Iworecords

Just sitting here reading to pass the time but smiled when I read this thread. Oh how things have changed due to computers and automation ) When I took boards we took 5 separate tests (Med - Surg - Pedi - OB - Psy) over a 3 days span -- 600 questions on each exam and you needed to answer 350 correct on each to pass that part. And you needed to pass all 5 exams to get your license. When you finally walked out of the exam area, your brain was fried and you didn't know up from down or right from left. Then the waiting started -- I took my boards in July and the letter giving me my results did not arrive until October. I was one of the lucky ones -- I passed all 5 exams on my first try -- but I knew those who did not. My recommendations for taking your boards? First -- study every day for a couple of hours but NOT the evening before. Get a good 8 hours of sleep the night before your boards. To reduce stress make at least 2 practice drives to the testing site so you know the roads, traffic, and parking. Don't depend on a GPS to get you there because they make mistakes some times. Eat something before boards -- even if it is a cup of coffee and a donut. Your brain needs nutrition even if you are nauseated from the stress. Relax and deep breath -- but walk into the testing site with confidence. Don't believe everyone who tells you their computer shut off at X number and they passed -- or that if you had to answer the max you almost failed. And realize you are starting a career where you will learn something new almost everyday. I have been a nurse for -- aaahhhhemmm -- 40 yrs -- and I am still learning even as a DON.

Try writing a letter to the Chief Nurse at Womack Army Medical Center down at Fort Bragg. Hopefully she/he will pass it onto the Head Nurse of OB/GYN who will either answer your questions or pass it onto one of the nurses. More babies are born at Womack than at any other Army hospital )

Ok -- Unless the regulations have changed you do not need a BSN to join the Army Reserves -- but you must complete your BSN before you are eligible for Major (O4). There are various financial programs the Army Reserves offers to RN's who are completing their BSN. Also all new nurses entering the Army Reserves are considered med/surg nurses unless you have years of experience and certifications in a specialty. And the Army -- after reviewing your paperwork -- will determine if you will carry the designator for that specialty or continue as a med/surg nurse. Now you will have to do some research. The Army Reserves has retired the flags of many Army Reserve hospitals -- so there might not be one near you. It might mean that you will have to travel 8 hours or more to drill -- which means getting a hotel room for at least 2 nights on your dime -- and paying for your meals. If you are lucky enough to find a Reserve hospital located on a military post you may be able to stay in the VOQ (Visiting Officers Quarters) which are much cheaper than staying in a hotel. But you will have to determine whether joining the Reserves will be beneficial to you financially if you must travel a long distance. Also realize that the Army Reserves likes to "camp out" in the woods every couple of years on AT. That will mean almost 2 weeks of living in a tent -- using flashlights instead of electric lights -- primative hygiene (you might get a shower once or twice a week) -- etc etc etc. If you are not up for that -- get your BSN and look into the Air Force or the Navy. Also realize that once you sign on the dotted line, you are owned by the Army!! Once you have finished Officer's Basic you can receive a phone call to report to such and such a place -- find yourself on a plane -- and going off to where ever. Oh the Reserves will train you -- for roughly 4 to 6 weeks -- and then deploy you. Don't think it won't happen to you -- it does!! Now if you are in school, they might make an exception -- but most schools allow you to return and pick up where you left off -- or finish the semester via correspondence -- etc. Check with your school to see how they would handle it. DO NOT fall for a line some recuiters use -- that enlisting is the easiest way to get commissioned!!!!!!!!!!!! Too many RN's have fallen victim to this and then have had to fight to get commissioned. Now I have heard from friends recently retired from the Reserves that there are more and more candidates for fewer and fewer slots -- mainly because of the educational benefits being offered. Keep bugging the recuiter!!! Make an appointment to see them face to face. When you get to the point of filling out paperwork do not hesitate or procrastinate. Good luck. I retired just about 10 yrs ago after a career of 30 yrs -- and would do it again in a heart beat. I refuse to sugar coat things tho and will shoot from the hip.

Having been part of a dual military couple -- both of us in the Army -- I can tell you getting assigned together was not easy. The needs of the military come first -- not married life. As you go up in rank, things get tougher because there are less and less slots for you to fill. Better to consider DOD nursing -- things are more flexible and chances of getting a position together are better.

How do you plan to measure the output of an incontinent resident without using a foley? Measuring the output of an alert and oriented resident who is continent is easy enough -- but throw in confusion on top of the incontinence and your staff will be pulling out their hair. As a regional DON I once visited a facility that had their staff place the wet briefs on a scale -- but in reality that was not accurate if they were also soiled with feces that was not easily removed. Even the state questioned this method. And what will you do with a heavy wetter who leaks thru the briefs and gets clothing or bedding wet? Some times we attempt to be too complicated. There are times strict I&O is called for -- but other times when it is beyond what is needed. And how many times have we shot ourselves in the foot trying to do the impossible?

I'm all official now, and I couldn't be happier. :) Congrats !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :yeah:

- she's (I think Iworecords is a she!) Most def -- but there were some Marines back in 82 that questioned their eyesight when I was up on an OP requesting "shot and splash" lololololol Those are artillery terms quite a seasoned RN with God knows how many years in the military, 30 years -- 11+ yrs active when you count in my DS time -- and the rest Reserves. and I think she was in Vietnam besides - Nope -- never went to Vietnam -- but joined the Army when the war was going on. Retired 10 months before 9/11. so she probably knows more than most of the rest of us combined... Wouldn't say that lolololol

The circus trucks -- as they were called due to being brightly painted -- arrived and arrived and arrived -- loaded with EPW's. Apparently Iraqi soldiers -- if you could call them that since many had been forcibly taken from their families and shipped to the front -- some were as young as 9 yrs old while others were disabled -- were surrendering left and right. US and Coalition troops could not handle the influx and still make headway into enemy territory. EPW's were gathered up -- quickly triaged by the field medics for serious wounds -- given water -- and waited under minimal guard for the trucks to arrive. On the 2nd or 3rd day of the influx -- a group of about 30 Iraqi soldiers arrived at our ER. We triaged them -- their English speaking LT acting as an interpreter -- and found several that needed immediate medical attention. The others could go to the EPW camp so we looked for the MP's. NO MP's!!!! Did they forget them????? Then we noticed that none of the Iraqi soldiers had the EPW identification bracelets on. What was going on??????? In searching for the MP's -- who normally stood at the entrance to the ER -- we found an Iraqi truck parked outside the hospital. It turns out Coalition troops had given these surrendering Iraqi soldiers water and directions -- and they drove themselves to our hospital!!!!!!!!!!! To say the least there was some quick hip pocket training on security at the gate.............................. As the war progressed we saw a different type of EPW arriving at the ER -- some by helicopter -- some by ambulance. These were actual soldiers -- many veterans of the Iran Iraqi War with old poorly treated wounds from that war. They had been stabilized forward of us -- but needed additional surgery and care at our hospital. Many stayed with us until we tore down the hospital. The 3rd wave of EPW patients made your skin crawl. They were well fed -- and had on good boots. The first 2 types of EPW's were near starvation and were dressed in uniforms that were almost rags. When we cut away blood soaked clothing we didn't find wounds that corresponded with the bullet holes. Oh, we found wounds -- but nothing of what we expected. The atmosphere in the wards changed when they were placed in the population -- patients that had been joyful -- talkative -- suddenly became quiet. Our Kuwaiti interpreters then told us we were treating the Republican Guards..................... To hide their identity, they changed clothing with other soldiers of lesser ranking that had been killed.

I only got to Bahrain twice -- once on official business and once after the war to go on the Love Boat -- that never left the dock lololol Where Saudi was interesting -- and Kuwait was heartbreaking with all the damage -- Bahrain was like a jewel -- even in the heat. A friend who retired from the Navy said it was one of the best kept secrets for an accompanied tour before the Iraq War.

As you were -- you misread the whole thing. It was meant for those civilian nurses who think joining the Army will be a cake walk after they collect their big bonus and milk "Uncle" for further education -- without having to pay the piper. Better they know what they could face rather than cry in their beer when it's wheels up. I would rather scare off a warm body while gaining one ready, willing, and able to take the challenge!!! I was not complaining about my experiences -- heck I had a ball So much so that I remained in country -- earning 2 hershey bars on my right sleeve. I joined the Army during the Vietnam War -- proudly wearing the uniform for 30 years -- and the only complaint I had was "Uncle" took his sweet old time deploying me lolololol

On one of the threads someone asked what you do on your time off during deployment. Time off???? What time off???? lololololol Actually you do have time off after things settle down but you are always on call. Once our hospital was up -- which took about a week of hard work from dawn to dusk -- we divided the days and nights into 6 hour shifts. The air war was going on -- so no casualties -- but we didn't know when the lull would suddenly end. We spent the time fine tuning our wards -- setting up equipment and supplies -- training our trauma teams (we had 8 highly trained trauma doc's) -- running a 24 hour sick call for the surrounding units (you would not believe some of the problems we saw!!) -- pulling guard duty -- etc. On our time off we tried to set up our living quarters so that we were comfortable -- or at least as comfortable as possible. Some of the guys were into weight lifting -- so they used sand bags and pipes to make barbells, etc. My tent mates were into sun worshiping so they set up a deck on the back of our tent. One of the gas passers set up a "beer garden" connected to his tent using cammo netting. Several of the male nurses were into fishing -- so they set up a mini dock and when you'd pass their tent on the way to the hospital they'd be there fishing lolololol Several of the doc's set up a putting green using artificial turf they had brought with them -- along with their golf clubs lololol The SGM wanted a pool -- and dug one -- but sadly after the first sand storm it became a mud pit. The biggest thing tho that we all looked forward to on our time off was -- taking an hour ride in the back of a 5 Ton to stand in line for hours on end to make a 15 minute phone call home :) Our down time tho didn't last long -- maybe a week -- before the word came down that our original 150 bed hospital was not going to be large enough for our new mission. The trucks started to pull in loaded with conex's and ISO's. It was back to building. By this time tho we were pro's and put that puppy up in the blink of an eye But now we had to staff 2 distinct hospitals -- so we knew our only down time was going to be to sleep. A couple of days before the ground war started, the casualties started to arrive just after dark -- by the truck load!!! Not US troops -- not Coalition troops -- but Iraqi prisoners of war. 100 -- 200 -- 300 the first night. Everyone reported to duty. We triaged in every available space -- including the dental tent and outside under the stars. We were lucky tho -- for the most part those first EPW's were not in serious condition -- starvation mainly -- so as we cleared them they got back on the trucks and headed to the EPW camp. Those not medically stable -- like the diabetics or those severely dehydrated -- were shipped back into the wards. By dawn things had quieted down -- people went back to their tents to grab some sleep before reporting back in a few hours to relieve those who had been originally scheduled for the previous night. We went to 12 hour shifts -- no days off for several weeks -- and after that 12 hours per day 6 days per week until the first week in March.

While at school, I did some clinical at Plattsburgh AFB -- and the Chief Nurse there swore me in when my commissioning orders came down. It was my first real taste of military nursing and can say -- that even tho I was going Army -- they could not have been nicer :) Actually my going into Army nursing became a running joke lolololol Back in Desert Storm, I came out of the desert and visited the Army hospital at Dhahran Air Base on my way to Khobar Towers for R&R (2 days and 1 night of flush toilets lolololol). Compared to our living arrangements the nurses at Dhahran were basking in luxury!!!!!!!!!!! They were still living in GP Large tents but they had fans lolololol Now you know who had it good? The Navy nurses over on Bahrain!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Seabees had built their DEPMED hospital -- even poured concrete floors!!! They had a liquid O2 system shipped in from the states so there was no dragging the big tanks around. I walked thru their hospital and thought to myself -- this is nice Several years later I ran into a Navy nurse who was there and she told me how they were housed in one of the international 4 star hotels and were bused to work every day. Each service treats their nurses differently. And even within the same service -- on deployment -- you see different conditions according to when and where the hospitals are set up. If you are first or second on the ground, the conditions you will face will be far different from those if you rotate in months afterwards.

I sure hope they explained this!!!! I thought something else had changed lolololol

rather then joining to be in the ICU as there are a lot of additional 'lifestyle' and job sacrifices that might be a surprise to you. Hooah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No deployment? OK -- don't count on it lololololol And if you do deploy what could you face? Well let's see -- giggling to myself How do you like living in a tent with 8-10 other people? Your bed might be a cot with a sleeping bag. Your closet -- a piece of parachute cord strung between tent posts. Oh your tent will not have heat or ac. If you are lucky you will have a couple of light bulbs. At night the creepy crawlies come out -- mice -- rats -- snakes -- and you'd be amazed how scorpions can walk along the underside of the tent roof. Don't worry -- only the black ones are poisonous -- or maybe it was the red ones lololololol Your bathroom? How about a screened latrine -- 3 holes -- hopefully with toilet seats -- located far away from your tent -- a long walk in the middle if the night with a flashlight. You soon learn sitting and concentrating is not done in private. When the weather gets warm, the flies swarm out from the 55 gallon drum that is your sewage collection system when you lift the toilet seat cover. You learn to lift the seat cover -- check to see if the drum is there -- it might have been removed to be stir and burned. If it isn't there you will need to find another latrine. Your shower? Try a GP Large tent with a bunch of shower stalls off the side. The tent will give you some privacy but you will undress/dress in front of your peers (same sex). If you are lucky there will be a wooden bench along one side to put your clothes -- if not you will hang them on the shower stall and hope they don't get wet. Your shower stall will be a small wooden cubby with a wooden slat floor. The water is filled in the containers above at least once a day -- maybe a couple of times a day -- from a water truck. Pick the wrong time of day to get your shower and you will be talking to the guy filling the water lololol If your hospital has a heater to go into the water truck -- you might find warm/tepid shower water. Most times tho -- unless you are there just as they have filled the containers -- IF you find water -- it will be cold. You will use a tent peg to control the lever that allows water thru the shower head. Wet down -- turn off the shower -- soap up -- turn on the shower -- rinse off. No long showers!!!!!!!!!! If you run out of water -- well -- hopefully you will find a shower stall with water in it. Where do you eat? Hummmmm -- you don't eat in your tent!!! It draws the creepy crawlies!!!! You will eat in a mess tent. Meals are served at specific times -- if you are on duty, it will be MRE's. Hopefully your mess SGT's are good with rehydrating pork chops -- cooking chicken 400 ways -- and know to soak the lettuce and other fresh veggies -- bought on the economy -- in chlorine water. If not -- or if the refrig truck transporting your frozen food was turned off and then back on in route to your hospital -- you will be visiting the latrines frequently. Oh the mess tent will be crowded -- but there will be more flies than people lolololol Now for your hospital. See that open area away from your living quarters? See those conex's? That's your hospital!!!!!!!!!!!! You will build it -- and they will come. If you don't know how to put up a DEPMED hospital -- you will learn -- and you will get good at it. Forget about manicures -- forget about makeup. You will sweat like a pig even if its just above freezing. Oh forgot to tell you -- until your ER -- Pre-op -- and at least 1 of your OR ISO's is up and running -- you won't have tents to sleep in or showers. Just a little incentive to make sure when the first wounded come across your threshold you will be ready. Sounds unbelievable? It couldn't happen to you? Take it from someone who spent 4 months up in the desert -- it happens! And our job didn't finish when the war was over -- then we started treating EPW's. It was not unusual to treat 300 each evening in the ER. And after they stopped coming in droves -- then we treated civilian emergencies. Eventually we pulled down our hospital -- and put it back into the conex's -- and some went home -- and others remained doing other jobs in country.

I believe there are many potential military nurses who are blinded by the offer of a large bonus -- the promise of a rosey lifestyle -- the guarantee of future education -- etc -- who are then caught off guard when reality hits. Those of us who "have been there -- done that -- have the tee shirt to prove it" most likely would do it over again -- I know I would -- but don't want some unsuspecting nurse to jump in with both feet only to find out that they are going to sink and not swim. There are some nurses who are made for the military -- and some who aren't. There are nurses who would flourish in AF nursing but not Army nursing -- and some Army nurses who would go bonkers if they had to do Navy nursing. Altho we are all cut from the same cloth we don't fit the same mold. I am sitting here wondering how a recruiter can sleep at night after he has filled a young nurse's head with all the good stuff -- to the point that she is contemplating leaving her husband and family!!! Yes -- maybe we will miss out on a good nurse -- but how good would she be if after 6 months she is crying because she cannot tuck her kids into bed -- or that she missed their first step.................