sbush86

Right... I understand on the one hand that this is a big crisis, and they need help. But at what point does the US demand someone else take the lead on an issue? Why send an already weary military to do the dirty work everywhere? And how does one combat the ignorance that is causing people to go after and kill healthcare workers? I don't know what the answer is. It seems like throwing our military at everything as the go-to response, though, is not a good plan.

Also, google "troops to fight ebola" and several other news sources have the same story.

Obama to announce troops, funds to fight Ebola - CNN.com

Good morning all, I was just reading the news this morning and saw that President Obama has plans to send about 3,000 troops to Liberia to help fight Ebola. I was wondering what my fellow military nurses think of this plan? I have mixed feelings... I know this is something that needs to be contained, but I also feel that sending an already strained military force may not be the best approach... any other thoughts?

They can and they do, BUT, in order to make 0-5, you HAVE to have a master's degree. That is true for the entire military, not just nursing or medical, but anyone. It could be in underwater basket weaving, as long as you have your master's you can progress in rank. A lot of people do an MBA. For instance, I know an O-5 Periop nurse who got his MBA, without any other degrees. His lack of master's in nursing did not impeded him one bit. so if you don't want to go the NP or crna route, you can do a lot of other things, including CNS, administration, informatics, etc. As long as you get your master's sometime before you are up for O-5.

To be on a carrier, you need to have ICU or ER experience first. So a snapshot of what I have done: I went to ODS in July 2009. After leaving there, I headed to Naval Medical Center Portsmouth in Virginia. I started out on a Med/surg floor but I was fortunate in that it was an inpatient Hematology /Oncology unit. I never knew I would fall in love with oncology, but I did. Others who came in with me went to ortho, general surgery, internal medicine, complicated OB, and mother/baby. In 2010, I was selected to deploy to Djibouti. I left Portsmouth and upon arrival in africa, learned that i would be 1 of 4 nurses there. It was an amazing experience: I did sick-call (clinic), ER, PACU, OR, and ICU there because, having only 4 nurses, we didn't have the luxury of calling a nurse from that specific area to work there… we all did it and learned fast. Side note: this is also where I met my husband :-) After leaving africa, I went back to Portsmouth and worked in the PACU. i was there for about another year and then it was time to move, so I left, went to Pensacola (where I still am), and worked in the ICU. I was in ICU for about a year and a half and got my CCRN (which, by the way, they will give you a bonus for). After i promoted to O-3, I moved to be the division officer (clinic manage) of an ENT, Auddiology, and Opthalmology clinics, which is what I do now. In May, they posted all the operational openings, which include carriers, flight nursing, etc, and I applied and got accepted to go on the carrier for 2 years. While on the carrier I am the only nurse… the. ONLY. One. which will be…interesting. So soon, the husband and I will move to the west coast (San Diego) to attach to the ship, and then in November we will move with the ship to Japan. Going operational can be competitive, but really, as long as you stay active and involved in your command, you should have a strong application. Get your ICU or ER time in (you will need about a year) and your certification in whichever one you choose. The comfort and Mercy will go out periodically on humanitarian missions, and that is considered a deployment. They take med/surg, so they are typically easier to get on than the carriers (but they aren't impossible!!). Hope that helps!

Ok, straight from the horse's mouth. I am an Active Duty Navy nurse, and I have been for the past 5 years. I started out brand new, no prior experience in either nursing or the military (22 years old, had just graduated from college). I am currently a Lieutenant (O-3, same as Captain in the other branches). As far as getting your degree while AD, the only way that is possible is if you are enlisted and then get accepted into the very competetive MECP program (Medical Enlisted Commissioning Program). You would have to serve a tour as an enlisted person first, and then compete to get accepted into this program. Once accepted, you are still active duty and get your active duty salary and benefits, but your only job is to go to school. A sweet deal, BUT, you have to be willing to come in enlisted and there is no guarantee you will get accepted. I did the Nurse Candidate Program. If you go to a school where there is NOT a Naval ROTC, like mine, then you are eligible for this program. You apply right before you start your upper division nursing courses, and if you are accepted, you get a $10,000 sign on bonus and $1,000 a month until you graduate (I think it came out to around $34,000 total). Once you graduate, you go to Officer Development School in Newport, RI for about 5 weeks and then its off to the Navy you go! If your school has NROTC, that is the way to go. If you still don't want to do that, you can always finish school as planned, and then go for a direct commission. That is where you have graduated, and go to an officer recruiter and they allow you to enter directly (usually there is a sign-on bonus, but it tends to be less than the Nurse Candidate Program bonus). You then do as above, go to Officer Development school, and then off to the Navy. They typically start you out at one of the Big Three Naval Medical Centers (Porstmouth,VA, San Diego, or Bethesda, Maryland). Unless you had prior nursing experience in a higher echelon of care, they will start you out on a Med/Surg floor of some kind. Typically, you can then transfer to ICU, ER, etc, after doing 18 months of Med/Surg to build up your skills. I have never done Army or AF nursing, but I can tell you this: the Navy has allowed me to go on an Army deployment. It has allowed me to go on a Marine Corps deployment (we provide the medical care for the USMC). Because the armed forces are on a joint model these days, you can deploy to just about anywhere that another branch is. With the Navy, you get the added bonus of bases in great locations (we are near water! That means beaches!). The AF gets a bad rap amongst the other services because they tend to deploy for less amount of time and have cushy facilities, but then again, they also have to go to places like North Dakota in the middle of nowhere. If you are looking to do some exciting stuff, the Navy allows a lot of opportunity. Personally, I am about to be stationed on the USS Ronaled Regan aircraft carrier - what better what to travel and see the world than on a ship that stops at multiple ports around the world? There are downsides, of course. We are salaried, which means NO overtime, NO differential pay, and since you belong to the government, you can be ordered to work up to 18 hours a day (has only happened to me once). Worked a holiday? Sorry, no extra pay. You also cannot travel more than 300 miles outside your duty station unless you are on leave (being UA is no bueno). You have to move about every 3 years. You cannot call in sick, ever (if I get sick, I HAVE to be seen by my provider and then be given official sick status. It can be annoying, especially if you work in an are with a ton of civilian nurses who ARE allowed to call out and then you wind up having to cover for them - hence that 18 hour work day I had that time. Or, they will call you in and you HAVE to go). But honestly? Military nursing is great. The lifestyle is not for everyone, and sometimes just one or two tours is all anyone wants. But I think the exceptional benefits are worth at least one tour (3 years of your life? That is nothing and goes by super fast!). Ok, I'm done... sorry so long!