Courbsh17

Maybe pulling out loans to go to school would be the smart thing to do because the military does do school loan repayment. I payed for my nursing degree at a 2 year cheap community college with a part time waitress job then when I went to get my bachelors (which is what they will want), that put a little dent in my wallet. Remember that the military has downsized in all areas so maybe talking to another branch may help as well. Depending if you have admitted to having a depression hx or if it was actually diagnosed that you have in a nurses office. Always remember to not disclose information that no doctor has actually known about, I've heard a lot of stories of that happening. (Somebody said they had once torn their rotator cuff, but never was medically treated..now unable to join the service...another had said she was allergic to pineapple which was self diagnosed and not known by any doctor, she was now not allowed in the service). I'm also trying to be an army nurse, I have one year nursing experience and need one more year to be eligible for active duty nursing. Even that may not be good enough because there are nurses trying to get in with over 3 years of experience who have had a better GPA, training, work experience, and even PT scores. Now it is very very difficult to get in, maybe try enlisting in air force or navy medical fields, it's worth a try. Although it's not your first branch of choice, the experience will be what you make of it.

Yeah, I think I will obtain some more experience to better my chances. I guess if the military has down sized so much where they don't accept me, I won't have anything to lose by trying. I think I'll try working my way into the ER for my second year and see how that goes.

Thank you for you post. I think I will choose army nursing as opposed to airforce because it's something that I want to instead of what everyone is telling me what to do. I guess if I make a poor choice, I can at least hold on to the experience and make the best experience I can out of it. I'm not a high class girl who needs super fancy dorms, I'm just looking for a quality experience I can tell my kids and grandchildren someday. It is true that people do have some kind of bias with AF or army or any other branch, my head/heart just keeps telling me to do army for some reason..

I would like to get into critical care nursing eventually. Right now I am working on a medical/surgical unit part time. I am curious if I continue to do medical surgical nursing if they could train me in the army or air force to be an ICU nurse. Still, I am unsure which one I would want to join. My feelings keep going towards the army but a lot of people tell me air force would be better. I'm not sure if I should continue to go with my gut feelings (even if its wrong) or do what people say is better from their experiences. Thanks for your input, keep them coming :-)

So do you mean you would rather have done army?

Is there a branch that is seen to have given you a better experience or have better opportunities?

I'm 21 years old and have one year of med/surg nursing experience. I graduate with my BSN in 7 weeks and know I want to go into the military but unsure of which branch to pick..army or air force. I keep leaning towards army but everyone I talk to says I will receive better treatment in the air force. Those of you with experience, can you please list some of the pros and cons of both, I really want to have a great experience. Thank you so much!