CPT_Jana

You may try contacting the AMEDD Center and School Registrar's office. Below is a description of what they can do for former students. Office of the Registrar Provide full registrar services to current and past students by ensuring the full documentation of academic records for courses taught by the AMEDDC&S, including prime source employment verification and professional registry boards and course documentation to the American Council on Education for college credit recommendations . Provide quality assurance of Academic Evaluation Reports. POC: 210-221-8426 Email: [email protected] Oh and FYI, the designation for 91Cs is now 91WM6. Good luck and I hope that gets you what you need. Jana

That makes sense now! If it were me, I'd choose Germany (for what it is worth!).

I'm confused - are you joining the Reserves or Active component? I guess I've not known Reservists to select an Active Duty unit/location of assignment. Generally they join a Reserve unit/CSH with an opening near where they live - not an active installation such as those you listed. I'm sure one of the experts on this board can chime in with more info related to the USAR (and correct me if I'm mistaken!). But for what it is worth, here's a little info on the installations you have listed above: Landstuhl (LRMC) - largest military medical facility in Germany - very busy with the casualties from OIF/OEF. Has the full range of services - ER, ICU, OB, Peds, etc. (http://www.landstuhl.healthcare.hqusareur.army.mil) Winn Army Community Hospital, Ft. Stewart, GA - smaller sized hospital, I have no idea what their occupied bed days are. Primarily supports 3rd ID, their family members, and local retirees. Have some ICU capability, ER, L&D, peds, surgical capabilites, psych. (http://www.winn.amedd.army.mil) Ft Huachuca, AZ - only medical asset is a "super-clinic" - outpatient clinics, lab, radiology, physical therapy, same-day surgery. (http://rwbach.huachuca.amedd.army.mil/indexframes.html) Good luck to you and welcome to the AMEDD and Army Nurse Corps! Hope the information helps. I've not been assigned to any of those facilities/installations although I've been to LRMC.

Also, make sure you speak with a "health professions" recruiter. There is a difference! They are focused on recruitment of nurses, physicians, etc and know the unique ins and outs of medical officer recruitment. I've been an Army Nurse Corps officer for 10 years and I'd be happy to speak with you offline if you wish - PM me with your e-mail address. Jana

I went through school as an Army ROTC cadet. My school was paid for by a scholarship and I received a stipend (some paltry amount - $100/month, I think it has gone up significantly). However, during this time I was not a commissioned officer - rather a "cadet". Commissioning occurred after successfully completing the program and graduating. Once I received NCLEX results, I went to OBC and began receiving the full pay and benefits. I'm reasonably certain that the Air Force program is similar and that they also require a BSN for commissioning on Active Duty. Sounds like you need to ask more questions of your recruiter. Just as an aside, is your recruiter a Health Professions recruiter, or just a regular AF recruiter? In the Army it does make a difference which genre of recruiter you are dealing with. Hope that helps! Jana

Interesting... For Active duty ANC (Army Nurse Corps) officers, the requirement is BSN for commissioning and MSN is a promotion discriminator for LTC (O-5).

The Active Army has NOT changed it's commissioning requirement - nor is there a plan to do so. To be commissioned on active duty (i.e. full time military), a nurse must have a BSN - and have passed the NCLEX prior to attending the Officer Basic Course. Now, the Reserve component is slightly different. I'm not fully well-versed on the USAR, but I believe nurses can be commissioned with an ADN. However, they must obtain a BSN prior to achieving the rank of MAJ (this may have changed - someone more familiar with the USAR will certainly chime in with the correct info!) Jana

Military nurses are paid base pay (set amount every month that is subject to taxes) as well as an allowance for housing and subsistence (i.e. meals) that is non-taxable. For example, if you were to come on active duty this year and were stationed at National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, MD (just as an example) this is what you would make (these pay tables are available for anyone to look at on the internet, I posted the website on this thread a while back): $2343.60 (assuming you have no prior military experience and no civilian nursing experience - you would be an Ensign (O-1) with $183.99 - standard subsistence rate for all officers (nontaxable) $1290 - housing allowance for an Ensign with no dependents (spouse, children - it would be $1502 if you had dependents) - nontaxable So, your gross pay for the month as a brand new officer would be $3817.59. Military nurses are not paid on an hourly basis and get no overtime. On the flip side, you get the same amount of income even if you don't work 80 hours in the pay period. And you get 30 days of paid vacation (aka "leave") accumulated per annum. But, as many of us have said, there is more than just the monetary incentive to join the armed services. Hope that helps. Jana

There is no military nursing (i.e. BSN producing) program at this time. There have been programs in the past (WRAIN is the one that comes to mind) and I had heard that in light of the global nursing shortage from which the military is not immune there was a thought of bringing the concept back. The Army sponsors advanced training programs in critical care, emergency care, OB/GYN, community health, and psych. There are also military-run MSN programs for FNP, periop CNS, and CRNA. There is an Army LVN/LPN program. It produces an enlisted soldier with the credentials of combat medic + civilian LVN/LPN licensure. Sorry, but I can only really speak to Army-specific programs. Not sure if that answers your question or not - but there you go! Jana

As a general rule, military nurses do not staff VA facilities. VA facilities are federally operated, so many of their nurses are government employees. Some military training programs (such as those here in San Antonio) utilize VA facilities for training purposes - i.e. Mental Health Specialist course. There are a variety of portals of entry into Army medicine. The Army requires a BSN for commissioning (and therefore full recognition as an RN). Military hospitals do employ non-BSN RNs, just not as Army RNs. Confusing, I know! As far as what Army nurses do during peacetime - well basically they do the same things that civilian nurses do. We take care of patients with a variety of medical and surgical problems. In our stateside facilities, many of our inpatients are retirees, family members, and active duty soldiers. OB is only a portion of that mission. The Army has relatively few active duty nurses that are OB nurses ~ 137 (and ~38 CNM) of our total corps strength of ~3500. Actually, if you were to walk into a military medical facility, outside of the uniforms, it would look very much like any other medical facility. Hope that helps. Good luck in your future career! Jana

ummm.... I wasn't looking for info, rather was offering to provide some to RedSoxRN via PM.

There is also a big push for VA nurses to utilize this program.

Thanks Cheerfuldoer! I forgot to mention those intangibles - pension, healthcare/dental, paid vacation, education, travel. I've taken advantage of all (except the pension - that's another 9 years away!) of them. I guess I've just taken them for granted!

I would recommend you make your own comparison, since you know what nurses make in your area. Military pay scales are available to the public at http://www.dod.mil/dfas. Go to military pay information and select current rates under the heading of pay rates. You can then select either a MS Word or PDF document that will show you 2005 pay scales. Almost all nurses come on active duty as an O-1 (may be an O-2 if you have significant clinical experience - depends on branch of service). A standard "due-course" officer will be an O-3 after about 4 years of service, an O-4 after about 10, and an O-5 after 14-16 years of service. Keep in mind that these pay scales are strictly pay - you have to go to other parts of the site to see tax-free allowances for housing and subsistence. Housing allowances are based on geographic location and rank. In my case, I surpassed my BSN classmates as far as pay is concerned after I had been on active duty for about 4 years. Hope that helps to answer your questions! Jana Go Army!

I also agree - the military is a wonderful (albeit difficult) way of life! I am a little biased towards the Army, but have respect for my Air Force and Navy medical colleagues. Jana