HM2Doc

Yeah, joining the Navy is no easy process. It's also very competitive and time sensitive. Basically, you have to be a strong candidate and the stars have to be aligned in order for you to get in....or at least that's what it seems like to me. But, it's worth it, so keep on trying. Good luck. :)

You should contact a recruiter to have that question answered. No one here is going to know the dates and quota numbers better than a recruiter....even recruiters have a hard time figuring that out, for some reason. If I had to take a guess, I would say that applying in December is a bit late....FY14 starts in October. Plus, you'll be a new grad with no experience. Most DA's I've heard from have half a year to a few years of experience. You'd be the frist DA I've ever heard of who got in with zero experience. Not saying it isn't possible or it hasn't happened before, I just haven't heard of it. The NCP is where the Navy gets their nurses with zero nursing experience. But, yeah, contact a recruiter. Good luck.

MEPs and the interviews are pretty much the entire process.

Here's what I had to do in regards to the physical: Height and weight, EKG, vitals, head to toe exam, general ROM (no duck walk), a legit hearing test (the one in the booth), visual test, blood work (electrolytes, CBC, cholesterol, BG, HIV, etc), and a dental exam. They'll look for anything that is abnormal....ANYTHING. If it's abnormal you have may have to go back and have it evaluated and possible get a waiver. I had two knee surgeries while I was on active duty as an enlisted person and I had to get that scrutinized (even though they already said it was fine while I was still in the military the first time!). That took about a month. As for the interview, it was pretty casual. I interviewed with two retired Captains (O-6). They asked me why I wanted to be a Navy Nurse Corps officer, if I knew what to expect in the military and could I handle the possibility of getting deployed (love being deployed), where do I see myself in 5 years as a NC officer, how I was doing in nursing school (including my GPA)......and....that's all I remember. It was probably the easiest part of the whole application process to be honest. Mainly because I'm prior service. Just present yourself professionally. Sit up straight, be polite and respectful, speak like you have a college education.....you know, the typical interview protocol. Oh yeah, do a bit of research about the Nurse Corps and the military before you go....it may not look that great if you have no idea what a NC officer or service member does in the military. And don't make it sound like you are just joining for the benefits. I'm not saying that is why you are joining, but some people may mention how much they enjoy the benefits provided to service members (BAH, travel, free schooling, medical/dental coverage, etc.). It's fine to mention some of that; it's to be expected. But definitely work into the interview what YOU can provide the military. Good luck.

I was always told that once you make it to the interviews, the GPAs and TEAS score didn't matter anymore. Those scores were just to select who would get an interview. The interview was to select who would get in out of the people who made the cutoff. They told us at our interview (back in the day) that we were all considered equal at that point, and that the interview would decide who got selected. Maybe things have changed. Also, for those 4.0 students, try not to freak out when you don't earn all A's in nursing school. A few things to know: -You will not graduate with a 4.0 GPA. Everyone thinks they will, everyone tries, no one EVER does. Highest I've ever heard about was a 3.8ish (no job, no kids, lived at home with mom, studied nonstop). -Nursing school classes are harder than classes you are probably used to. A lot harder. Like, make you sit on your couch and want to cry, harder. - The tests are modelled after NCLEX-styled questions. For those of you that don't know what that means, just know that you will hate it. - The class gpa averages at the end of the two year program are about a 3.3 - 3.4 .Some will get higher, some will get lower. - You stand a 1 in 40ish chance of not graduating. Someone always fails out of the class. More stuff: - You will have to write AT LEAST one paper each semester while in nursing school. It had to be in APA format and it will be graded by people with PhD's. Sometimes you have to write up to 3 papers. Paper length seemed to average about 10 pages, with the longest being 20. - You will have to present in front of the class AT LEAST once a semester. For those of you afraid of public speaking, you should probably go get some meds for that ahead of time. By the time you graduate, you will have easily presented in front of people at least 20+ times (in class, at clinicals, at homebase, etc). - Group work. Most people don't have problems with this, but I figured I'd mention it. You will be assigned group work/activities all the time. Some of it will be little stuff, and some of it will be huge (like your senior projects, writing papers, and class presentations). Don't get lazy and put the work on your group members shoulders. Carry your load. Anyway, that's it. Just wanted to share some stuff I wish people had told me back when I was in your shoes. The cold hard truth...non of that sugar coated "everything is going to be perfect and fun" balogne.

You have a dedicated "Community" class your first semester and your last semester. They say that homebase hours count as your clinical hours for those two classes. In reality, you have homebase hours every semester, regardless of whether you are taking a community class or not. The homebase hours are not always in a nursing home (in fact, I don't know of any groups that are). I never once stepped foot into a nursing home or medical facility for ANY of my homebase hours. You'll also never learn never perform any nursing skill during homebase that you haven't already learned your first semester (blood pressures...more blood pressures). Just know this. You WILL end up hating homebase. Everyone does. And there's no way out of it. Anyway, enough about that crap. Here's a brief description of your REAL nursing clinicals: 1st semester: Spent entirely at a nursing home (taking vitals, wiping bum bums, the basics) 2nd semester: first half of the semester is either Psych or rehabilitation nursing, the second half is whatever you didn't have the first half. Psych, you will got to a psychiatric facility and sit and talk with psychiatric patients all day. It's awkward and extremely boring. Rehabilitation, you will help patients recover from surgeries, strokes, car accidents, etc. 3rd semester: I believe it is spent entirely on Adult Health. THIS IS NURSING. You will work on med-surg and give out meds, change dressing, help patients with whatever. Learn all you can during this semester, it will help you on the NCLEX. 4th semester: First half is pediatrics or women's health, the second half is whatever you didn't have the first half. What can I say about this semester? Babies and lady partss. That about sums it up. 5th semester: First half of the semester is spent on a med-surg-type floor where you will have to take on as many as 4 patients. Second half of the semester will be spent with a preceptor where you will apply everything you've learned in nursing school. To get a specialty (peds, ICU, ER, Oncology, etc) you have to pass your "exit HESI" on the first try and score no lower than a B in any of your classes. If you do not do those things then you get placed on a med-surg floor. Tip: The BEST hospital for clinical is MAYO, hands down. It's where god would go if he got sick. Seriously, it is far better than the other hospitals as far as clinicals go. It's clean, doesn't constantly smell like feces, the employees and the patients were always happy. So, if you can get Mayo, get it. Another bit of info they never tell you or downplay: Nursing school is extremely demanding. It is monumentally harder than your first two years of college. Seriously, it was the hardest thing I ever did. If you have children, it will be even harder. If you have children and a job, then you better be one of those people that are naturally brilliant and never need to study. Also, at least one person never makes it to graduation...it's a fact. My class lost at least 6 people. That's not counting the one person who dropped out on the very first day at orientation when the staff explained just how hard it was going to be. Anyway, good luck at your interviews. :)

I'm graduating at the end of April, so he said I'd probably go to ODS in June...maybe July. He said ODS dates depend on how long it takes you to pass the NCLEX. I plan on taking it as soon as possible in order to make the June class.

I got the call around 1500 today, and I got NMCSD! Just what I wanted!

Hospitals I've worked at: NH Pensacola, FL NH Portsmouth,VA for a short time; NH Guam and lastly, NH Jacksonville. I've also been to, but not worked at, NMCSD Pensacola was fun. I turned 21 one there, so it was a wild time. The beaches are great, there's plenty of things to go do during the day and night, and New Orleans isn't too far of a drive when it's time for Mardi Gras. The hospital is a medium-sized facility with your typical specialties. Traffic and parking were not too bad. The area is one of the safest I've been to. I was only in Portsmouth for about 6 months for training. The hospital is large and has many specialties (Hence it being one of the Big Three). It was a decent place, but I also place a lot of weight on how the area surrounding the base is. The surrounding area was a bit run down and there always seemed to be news reports of someone being killed (not service members, though). Traffic was horrible there. If there's a car wreck in on of the underground tunnels, you might as well turn of your car and read a book. NH Guam was my top duty station, and I loved it there. It was on a small island in the Pacific, so the weather was great and the water was always warm every day of the year. If you like outdoor activities, this is the place...hiking, scuba diving, kayaking, boating, waterfalls, jungles, etc. It was wonderful. Plus, it's just a short plane trip away from Japan, Australia, Palau, etc, so there's lots of opportunity to travel. As for the hospital, it was a medium-sized facility. They are considered a trauma center, so you get to see some pretty nasty stuff like MVAs, shipboard injuries, plane crash victims, GSWs, all sorts of crazy stuff. They are currently building a new hospital, so it will be larger and more modern. Also, it was very relaxing at that command. Everyone seemed very laid back and ready to have a good time. NH Jacksonville was the most recent hospital I worked at. It's where I worked before I got out to go to school. It's a medium-sized facility with you typical services. They just added onto the hospital, so there are more operating rooms and stuff like that. Traffic can be thick at times depending on where you live and what route you take to work. As far as safety, it has its good and bad areas. You'll have to talk to people at the hospital and ask them where you should move to. If you don't ask them and move to some place like 103rd street, you'll probably regret it. I've been living here since Jan 2008 and I am soooo ready to leave. NMCSD is another BIG hospital. I haven't worked there, I've just been there. Like Portsmouth, it'll have all the specialities you'll want. There's lots to do in San Diego. If you can't find something to do at this place then you are the most picky, boring person ever. There's something for everyone. As far as crime, I hate to say it, but it's kinda bad. My wife is currently stationed there and she came out to find her brand new Jeep sitting on car jacks one morning, and she hadn't even been living in SD for a month. She also had someone try and open her apartment door while she was there. Fortunately, she is about to move to another location. I would strongly urge you to ask other people where the best place to live is...even more so than Jacksonville. Although I like SD, I have to say it's the worst place so far when it comes to crime. Also, the parking is VERY bad in SD. A lot of people have to park their cars out on the street....which makes easy targets for thieves, and they take advantage of it. Other than the crime, traffic, and parking, SD is a great place. lol If you have any other questions just let me know.

I was stationed at the Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida. Didn't really care for it, nor did many others. Of course, that was back in 2009, so things may have changed...doubt it.

I graduate at the end of April, so I really hope I don't have to wait until Jul or Aug for ODS. There is a class around May 12th, but that may be too soon. Hopefully I can get a June class.

I'm actually on the east coast right now, but that shouldn't be an issue.

San Diego is where I'm trying to go as well. My wife is active duty and stationed there, so I'm 99.9% sure that's what I'll get...preferably at NMCSD.

You don't receive a commissioning until after you have passed the NCLEX. You do not start getting paid as an active duty service member until your report to ODS. You do not get official orders to your duty station and ODS until a week or two after passing the NCLEX. Source: the NCP website, and the NCP program manager.

Aketamax: I just read the email from ****** and sent out an email to *****. Hopefully I'll hear back from him sometime next week.

Oaktown2: I was doing a 12 hr rotation in the ER Mar 1st, so I'll have to give him a call Monday morning. My wife is active duty and stationed in SD, so there's a 99.9% I'll be going to San Diego as well. Balboa was my 1st pick on my DPS.

PRICHARILLA: You would have to spend a lot of time working in the civilian sector to earn 0-2E or 0-3E. They may even want you to have a masters degree to get that kind of rank. You should just apply for the NCP and get 0-1E after graduation. That's what I'm doing (already accepted into NCP). It takes on average 2 years to pick up 0-2E and 4 years to pick up 0-3E, so you are looking at needing 4-8 years of civilian experience just to earn a rank you could pick up in 2-4 years. After 8 years working "in the field" you MAY (I highly doubt it) come in as an 0-3E, at which point I'll already have just over 15 years of service (already have 7 as prior enlisted) and I will be up for 0-4. What I'm trying to say is that it makes more sense to just get in as soon as you can and start your Navy career. Instead of spending those years as a civilian you'll be putting it towards retirement, and you'll have experience as an officer. If you come in as an 0-1E, by the time you are an 0-3E you'll actually know how to be an 0-3. If you just come in as an 0-3E you won't know what you're doing (as an officer) and few will respect you as a leader. Go on Navytimes.com and use their pay calculator to see what you'd be making as an 0-1E with 8 years experience. It'll likely be more than what you could be earning as a new grad RN in the civilian sector. And in 4 years, when you hit 0-3E, you'll be making the same or more than a nurse practicioner. Long story short, it's more beneficial to just join right after graduation. That's my advice at least.

For those graduating this Spring, have any of you received any information regarding orders and ODS?

You have to be "within standards" when you apply for the program. As part of the application process they will give you a full physical and it is very thorough - height & weight, blood work, ekg, vision, hearing, head to toe assessment, etc, etc. So, you will need to be an acceptable weight for your height during the physical exam. However, they do not conduct a physical readiness test as part of the physical exam or application process. That means you do not need to pass the run, push ups, and sit-ups until after you graduate and report to ODS (officer bootcamp). You stated that you are preparing for all of this and could "use two years". I'm assuming, and it may be an incorrect assumption, that you are not close to being "Navy fit" if you need two years. If you are noticeably "out of standards" you recruiter may not even start the application process until you get closer to being within standards. So get with a recruiter as soon as possible to see what he/she says. On another note, I'd also like to point out that medications can instantly disqualify you. A lot of people don't know this when they go into the physical exam, and I personally know a VERY qualified girl who was disqualified because she was prescribed Adderall a year or so before she took her physical. She was disqualified even though she didn't take it anymore (if you are being prescribed it, they assume you are taking it). So, taking certain medications can disqualify you for an ENTIRE year, at which point you have to redo the physical exam.

OH yeah, some tips for the interview: - Do not dress like you are interviewing for some super trendy fashion magazine. Dress conservatively, with conservative colors. There were people at my interview wearing some of the craziest outfits...none of them got in. - Do not try and dress SEXY. Your interviewers are going to be middle to late-aged females. They don't want to see that. - It is 2013...dress like it. Don't come in looking like Jackie Kennedy. And dudes, don't where jackets with those patches on the elbows...one guy did and didn't get in. - Guys should shave or trim their facial hair. There were people there who had beards....they didn't get selected. If you have long hair, groom it so that it doesn't look grungy. - Limit the amount of jewelry you wear, and don't wear wild jewelry. NO facial piercings. - If you have tattoos that are showing, make them NOT show. - Do not wear a lot of perfume or cologne. - Be friendly. Interrupting people during the interview, or acting like an annoying know-it-all will hurt you. - Have a question to ask. At the end of the interview they will ask you if you have any questions...ASK ONE, and make it GOOD. No questions like, "what do our scrubs look like" or "can we take days of from class". That's about it for now. I posted something like this awhile back that probably included more stuff, but that's all I remember right now. Good luck.

The interview process will go like this: -You get to the third floor of the nursing building (EARLY!!) and are directed to a table where you sign in and are given a name tag. - At this table you will be assigned a number. This number is your interview group number, and each interview group will be made up of about 5 candidates. - You are then told to go wait in the hall where all the seats are. You'll sit, nervously, with a lot of other nervous people and chit chat. - Someone will eventually come out and call most of you into another room, which will most likely be a room with a bunch of hospital beds and chairs - one of our skills labs. - You will sit in this room with all of the candidates that are there for that time frame, and you will all be split up according to your interview group number. - Once in your group, a nursing student, usually in their 3-5th semester, will come in and talk to you. This student will answer any and all questions you have...ask them ANYTHING. The main purpose of this group discussion is to inform and relax you before you go into the interview. - At some point, one of the directors of the program will come out and give you all a pep talk. This may be Mr. Ahrens...quite possibly the friendliest person ever. - After about 30mins or so someone will start calling back group numbers. THIS IS IT, you are heading into your interview. - The interview will be made up of three interviewers and 5 of you. They will do a few minutes of talking to ease the tension and make you aware of how the interview will go down and what they expect of you. The interviewers can be former students, current teachers, people who work in management positions at surrounding hospitals, or former deans (as was my case). - Then the interview starts. There is no order for answering the interview questions. Don't always be the first, and NEVER always be the last. - After the interview, you go home and stress out until you get the "Yes" or "No" letter. Good luck!

Sounds like you really hated it. Glad you are out now and doing something you love. I'm going into the NC in about 6 months or so. Looking forward to it.

Juliesnow: The community portion was primarily the only thing I didn't like about the program. But that's like saying the car engine is the only thing I didn't like about my car, ya know. It's such a huge part of the program. A majority of the academics were great. The classes that EVERYONE disliked were the community classes, second semester Nursing Science II (the most boring thing I've ever experienced in life), and leadership. 95% of the professors/instructors were great. Clinicals were great, except for community clinicals (yes, homebase is considered a clinical). The nursing building on campus is clean and awesome, and they had great Simlabs and resources. Yes, I feel like the program prepared me for my nursing career; however, I feel that the MANY hours spent towards community work could have been better spent learning about other things. In other words, I would have been BETTER prepared for my career had it not been for all of the community work. For homebase, you give the faculty your home address and they try and put you in the community area that is closest to your home. So they pick it for you, and it's yours for 2 years. If you have any other questions just let me know.

As someone who went through UNF's program I can tell you that you are going to HATE their community nursing portion (which is their focus). Each semester you will have to go out into the community for 16-90 hrs and do various things like blood pressures, baby/elderly sitting, etc. By the time 5th semester roles around you will be doing the same skills you learned how to do in your first semester. Oh yeah, and you are stuck in the same part of the community for the ENTIRE two years...this is referred to as your "homebase". It is such a HUGE waste of time. No one in the program liked it. And to make matters worse, no one in the program had ANY desire to be a community nurse. My advice, pick JU or another school...even FSCJ (ADN). Just FYI

Definitely bring that GPA up....if not for the NCP, then for admission into nursing school. Nursing school was tough getting into, at least where I'm at (3.77 was the average gpa just to be selected for an interview). When you apply to for a spot in the NCP you'll have to submit a package, and your GPA will be a part of that package. The board will VERY likely not be comfortable giving you a seat with a 3.1 GPA because they may view you as a risk. I say this because you have to keep your GPA above a 3.0 at all times while in the program or it creates all sorts of problems and you'll get put on probation. Plus, nursing school is a huge pain in the rear, so your GPA is going to likely fall lower than it was before you started. I started nursing school with a 4.0 and now my nursing GPA is a 3.5 (3.8 overall). EVERYONES GPA falls.