leisa22

Hello, I have gotten orders to go to Tripler in the summer. I am totally anxious on what to expect because I just got into the military and know its not like civilian nursing. I have MANY questions for civilian or military nurses working at Tripler. I would love to be able to PM anyone at Tripler who would be willing to share their experiences or better yet help answer some of my many questions. Thanks

That really bites. Im sorry to hear of your situation. Is there anyway that you can still fight it?

I work with air force nurses and civilian experience definetly counts. 3 years civilian experience would probably put you at first lt. I know 5 years gets up in as a capt in the air force.

My husband is active duty and I work at the hospital on his base. From my experience it is rather easy to get a contractor job in a military hospital. More than half the staff at the hospital that I work at are civilian. Although they say they require at least a year experience, but I applied with 8 months of experience and I got hired. If you have any other questions fell free to PM me.

I decided to go army because I have heard it was easier to get into the crna program via the army, I was prior army enlisted and liked it, and my husbands in the army. I would never join the navy-dont like boats for long periods of time and never thought to really research the airforce.

Thanks, I hope I find out this month. I am hoping for the March OBC as well. MY husband is stationed here in San Antonio so it works out well so that I dont have to leave my family for OBC. Congrats on getting close to graduating. Where are you hoping to get stationed? Will they station your husband where you go or vice versa?

Hi army kitten, Im not too familiar with the ROTC program but I have my packet in the the boards this month and hopefully I will get commished soon. Do you know when your OBC class starts? Im hoping to start OBC with the next available open class date.

I work at in the hospital at Lackland now as a civilian contractor and love it. I have talked to the airforce nurses about deployment and many have been deployed, but they are also the ones who volunteered. There is one that volunteered and still anxiously waiting to go but has not been yet. From what these AF nurses say, right now its easy to not get deployed since everyone is volunteering. Military nursing is great. Infact, I have my packet in to this months boards in hopes of getting into the army nurse corps soon. Civilian contracting in military hospitals is great too, but I want to go military so that I can retire in 20 years and get further my education with the military paying for it.

CHKD offers an externship in the summer that is awsome! I beleive sentara and depaul also offer externship programs.

medic14 thanks for the reply and advice. Do you know what time PT starts and what the average day is like? Im guessing PT around 5 and otherstuff 9-5? ??

The military has many programs where you can further your education and your job is to go to school. infact its much easier finacially to further your education while in the military. thats one of the reasons why im getting back into the military.

I am going to be attending the longer version of OBC. I do have prior military experience as well, but its been at least 8 years since I have been in the military. I may have forgotten alot but did manage to keep in shape. Any idea on what the schedule is like? I want to know how often PT is and when. Since I will be living farther away I need to plan my schedule and child care now so that the transition will be easier. thanks

Im hopeing to get into army OBC the beginning of 2006 and was wondering if anyone could give me some insite as to what a typical day is like. I will be living in San Antonio about 35 minutes away from Fort Sam and was wondering how early I am going to have to get up for PT and how often PT per week. Basically, Im interested in the weekly schedule and times I will have during OBC. Thanks

i recently moved to san antonio. Im a somewhat new nurse

i was offered 2000 for a 2 year agreement, but I declined because we move alot and I cant commit to anything for 2 years.

thanks funinsun for your reply, When you get licensed, are you planning on going into a critical care environment? I agree, its very interesting. I just hope I can handle it. Most ICU environments offer courses as part of there orientation/preceptor time, however this one doesnt so Im worried about learning about all the devices used in ICU without having the class. I really just should try thinking positive because Im always worried with new experiences and they always turn out ok.

I ended up with a DVT at a very young age and had to wear 30-40 compression hose for a long time. During that time I came to love JObst hose. I now wear them EVERY time I work and I have no leg pain or new spider or varicrose veins. I wear the 30-40 compression in Jobst and it doesnt feel like too much. Anything lower in compression doesnt feel like enough. These hose feel nice on and dont look too bad, however I do have problems with static cling from time to time.

Hi all, I have been a med/surg nurse now for about 7-8 months and am moving into an ICU area. Im very scared and anxious because I took 3-4 months off between the transition and because my med/surg job was at a very small hospital with not so sick patients. The nurse to patient ratio was usually 4 to 1. Needless to say, it wasnt too difficult. My new job is in a much bigger hospital with very sick patients. The nurse to patient ratio is still low 3 to 1, but the acuity is so much higher. The manager who hired me said she never hires new grads, but I feel like a new grad in regards to my lack of experience. I would feel a little better if she did hire new grads but I feel like she will expect so much more from me just becuase Ive had those few months of med/surg experience. I start in Sept. and am getting more and more anxious as august slips away. Anyone else experience this anxiety when switching from med/surg to ICU or from low acuity patients to extremely sick patients? thanks

Talking the the army recruiter is a good suggestion, but make sure to double check everything they say via online searches or other means. I have talked to 3 different recruiters about the nursing corps and have gotten different information from all of them. ON the basic points they were "intune", however in answering many of my more specific questions they would give different answers. I think I got the most valuble and reliable information from my first recruiter to whom I talked to while I was still in school getting my BSN. She had been an LPN in the military and had first hand knowledge, however my other two recruiters had no medical experience whatsoever and I got 'iffy" info. from them. You can PM me with any questions and I may be able to answer since I have done much research into the subject.

Does this seem like the average amount offered to fairly new nurses? I only have 8 months of experience. I just wanted to make sure Im not at the lowest paying hospital in the area.

Hospital

My last job was in north carolina, where my rent was cheaper, daycare was cheaper and cost of living was cheaper.

Oh yah, and those salary figures come from the place that I am currently in. San Antonio

I didnt negotiate my pay. Im still a new nurse and I guess still havent learned the tricks of the trade. As a new nurse with only 8 months of experience is this something that I could do? This pay is without differentials but I am working straight days with no weekends. Thanks

I got offered a job for 17 and some change. This seems really low to me. I was making 32 and some change base pay at my last job. Am I just at the wrong hospital? Anyone from San Antonio with advice on where to work that will pay more than 17 base? Thanks