Anyone with experience in the Nurse Corps?

[Hornet_RN]

Anybody have experience in the Nurse Corps?

When I was still going to college/nursing school, I talked to a few Army recruiters regarding the Army Nurse Corps. I probably met up with recruiters twice, but in the end I opted to stay civilian.

A few of my nursing professors were veterans of Vietnam and the Gulf War, and I always thought they were the best professors to learn from. They were strict, but I learned the most from them, and that got me to thinking about doing military nursing. These female veterans inspired me.

However, I am currently working now in Nor Cal and enjoying my civilian job as a nurse where the pay is pretty good. So, at this point, joining the Nurse Corps is probably not the best idea since I’m living pretty comfortably in California now. However, I am still quite unsure about this job market, so the Nurse Corps would be there for me.

Also, another thing attracted me to joining up was that I would be offered direct commission to 2nd Lieutenant and be given a butter bar. My recruiter also asked me, “Hey, you wanna do some fun stuff too? You could also be Airborne certified if you really want to!” Also the though of helping soldiers overseas would be an honor for me.

Long story short…does anybody have any opinions on military nursing or military medicine in general? I looked only into joining the Army, and didn’t do any research about the other branches, so any advice from any branch would be great.

[Requiem]

I don't personally have experience in this field. However, I will say that please don't just do it because it's a job and you'll get a free commission to 2LT. Also, if you do become airborne certified I don't think that means you'll be doing a bunch of airborne ops. It's probably more like "hey the unit's having a jump this day, if you don't have anything else to do you can volunteer to jump". Again, I'm just speculating, but not being in a combat MOS and being airborne qualified isn't very practical, but it will probably look good on your record.

[Hornet_RN]

Originally Posted by Requiem

I don't personally have experience in this field. However, I will say that please don't just do it because it's a job and you'll get a free commission to 2LT. Also, if you do become airborne certified I don't think that means you'll be doing a bunch of airborne ops. It's probably more like "hey the unit's having a jump this day, if you don't have anything else to do you can volunteer to jump". Again, I'm just speculating, but not being in a combat MOS and being airborne qualified isn't very practical, but it will probably look good on your record.

thanks for the advice!

[dwa]

as far as i know if you decided to commission you would be brought in as a 2ND Lt. you ll most likely work in a hospital or trama center, when deployed you would most likely be on a larger base. if they offer you an airborne slot id take it, in your position it would just be a little incentive and it would be rare that you'd make more jumps after school, but if they'll give it to you why not right? it wont however be like your jumping into work everyday. if your a good nurse and this is what you want to do the army is an endless opportunity.

[HighSeasPoker]

I am in the Medical Service Corps in the Navy. To get the straight skinny you really need to talk to a medical profession recruiter. I would suggest talking to all the services to get a feel because there are similarities between them all, but the differences can be huge. I have a good friend that is a trauma nurse in the Army and has seen quite a bit of field time. I also know ICU nurses in the Army that have never been outside of a facility. You will be commissioned as an O-1 to start unless you have an advanced degree which could get you started higher. A masters will get you O-2 and a doctorate O-3. Your comment about it always being there in case your current level of comfort were to ever be compromised. I don't know that this may be a viable plan. It is hard to get in the door right now with the amount of people trying to join, at least in the medical professions. The Army may not be seeing the same numbers so I am not sure. Give all the services a fair shake when shopping around, the Air Force is a pretty good option.

[dustoff31]

I was an enlisted Army medic for 25 years. Here's my take. Bear in mind I've been retired for almost 10 years so some things will no doubt have changed.

However, I am currently working now in Nor Cal and enjoying my civilian job as a nurse where the pay is pretty good. So, at this point, joining the Nurse Corps is probably not the best idea since I’m living pretty comfortably in California now. However, I am still quite unsure about this job market, so the Nurse Corps would be there for me.

If you aren't ready to commit to Active duty, look into the reserve or NG. Have your cake and eat it too. If the civilian job market goes bad, which frankly I can't imagine, (my wife is a nurse) You can always volunteer for active duty tours as there is always a shortage of nurses.

The reserve/NG will allow you to try before you buy, so to speak.

Also, another thing attracted me to joining up was that I would be offered direct commission to 2nd Lieutenant and be given a butter bar. My recruiter also asked me, “Hey, you wanna do some fun stuff too? You could also be Airborne certified if you really want to!” Also the though of helping soldiers overseas would be an honor for me.

You would be commissioned as a 2LT or higher, depending on your years experience as an RN. As for the fun stuff, you could possibly go to jump school, but there are very, very, few airborne units that an RN would be assigned to. There were a couple of companies in the 44th Med Bde, that's about it as I recall.

You will most likely be assigned to a hospital, either fixed or field, not front line Battalion Aid Stations or Medical Platoons.

Long story short…does anybody have any opinions on military nursing or military medicine in general? I looked only into joining the Army, and didn’t do any research about the other branches, so any advice from any branch would be great.

Check out the other branchs. A friend of my wife is a flight nurse in the AF Res. She loves it. She has served on AD, but mostly just weekends and a couple of weeks here and there. But being a medevac unit, they don't just fly around, but actually do the real deal. Like taking a few days off work, flying over to Germany, picking up a load of patients and bringing them back to CONUS, and being back to their civilian jobs on Monday morning.

[CavTrooper]

google AMEDD recruiting.

go reserve first.

[Hornet_RN]

also...i was meaning to ask....

are people who receive a direct commission sort of looked down upon because they didn't go to an ROTC program?

because honestly, i felt like i would probably have a lot to prove since i would receive a commission directly instead of actually going through a 4 year ROTC program in college. it feels like i wouldn't have truly deserved it, right?



* i talked to an actual medical recruiter,so i didn't just stop by my local armed services recruiting center. they were pretty straight with me saying that i would HAVE TO be active duty for 4 years before i can even join the reserves.

* also, recruiters also told me that i would most likely be on a regular medical surgical floor at a hospital starting from the bottom because i have just recently graduated. so basically, i would be doing the same nursing that i am reguarly doing now, but as an O-1...hah.

* the comment about my recruiters telling me that i could go to jump school, i think he was kind of just screwing around. i mean, i could if i really wanted to, but there wouldn't be any need to do so...hah.

[thebloodsonthewall]

Do it!!!!

I joined the Army recently. I am at AIT right now. It is only four years if you don't like it. So far I am very pleased with my decision. I did not get a direct commission but I am planning to go to OCS once I finish my degree in a year or so.

[dustoff31]

Originally Posted by Hornet_RN

also...i was meaning to ask....

are people who receive a direct commission sort of looked down upon because they didn't go to an ROTC program?

because honestly, i felt like i would probably have a lot to prove since i would receive a commission directly instead of actually going through a 4 year ROTC program in college. it feels like i wouldn't have truly deserved it, right?

You would not be looked down on at all. Direct commissions are the way it is done for Nurses, Doctors, Lawyers, etc.

* i talked to an actual medical recruiter,so i didn't just stop by my local armed services recruiting center. they were pretty straight with me saying that i would HAVE TO be active duty for 4 years before i can even join the reserves.

I really question that. But like I said I've been out for awhile. I'd check with a reserve recruiter for the branch you are interested in. Yes, they are different.

* also, recruiters also told me that i would most likely be on a regular medical surgical floor at a hospital starting from the bottom because i have just recently graduated. so basically, i would be doing the same nursing that i am reguarly doing now, but as an O-1...hah.

Probably. You might possibly be assigned to a field hospital. You would also have enlisted 91C (practical nurses) and medics working with you. As well as all the ancillary services. You likely would not see all that much difference from a civilian hospital.