Roll Call for all Military and VA Nurses and those considering the Service

rjm719 · Oct 7, 2008

I am an RN in the early process of joining the AF. I have 11yrs of high risk OB experience. I have seen a lot of stuff over the years but feel I am ready for something new. I feel fortunate to have found this great community on line. I have emerged myself and am finding lots of helpful info.

PsychRNOhio · Oct 8, 2008

VA-VISN 10

I have never figured out why nurses DON'T come to th VA.

twinmommy+2, ADN, BSN, MSN · Oct 8, 2008

I was told a few weeks ago that they accepted me for employment at our local VA hospital in the ER. Everytime I go to turn in paperwork it seems like there is such commradery there amongst the patients and staff I'm really looking forward to it.

I'm making the move there since I already have 4 years active Army duty, figure I should put it to work towards my retirement. Plus the benefits outweigh the local hospitals.

NurseKeiKei · Oct 10, 2008

Hello,

Okay I will try this here. I am currently a VA VISN 1 (CT) employee, and I have been accepted into a nursing program for the Spring of 09. I have recently submitted an application for the NNEI/VANEEP program and was wondering if anyone has any information on the effectiveness of this program.

I am also considering enlisting when i complete my education and 3 year service obligation to the VA and have no idea where to begin. Any suggestions?

lynndelaga · Oct 17, 2008

Hi, I'm a civilian nurse with 7-8 years experience in NICU, with my last 3 months in Recovery Room/PACU. Both my husband and I are primarily NICU nurses (he has 5 years of experience) and both of us are considering joining the AF Nurse Corps. Anyone who can provide insight on their experience, or if anyone happens to specifically be in NICU in the AF, we'd love to hear any advice. Thanks!

captncourageous98 · Oct 26, 2008

Hello! I am an LPN from Indiana back in school for my RN. I am a Navy vetran (Boatswainsmate Seaman). I hope to finish my bachelors through the Navy Nurse Canidate Program. I have worked my way up in the nursing field from a CNA 16 yrs. ago to a Tech. in the hospital and now an LPN since 2001. I am looking forward to the structured life of the military again and the benefits for my family. I am also looking forward to retiring early and maybe working at Trippler some day.

:0) Thanks for getting to know me!

MarinerRN · Dec 4, 2008

Hello all. I'm a new member to allnurses.com. I obtained my BSN May 2007 and have been working in a Navy ER aboard a marine base for the last year. My previous experience included being an aircraft mechanic, FMF Corpsman, and lab tech (MLT). I'm still active duty and encourage those with a desire to serve your country to contact a military nurse recruiter for more information.

I have served 14 years and have had the adventure the old Navy tag line said it would be. Nursing is a new focus of mine and the choice could not have been easier. Helping people and serving my country at the same time....huge bonus to be able to do both.

One draw back militarily though is that unless your patient has traumatic injury, active duty personnel are usually healthy. Acuity is low, so I've had to seek experience opportunities with our civilian neighbors at the local community hospital. Since beginning my moonlighting work in their ER, my skills have been tested. Scope of practice is also slightly different. Networking with the community has been extremely beneficial since getting to know their crew, arranging pt transports to higher level care facilities has become smooth. It always helps to know someone on the inside.

It has been interesting reading the many posts of such a diverse group of nurses. Obvisously it is what makes nurses so successful. Best regards to all.:)

captncourageous98 · Dec 4, 2008

I am really interested in Navy nursing. How did the Navy help in financing your schooling? Are you mainly looking at shore duty in the Navy? I am still taking classes towards my BSN and hope to finish in the next few years. I have been looking into the Nurse Canidate Program for helping me finance my career as a Navy Nurse. Anything you can share with me about navy nursing would be much appreciated. Thank you and hope to see you in the fleet!

KalipsoRed · Dec 28, 2008

Hi. I'm in Saint Louis, originally from Texas. Moved up here with some Costies. I've been flirting with going into the service for years. I amost even signed a contract before I started nursing school, but chickened out. I don't know why it makes me so nervous to sign the dotted line. I am now a BSN working on a tele unit. I've only been working since June 2008 so I'm a new nurse. Prior to this position I was a tech/secretary at Barnes Jewish in the ER for 4 years while I went to school. I have a 2.9 GPA, not great, I know. I'm also really out of shape, but I can fix that pretty easily.

While I have known people in the military, my family has not really been part of the military. So the military life is kind of forgien to me and to be honest that is something that makes me nervous. Not that I don't want to try it, but that if I can't stand it I know you can't get out. There is some comfort in the fact that I could turn in a 2 weeks notice at any civillan job I get if it got bad enough, however, while I have not enjoyed several jobs I've had in the past I have been able to continue working there for years until I found something better.

Some of the questions I've had are if I sign a contract for 3 years and do my 3 years, am I required to be in the reserves or something for a certian amount of time after I've complete my contract and left the military?

I am a relativly new nurse. I'm finding a great lack of support at my current hospital. I've completed all their classes and I continue to look things up on my own, but there are somethings you just don't learn until you have experienced it. Plus I don't have a copy of the Polices and Procedures for my floor, I've asked for it several times, but they continue to tell me that it will be online shortly and I can look things up from there......6 months of this and still no P&P for me to see. I'm also experiencing the whole "eat their young" phenomina where I work. It is not intentional, I don't think, but my charges are all annoyed with the amount of questions I have and it is the only way for me to learn. They can be quite verbally abusive and make me feel like I'm a complete idiot. It is a struggle for me to remember that I made it through a very hard nursing program while working and supporting myself in a new city 1,000 miles away from any family or close friends. I am not stupid and I am capable of doing my job, but I do need to be shown what to do and how to do it...some times more that once, before I can do it on my own. Are military hospitals/nurses better at mentoring new nurses than civillian nurses? Has anyone who has experienced both found one or the other the be a better experience?

Finally, I would like to go to a military hospital and observe before I sign any contract or anything. Is that possible? The time before when I asked this of a recruiter I got told I could, but I had to get a physical and stuff first because there was no sense in me waisting the governements time if I didn't qualify. He gave me a paper to sign telling me that it was for consent to do a physical. (This is when I learned how important it was to read something before you sign it.) Next thing I knew he was telling me that I would have to catch a bus a week later to go to some center, do my physical, then talk with someone about my contract and I would probably start boot camp in 6-8 weeks. Oh, I was REALLY ****** off. He said "Look, this is like buying a car. Either you know you want it or you don't." I grabbed the paper I signed and tore it up and said, "Yeah, well I don't know about you, but I usually test drive my cars before I buy them." So I really do not trust recruiters, especailly after that experience. I want to choose if I want to be in the military on my own, not be tricked into it. If the military cannot provide me with what I need to feel comfortable about my decision then I don't want to be there. I don't make life changing decisions in a day. I don't think what I am asking is unreasonable either. I was able to shadow on the 3 different positions offered to me when I got out of school. Yep, even with all the shadowing and eveything the positon I chose is not turning out to be what I expected, but I'm alright with that because I did everthing I could to know what I was getting into before hand. It's just that important to me.

captncourageous98 · Dec 28, 2008

Kalipsored,

You need to stick to the forums. The answers are all here. It sounds like you are ready for a change. It is hard to make the decisions on what to do at the begining of your career. I know what it is like to be the new nurse with all the crap duty. You should continue to research the forums. In the Navy you will not be in one location. You will get to experience many different situations and become a well rounded nurse. Only you can make that decision! The government hospitals are very well structured and the nurse to patient ratio is a lot better than civilian hospitals. There are a lot of options and you have the hard part done! Congrats on your BSN! I hope you find what you are looking for here on this site! Good luck

Dave

dbsmith444 · Jan 8, 2009

Aloha,

I'm a prior service air force member and am now finishing my last semester at university of hawaii (may can not come fast enough!). we (my wife and i) are in a unique situation; i am finishing up school with intentions of returning usaf, while she is finishing pre-reqs to apply for the enlisted to commissioning air force nursing program (necp). This is certainly going to cause some confusion with a married team trying to go through cot and all the other hoops this whole process involves (joint spouse assignments etc..). luckily, she is a total superstar at digging through regs to make sure our joint effort moves along smoothly.

so glad i stumbled across this site, its already been a huge help!!

jamesday · Jan 19, 2009

Active Duty Marine hoping to get his BSN and become a Navy Nurse. The only background i have is CLS and TCCC. Any advice would be great. Thanks.

Jordan