Questions you should have asked your recruiter?

BVFD 333 · Jul 24, 2012

Nobody has any lessons learned?

rndiver82 · Jul 25, 2012

Here's my only bit of advice:

Make sure you specify if they will credit you any time you were nursing with an ADN (ASN) degree if you did prior to getting your BSN. I have heard people not getting this time credited and I don't know if it is a new thing or not, but I have been a nurse for 7yrs with my ASN and am getting 5yrs (its a 2yr:1 ratio for the first 6yrs than one year after that, plus 1yr for your BSN, at least that is how it was figured by my recruiter) of military credit which equates to coming out of COT as a captain instead of 1st Leut. (I am going into the AF).

Now, I have been hearing that they are not going to be doing this as much anymore with the downsizing that is going on, and it may be a branch-specific thing, I am not sure. But just make sure you get credit.

Also, this may sound petty, but make sure you actually LIKE your recruiter. Joining has been a 2-yr process for me (had to get my BSN first) and I can not imagine having gone through this process with a recruiter I simply did not like to even talk with. I have been blessed with a very straight-foreward recruiter who really hasn't steered me wrong yet and has been very supportive, even when I was a non-select my first application, which was heartbreaking.

Good luck with your decision. I am so excited to get going I pinch myself at times and know that this is the right path for me. If you have any niggling feelings at all, it may not be the thing for you. Or, talk with another branch. I'm going AF because they are the most family-friendly (married with a 2yr old and a dog and they all come with).

BVFD 333 · Oct 31, 2012

Sorry for this late "THANK YOU" RNdriver. I was just reading your old posts and your journey/ difficulty joining. Have you ever found out why the board missed you the first time? So, are you coming in as a O3? Congrats!!! I am so happy for you. Did you get in to the ED, what location?

Thanks again!

rndiver82 · Nov 12, 2012

Sorry for this late "THANK YOU" RNdriver. I was just reading your old posts and your journey/ difficulty joining. Have you ever found out why the board missed you the first time? So, are you coming in as a O3? Congrats!!! I am so happy for you. Did you get in to the ED, what location?
Thanks again!

I will never know what happened with that first board, but my theory is I had 2 certification that expired just before the board met (I renewed both just a few days later) and I was a single parent, even though I had a child care plan in place. I know that they are not supposed to turn down an applicant based on that, but I think because of how competitive it is, it made me look not as desirable. Once we addressed all of those, I went from a non-select to the only one selected from the packets that were sent.

I am currently at SAMMC in San Antonio as an O2. I entered the AF with 3yrs, 11mo and 18 days credit, so my date of rank is listed as 13 Oct 2010, however because I am an assession, they have until 26Dec12 to build my file, so while I am technically a Captain now, I don't pin on until my projected date of rank is built and my file goes to the Captains fully qualified boards. I find it an amusing process because everyone else is making a fuss out of it, but me. I'm still just happy to be here at all.

I really do love my job now. I have not had a really bad day yet. I know I will have one eventually, but even my worst day here probably won't compare to my worst day from my previous job. There is just such a higher level of professionalism here that the civilian world is losing. I have never been called Ma'am as much, I feel that when I have a question it isn't blown off and my superiors have expectations for me that are far higher than any I have ever had before. And I love that they aren't allowing anyone in my ER to practice at a lower standard. Everyone there is extremely knowledgable and are constantly sharing their knowledge with one another, developing the unit into something I haven't had the privilege of being a part of until now. It was very intimidating at first, but I am embracing it.

kdazzle · Nov 12, 2012

RNdiver82,

hey, gotta question. What are the Captains fully qualified boards? Does that mean that someone isnt guaranted to be moved up to captain. my recruiter told me that once you serve your respected time then you automatically get bumped up to captain. Is that true or not? when i heard you say capatins boards, I just thought for a second and worried that you have to be selected and chosed to be moved up in rank. talk to you soon.

BVFD 333 · Nov 13, 2012

RN Driver,

I am so happy for you! I hope I can write something similar sometimein the future. If not, I do my part as a GS employee.

rndiver82 · Nov 13, 2012

RNdiver82,
hey, gotta question. What are the Captains fully qualified boards? Does that mean that someone isnt guaranted to be moved up to captain. my recruiter told me that once you serve your respected time then you automatically get bumped up to captain. Is that true or not? when i heard you say capatins boards, I just thought for a second and worried that you have to be selected and chosed to be moved up in rank. talk to you soon.

Kdazzle- When talking about the boards, you have fully qualified and best qualified. Fully qualified is for 2d Lt to Capt, best is from Major to Col. Going to Captain SHOULD be automatic for everyone, but there will always be exceptions. Any bad marks, failed PFAs, or disciplinary anything can prevent advancement.

Another consideration is the needs of the AF. For example, they recently cancelled the best qualified Major boards because at this time they don't need any Majors. It sucks for those who need to make rank, but nothing they can do about it but wait and hope people retire. They will open the boards up again eventually.

Luckily I already made Captain rank, and I have no reason in my file not to be promoted. I'm just waiting for the next fully qualified board, which I am told there are 3 per year with the AF. I don't know how other branches do things. Again, others make a bigger deal about this than I do because I understand that they are still building my file and just as with everything else military, it's hurry up and wait.

kdazzle · Nov 13, 2012

rndiver82,

thanks for clarifying that for me. I think one thing that scares me about the military is all of the cuts they are making. I sure would hate to get in and then something happen that was not necessarily my fault and make a bunch of cuts to get people out and I be one of them. How often do they cut nurses?

rndiver82 · Nov 16, 2012

rndiver82,
thanks for clarifying that for me. I think one thing that scares me about the military is all of the cuts they are making. I sure would hate to get in and then something happen that was not necessarily my fault and make a bunch of cuts to get people out and I be one of them. How often do they cut nurses?

I haven't heard of them cutting any Active Duty nurses, but Reserves and the Civilian contractors have not been so lucky. I think it also depends on what area you are in. I'm ER, and they are always looking for ER (or any critical care) nurses. I've heard other areas simply aren't recruiting as many nurses because those who are in are not leaving as fast, hence the lower recruitment numbers. It's far cheaper to keep an experienced nurse than to recruit and train a new nurse with no experience. I hate to boil it down to money, but unfortunate that's what the bottom line tends to be, military or not.

With the recent developments in the Middle East and Asia, I don't think the low recruitment numbers are going to last too long.

midinphx, BSN · Nov 17, 2012

I have to contradict you RNdiver. An army 1Lt I work with is being involuntary out. This nurse has served 15 yrs in the army - starting as enlisted - went through a year long fellowship to be an ICU nurse and is now being let go.

This is the first RN I've seen get hit by the reduction of forces.

Making captain is no longer automatic based on time. That being said 95% of Lt's make captain. I figure that many RN's serve their 4 years and get out, so those who want the slots probably don't need to worry too much. IMHO

allnurses Guide · Nov 18, 2012

When talking to a healthcare recruiter, especially about duty locations/size of the hospital/duty location openings, I would ask how old their information is and how often it is updated? What I have found with the published openings for duty locations and even the size of hospitals (pt beds etc and services) it is often woefully outdated by months or even years.