army than the AF? Also if you could tell me what are the better places to be stationed as a nurse with the AF. I've heard there is a job with the AF nicknamed "riding on the band-aid" which I assume is a flight nurse- have you heard of it? I've heard it is a cush job in the AF also if you know-what are the qualifications they look for? I speak 4 languages fluently so perhaps that may help? Once again I want to thank you for your reply...so happy someone cared enough about my ques. to answer back. Tanti Grazie.

Originally Posted by EvaLuna Hello All, I'm new to posting but have been reading all your posts with most interest. I have sooo many ques. I'll begin by saying I'm a former LVN who "quit" nursing 6+ years ago. I went on to pursue a B.A. English/minor Education and will be finished in Dec. 07. However, my husband convinced me to finish BSN & long story short I begin nursing school in Jan 08. I'm thinking of joining military (at my husband's urging) for the experience and schooling I may be able to attain. I want to know which branch u feel offers the best opportunities. Also I'm Very interested in working overseas. My husband was stationed in Germany AF for many yrs & would love to go back. So anyone who has worked overseas as a nurse any opinion would help. Also, are there any branches that are more inclined to send u overseas? Do u have a choice as a new grad? What about specialty- I want to work OR - I'm not very fond of MedSurg-My husband was AF 10 yrs, but also did Navy & Army though not as nurse- he tells me Army promotes faster is it true? Lastly my husband is 100% disabled veteran & I have 2 small children 10-11, will this be an issue for military? Deployments? I know this is alot of ques. but you guys are so knowledgable- I feel like a babe in the woods lol...also keep in mind I've never been in the military, so any suggestions on how to adjust at age 38 (40 by the time I go in) Any input is kindly appreciated!!!!

Thank You for reply Genevar, I appreciate that. But how do I move this text to create a new thread? Good luck in the Army, I know you will be successful I've read how helpful you are in this site and that is #1 ingredient in being successful. Thank Again

Hello All, I'm new to posting but have been reading all your posts with most interest. I have sooo many ques. I'll begin by saying I'm a former LVN who "quit" nursing 6+ years ago. I went on to pursue a B.A. English/minor Education and will be finished in Dec. 07. However, my husband convinced me to finish BSN & long story short I begin nursing school in Jan 08. I'm thinking of joining military (at my husband's urging) for the experience and schooling I may be able to attain. I want to know which branch u feel offers the best opportunities. Also I'm Very interested in working overseas. My husband was stationed in Germany AF for many yrs & would love to go back. So anyone who has worked overseas as a nurse any opinion would help. Also, are there any branches that are more inclined to send u overseas? Do u have a choice as a new grad? What about specialty- I want to work OR - I'm not very fond of MedSurg-My husband was AF 10 yrs, but also did Navy & Army though not as nurse- he tells me Army promotes faster is it true? Lastly my husband is 100% disabled veteran & I have 2 small children 10-11, will this be an issue for military? Deployments? I know this is alot of ques. but you guys are so knowledgable- I feel like a babe in the woods lol...also keep in mind I've never been in the military, so any suggestions on how to adjust at age 38 (40 by the time I go in) Any imput is kindly appreciated!!!! :uhoh21: