Questions for any current/past Navy Nurses

[cohiak]

Couple of questions for any current/prior active duty Navy nurses that may/may not have joined with the Nurse Candidate Program.

Looking for some verification of info I've been told by my recruiter while discussing Nurse Candidate Program. I'm looking for some Navy nurses with non-biased information. If you can provide numerical stats, or your best guess stats, much appreciated! (Hey, I was an accountant in my prior career, I love numbers)

Question #1 - Chances of getting deployed as an ER nursing during first 4 years of active duty? I know this is hugely dependent on world events also. Really any info on this would be excellent, because this is really my hang-up on whether or not to join. Would like to know if it's a definite, most likely, maybe, could happen, probably not, etc. type of situation, of course taken with a grain of salt. Even a stat like "i know 3 of 8 new navy nurses that got deployed during first 4 year assignment" would be helpful.

Question #2 - What are the chances I would end up in San Diego for first assignment? How much of a say do I really have in where I get stationed first? I know they say you get sent to Virginia, Maryland, or San Diego primarily. I grew up in Alaska and went to school in Hawaii and California, not very interested in going to east coast. And I speak Spanish, which I am guessing is more useful in a place like San Diego.

Question #3 - What are the chances that I would be able to START my career in the ER? I have 3 years of experience as an ER tech, I was also a firefighter, EMT, and ocean lifeguard prior. I've heard all nurses in Navy have to do 1 year on Med-Surg (no thanks) before transferring. Hoping that's not the case.

Question #4 - Deployments: Any chance of extensions beyond the 7 month mark? Do you only stay ON BASE in the trauma bay as an ER Nurse during your deployment? in other words, no work in the field?

On average, how many hours a week did you work during a deployment? again i'm sure this all varies greatly, any guess on this would be appreciated! Just want to know beforehand if I can expect 6-7 days a week at 16+ hours a day. My recruiter was...very... cryptic about deployment, and the work hours of a deployment.

Thank you so much for any information provided, you all on this website have been a huge help to me. Take care and be safe

cohiak

[Sw88tpea, BSN]

Hi there,

1. I tried and did not deploy in my three year tour. Deployments for nurses are mostly: Cuba (6 months), Djibouti (9 months), and Kandahar (9 months). Nurses that went were not 'new' (less than 2 years on board), 3/4 that went requested deployment. Currently a lot of nurses are out on 6 month humanitarian missions on the USNS Comfort and USNS Mercy. On my first unit of 5-8 Junior Officer nurses (been in less than 4 years, came and went over time), one person deployed to Cuba. ER and ICU deploy more often and are the only one's eligible for operation billets (last I checked). In the ER we had 1-2 people deployed (9 months) per year, that was out of several JOs (10-15). People who were deployed were not always the highest ranking, most senior, or most qualified. Most wanted to go. Those who didn't, sucked it up.

2. Chances for San Diego first I would say are good. The Navy wants to send new nurses to one of 'the big three:' San Diego, Portsmouth, Bethesda. Your Spanish will most likely only help you in your civilian life. Everyone who joins the Navy must speak English. I did not use any of my Spanish during my career.

3. With your prior experience, if there is a need in the ER, there is a chance you could start there. I would push for it. Sitting on a med-surg unit will not give you as many opportunities as ER or ICU will. It will depend on the base, the Director of Nursing, the needs of the units, etc. When you arrive at your base I recommend being a very squeaky wheel and being aggressive towards voicing your prior experience. With that said, you may still be sent to Med-Surg/Labor and Delivery/Pediatrics, whatever the 'needs of the Navy.'

4. Deployments are '9 months'. Mind you that does not include training before that may not be at your base. That may also not include your tranport to and from. Deployments can always get extended for many many reasons. My friends on the USNS Comfort are working 16 hours a day 7 days a week with a day or half a day off per month. My friend that went to Kandahar had a similar schedule but it was either very slow or very busy. It was different each week. I'm sure everyone's Kandahar experiences are different because the base has changed a lot in the past 5 years. In Cuba you have a regular nursing schedule for the most part, 7 twelve hour shifts over 2 weeks.

Hope this helps, again this is in my experience and what I have heard directly from my friends that have deployed in the last 4 years.

[cohiak]

Thanks, exactly the kind of info I was hoping to get! So what I kind of gathered from your post is that there is (currently) not a big chance of getting deployed if I do not volunteer, although it can happen. (10-25% chance, is that a good ballpark figure?) This is better than I was expecting, I was afraid the deployment rate was upwards of 50% for nurses, regardless of preference.

My recruiter spoke in detail about deployments being only 7 months, which included the transit and training time, is the 9 month deployment something you have seen in the past year or was that a couple of years ago?

Thanks again.

cohiak

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

Just a word of advice: if deployment is a dealbreaker in any way, then the military might not be a good fit for you. Regardless of the current op tempo, there is always something waiting to happen that requires nurses.

Are you a new nurse?

[cohiak]

Deployment is not a deal breaker.

I am not a nurse. I am about to start an accelerated BSN program.