Questions About Being a Reserve RN

[Snyder524]

Hey new member to the forum but always read old posts when I was thinking about doing becoming an RN/while I was in school. Love this site, lots of great info. Anyways I had a few questions for those who know about being a reserve RN. I'll be meeting with a recruiter soon but wanted to throw some questions out there to you guys to hear it from another side of the discussion. I'll throw a bunch out there, any answers would be appreciated. I'm on the fence about this at the moment. I'm 28 and have been an RN for a little over a year. First year I was a cardiac telemetry nurse but now I've moved over to CVICU. I've got a previous Bach in business and am working on transitioning my ASN to a BSN (done this Dec). Deployment wouldn't be ideal for me but if I join I do so knowing that it could happen and I'll be ok with that if I decided to join up. Can't reap all the benefits and perks without being willing to pay for them via active duty service. I know it's all relative and local but any info would be appreciated, TIA and I'll probably keep posting question in here as I go along this process. I've thought about joining the military at different points in my life. A combo of that and the loan repayment are the things attracting me to this move.

1. What's the real difference b\w Guard RN and Army Reserve RN?

2. For those who've used the loan repayment program, how does it work and what's your opinion of it?

3. What's your typical drill like? What about your annual training?

4. How easy is moving when in the Reserves? I'm planning on moving to Denver in the next year or two and any commitment to the military would have to be ok with that.

5. When you have deployed, where did you go and what was it like?

6. How are reserves and RN's in general viewed/treated within the military?

7. Any things I should ask a recruiter when meeting with them? Things to watch out for?

[nurse2033, MSN, RN]

The main difference between Guard and Reserve is that the Guard has a state mission as well as the federal -although new law last year enables reserve to be activated for CONUS situations as well. Drill is mostly training and staying current for deployment. If you are moving to Denver, just apply there. It took them 14 months to get me in. I don't know what the actual time is, but most people tell me it took that long or longer. You should also look into the AF, there are air evac units in CO Springs, and Cheyenne. "Air Evac, we bringem back!" Good luck.

[Snyder524]

Thanks for all the responses. If I decide to do this it'll likely be when I move to Denver, just want to get as much info and advice together as I can to make a good decision on this. I've gotten in contact with all three branches (Army, Navy, AF) and am working on setting up sit downs with medical recruiters for all of them. Army and Navy should be easy but I'm having a little trouble finding an AF medical recruiter in Arkansas.