What are my options?

Published

Hello everyone,

I have a few questions in regards to the Air Force and or any branch of the military regarding the nursing field. First off I'm a late bloomer 27 with an A.A. in criminal justice and interested in nursing now. I was chatting with my local community college counselor and she told me based on the the classes I've already taken I just need 6 more classes to complete the pre-nursing prereq (anatomy and or physiology, chemistry, microbiology, and 2 course in psychology). I figure I could take anatomy and physiology as one course in the fall, chemistry and 1 psychology course in the winter, and finish up with microbiology and 1 psychology course in the winter. Then I could apply to the nursing progam and if im accepted into the program I could begin nursing school next fall. After I complete nursing school and hopefully pass the state board RN certification test I could work on my BSN at a local university (the local university only accept nursing students who have an RN license ).

However, its been a long goal of mine to join the Air Force for the overall experiance. One thing I was told about the Air Force and or any branch of the military is that I don't want to be stuck with a job I dislike for my term in service. Also, make sure the job I select have a civilian counter part in case I decide not to make a career of the military. Im guessing since my focus is on nursing (one specific job) I'll be open to any branch of the military but I would really perfer Air Force. I really would appriciate any additional information and or suggestion that is provided along the answers to these questions. (I really don't know what questions to ask)

Do the Air Force or any other branch of the military have a nursing program for enlisted personnel?

If not what is the nearest match job wise to being a nurse?

Would I be better off completing nursing school in a community college or in the military?

Do the military offer some type of program for non personnel to become a nurse?

Any other advise or suggestions would be greatly appriciated.

Thanks

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in EMT, ER, Homehealth, OR.

All the services have programs for enlisted to complete their BSN's. With that being said there is less slots and they are becoming more compative.

Not sure of the age limit for ROTC but that is a option you can look into.

As far as not liking your job in nursing you will know if you like nursing by the time you complete your ADN.

Nursing has many different areas which you can work in both in the civilian and military. In the military you can or will be transfered every 2-5 years. Sometimes it is on the same base and other times across country or out of the lower 48 states.

As far as completing your BSN it depends on what you want and your time frame for completing it. If you go in the military with your ADN you will not work as a RN but as a medic.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Thank you for your reply.

I went and chatted with a recruiter and based on the conversation he suggested that I get both my and and bsn before joining any branch of service. Also if I need financial help he gave me the number to a couple of Rotc detachments that I can look into.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in EMT, ER, Homehealth, OR.

One thing that is a positive of going the ADN to BSN route is that you will can experience while you earn your BSN. With the Army requiring 2 years of experience before you can join you will have it out of the way once you graduate with your BSN.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

YaY. Something to look forward to...

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ER, ICU.

Are you near death? If you are a late bloomer I must be over well done and out. I'm in the ANG and I think you can get the military to educate you, but it will go much faster if you do it before. You will be sucked into an enlisted career that will keep you pretty busy. If you get your degree first you will have the ability to make more choices about your future. Good luck.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

make a timeline.... map out the pr-reqs as they often cannot be conducted without having some being pre-reqs for one another... then look at time of completion and timeline of admissions to see when you could feasibly start based on BSN programs in your zone (interest, or area or price..) then look at graduation date.. then do an honest eval of the competitiveness of the school and your predicted placement to see likelyhood of getting in on first look.. then you could add 2 years of time to gain an idea of timeline you might be in the air force as a nurse at this point.

IMHO you need to take a step back and do some evaluation of yourself, your goals, your timeline and constraints before you see a recruiter. I would also avoid tying the military as an enabler to becoming a RN (if that is your primary goal) as it probably reduces the likelyhood or at least makes it a less direct path.

I'd look at is military my interest or nursing.. or just re-evaluating and want something that is military and medical related. If I were leaning towards military but interested in medical I'd look at ancillary fields like radiology, nuke med, etc... as these have an easier time of direct translation to civilian and you could get the AS degree and cert while in service.. as opposed to getting out to do BSN then commissioning, etc. my 2 cents ;)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Are you near death? If you are a late bloomer I must be over well done and out. I'm in the ANG and I think you can get the military to educate you, but it will go much faster if you do it before. You will be sucked into an enlisted career that will keep you pretty busy. If you get your degree first you will have the ability to make more choices about your future. Good luck.

Hello

No not dying yet. I say late bloomer because it took me 10 year to figure out I'd either want to be in law enforcement or nursing career wise. Oh wow thanks for the heads up think im going to get the degree first then.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
make a timeline.... map out the pr-reqs as they often cannot be conducted without having some being pre-reqs for one another... then look at time of completion and timeline of admissions to see when you could feasibly start based on BSN programs in your zone (interest, or area or price..) then look at graduation date.. then do an honest eval of the competitiveness of the school and your predicted placement to see likelyhood of getting in on first look.. then you could add 2 years of time to gain an idea of timeline you might be in the air force as a nurse at this point.

IMHO you need to take a step back and do some evaluation of yourself, your goals, your timeline and constraints before you see a recruiter. I would also avoid tying the military as an enabler to becoming a RN (if that is your primary goal) as it probably reduces the likelyhood or at least makes it a less direct path.

I'd look at is military my interest or nursing.. or just re-evaluating and want something that is military and medical related. If I were leaning towards military but interested in medical I'd look at ancillary fields like radiology, nuke med, etc... as these have an easier time of direct translation to civilian and you could get the AS degree and cert while in service.. as opposed to getting out to do BSN then commissioning, etc. my 2 cents ;)

Hello

Took your advise and made a timeline for And (the 2 local universities req Rn before being admit to their Bsn)

Here is the timeline I made with prereqs, and classes, and est. cost (tentive):

Fall 2011: A&P $480, Winter 2012: Chem and Psy $680, Spring 2012: Micro & psy $680 Teas Test & apply for nursing school, Spring 2013: Nursing Pre-Admin $868 and Year 1 $1826, Fall 2013: Year 2 $1119 Graduation and Rn State exam $686

Im finding out quickly that nursing isnt an inexpensive major that Require A Lot of Time. Think I'm going nursing first if that doesn't pan out Air Force medical field here I come.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

[shaking my head] I'm finding the A&P class I enrolled in a bit to fast pace for my comfort level (Its been two weeks now and we are on exercise 10 of 40 in lab and chapter 5 of 16 in lecture; 18 week course). Its like I barely have time to absorb and digest information before more is introduced to me. Last Thursday I had a lab quiz and I didn't feel confident in my ability to perform at my best (good thing one quiz gets tossed out). Overall, I feel a bit overwhelmed by the class since it seem to be taking all my time especially when it come to making flash card and homework. The experiance that I'm having in regards to the A&P class im currently enrolled in normal or did I get in over my head?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in SICU, TICU, CVICU.

AP runs very fast. Apx. 1 chapter every week since each term is usually 18 chapters.. I took online for AP2. although I scored an 89 in the class I would much rather do a face to face class. I noticed my teachers took questions from the review from each chapter. also go to the book website. They will often have practice tests and review that I noticed my teachers also used.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I'd first make your priorities RN 1st priority or military 1st priority.

If RN then BSN is top priority, your progress and time will then enable you to enter the military in the future.

The pre-reqs for nursing are difficult. Depending on where you live and how the schools you plan on applying to objectify their applicants you need a good grade... my region you need 3.8-4.0'ish in all those hard science pre-reqs to be competitive. A&P is tough for everyone - make sure you are competitive and can be compeitive to schools you plan on applying to .. otherwise change your plan because your attempt will be futile ;) Lots of sub forums within allnurses discuss the individual courses and what not while this one focuses on mil aspect of it. best of luck, study hard.. be realistic, arrange your life to enable you to work hard and succeed.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion