USNRN309

Everyone- Thanks for your advice. School is not an option yet, since I am still at my first duty station and Navy DUINS is an option after a second duty station (yes, I know about the one exception). I have however, found another way out. My current difficulties working in an area I never wanted, and working for a chain that is unsympathic are now moot. In a few weeks, I will return to Iraq, where at least I will be doing the trauma nursing that I love to do. Thanks again to all who offered words of advice, they were much appreciated.

Meal trays, don't know why, but I can't stand them. Passing them, picking them up, menus, tallying I&Os, all of it. Something about that chore that drives me crazy.

Navy pay is available as public knowledge. Log on to the DoD website at www.dod.mil/militarypay to see your base rate. You will start out as an O1 with less than 2. That is your taxable income. Also, you will receive $175 and some change a month for food (called your Basic Allowance for Sustanence: BAS) which is tax free income and your Basic Allowance for Housing: BAH, which is dependent on your duty station. BAH is also tax free and you can see those rates at www.dtic.mil/perdiem/bahform.html Check those sites and compare them to what nurses make where you currently live. Keep in mind, military do not have monthly deductions for such things as medical insurance. Besides the 16.25 a month for SGLI (military life insurance), and taxes on your base pay (and you may or may not have to pay state income taxes, check the laws in your state of legal residence). Doing all that will tell you how the money compares. You won't get any overtime pay, or holiday pay like you will in the civilian world, what those sites show is literally what you get. Also, the DoD page will show you the increases and how often they come. Military pay rates are adjusted every January 1st for inflation, so the numbers up right now will change soon. Navy nursing has many rewards and many challenges. I commend you on searching out answers and advice to help you make the right decision for you. Keeping asking questions until you have a clear enough picture to choose your own path, whatever it may be. I've been on active duty in the Navy for over two years now and am more than willing to answer any questions you have, without judgment. Good luck!

The OB's at my hospital sound like they trained with yours... we have a lot of 37 week inductions so they can deliver their own patients before going on vacation...In our nursery, we note cord gasses, but our pediatricians base care off what our babies are doing. The OB docs seem more interested in the cord gasses than we ever are. My most common problem with a cord gas is my LPN confuses that gas with the infant's gas and freaks out when she sees a SaO2 of 49% and starts giving oxygen without telling me.

I have been on active duty for over two years. I was not stationed at my first choice for duty stations, and I was not put into an area that I particularly wanted to work in. During week 5 of my new graduate orientation, I went to war. I got the "hurry up" kind of training. The new nurse internships and whatnot vary from each hospital. For the Navy, the best places for a new grad are one of the "big three." San Diego, Portsmouth, VA, or Bethesda. Since those medical centers have more capabilities for training the new grad. Although, with the proper preceptors, a new grad can flourish anywhere. I chose the Navy for the duty stations. Absolutely why I chose that particular branch. The duty stations are basically (for medicine anyway) all near water. They have many duty stations in Italy, Spain, Japan, just to name a few. And, speaking with friends in the Air Force promotions seem to come a little faster (although I'm sure that statement will get some Air Force nurses to weigh in). Visit the bases, but take what you hear with a grain of salt. The nursing shortage is everywhere, military medicine is no exception. If service is what you want to pursue, don't let one or two disgruntled officers turn you off to it. Find forums like this, and keep asking these questions until you are satisfied with what you hear. I spent many months doing these types of searches before I even called the recruiter. It was one of the best things I could have done for myself. If you need any other info, please, send me an email. I'm happy to share stories.

I am currently active duty Navy stationed with the Marine Corps. I have already deployed once to Iraq and am facing a second deployment back to that region. I'm not sure what internship program you are referring to with the Navy, there are many different tracks for commissioning new nurses and then different tracks for new Ensigns, so I'll need some clarification before I could answer anything about that.As far as experiences thus far, they are many. The Marine Corps is a special population, very unique, but I love them. I wouldn't trade my Marines for anyone else. As with any job or any employer, the pros and cons are too numerous for this, but feel free to send me a message or an email, and I'll be happy to share more info with you. Good Luck!

Renerian- Thank you for your comments, that is always nice to hear. You say you know burn out... what did you do to fix it? Or what do you know others have tried? Most of what I have read on solutions has been to change the work space, but since that isn't an option for me, I'm looking for other things to try. If anyone knows of other ways to like your job again, please share.

As someone who has spent a few years rotating between 7a-7p and 7p-7a, I've learned a few things about adjusting to it. First of all, once I get past the first night of the rotation, I love it. There is less "interference" from higher up on the night shift. The work space is typically calmer and as a peds environment, you still see quite a bit of your patients. I work nursery and do a lot of teaching with parents at night. If it will work for you depends on what you have at home. You have to make sleeping a priority when you work nights. Make your friends and family know it is not okay to call you in the middle of the day "just to chat." My bigger concern for you is if you took the cardiac job, it sounds as though you'll be settling. Don't do that so early in your career. There's a huge shortage of nurses out there. There is no reason you need to take a job you don't truly want. Find the workspace you really love, work on scheduling later. You can always ask to start rotating shifts.

I work in a military hospital, and we work 7 12's every 14 days. Usually in this pattern: 2 on, 2 off, 3 on, 2 off, 2 on, 3 off. Looking at a calendar week, it comes out to 5 12s in one week, 2 in the other. Needless to say, one week is exhausting, the other is great. The only caveat is getting called in on a day off due to staffing crises or unexpected emergencies. Then, all bets are off.

If you're looking for tricks/tips for in the field, anything goes. During my first deployment, creativity wasn't just the mother of invention, it was the supreme being. Some of the unusual things we've... since our smallest ET tube was a 7.5, a foley can be used to intubate a small child. Small piggyback bags, like the 50- and 100cc bags can be refilled by reversing the tubing from a large of NS. We would also keep our bags of fluid out in the sun during the extreme heat of the day (since it was over 100 degrees) so at night, we would have warm fluids for our patients. Since you are absolutely limited by the amount of supplies you have, almost any solution you can create will work.

I am an RN in a Level II Nursery. Occasionally, our peds provider does not stay in house while on call. The labor deck we request a nursery nurse to be in attendance for deliveries the suspect will require resuscitation (such a mec staining). While they usually have paged the doctor to come in, one of us from the nursery usually ends up attending because the doctor has not arrived in time. All L&D and nursery staff have completed the NRP certifications, but how much of a risk are we taking with our license, since we have no doctor in house? And, since the L&D nurses have as much resuscitation certification, would it be unreasonable for them to simply use their additional staff (they frequently have twice as much staff as we do in the nursery)? I have also been told that until a pediatrician arrives to care for the infant, the baby remains under the legal care of the midwife or OB delivering. It all seems like a giant lawsuit waiting to happen. I've discussed my concerns more than once with my chain of command, but so far, no changes in getting our doctors to stay in the hospital when they have the pager. Any advice?

I am a currently on active duty as a Navy nurse. My time is split between two main places. A Naval hospital, and with the Marine Corps. One thing to keep in mind when making your decision. The Marines are a department of the Navy and receive all their medical care from the Navy. That means, in times of war and other deployments, Navy medicine goes with them. Please keep that in mind when deciding, Navy medicine is moving away from hospital ships and moving into the sand. Deploying with the USMC has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my nursing career and my life. Good luck with your decision.

I am a Navy nurse currently working in an undesirable department. For the past year, I have put in multiple requests to move to a preferred workspace. However, the "needs of the Navy" currently prevent any such workspace change. Over the past months, I have begun to experience many of the signs of nursing burnout. With no hope to change my workspace, management, or employer, does anyone have any suggestions on what I should do? I love nursing, but if things don't improve, I am seriously considering moving the to civilian, non-nursing world. Has anyone experienced the same things? Right now, my only respites are deployments to Iraq.