Hello, After years of civilian life and ultimately unsatisfying job I'm thinking of joining the Navy (nursing or medical rating as yet undecided) at the ripe old age of 31. Are there any serving medical/nurses out there who could give me an insight into this career? Do other people join at my age? I'm quite active so the initial 2 mth training appeals..but is this actually part of a naval nurses everyday existance? (i.e. marching etc). Also what are the rules around long term relationships in navy and I understand their are restrictions between ratings/officers etc., would a potential family life (i.e. kids have to be put on hold ?? or do people have babies (service break??) (this may seem odd query but I'd like to ask all the questions to consider options and I don't think formal interview is right place for these queries!).
Any info would be gratefully appreciated
Hel
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Joining Naval nursing query
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sneaky beaky
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Spe||3inder
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Hostage_Negotiator
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Wholley
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Where!OH Where!Is North Sea Tigress when you need her?
Oh,Sorry Doc didn't see you there
I should just keep up the Brufen regime then.
THEN?
TALK TO ME.
The hairs are back on the palms of me hands.
Tangled in North Carolina.
Seriously Ladies ask Clio or NST when you see them here.
Or take a skeg through "Search"
Lumpy Jumpers full of info there.
I'll Get me Coat.
Oh,Sorry Doc didn't see you there
I should just keep up the Brufen regime then.
THEN?
TALK TO ME.
The hairs are back on the palms of me hands.
Tangled in North Carolina.
Seriously Ladies ask Clio or NST when you see them here.
Or take a skeg through "Search"
Lumpy Jumpers full of info there.
I'll Get me Coat.
Wholley me ol Colonial chum,
Theres no point asking me about Nursey type things, in fact theres not much point in asking me very much, unless its green and smells and has a knife sticking out from twixt the shoulder blades then I will be of no use to anyone
Ask Flo!!!
You have a slight chance of getting a modicum more sense out of her then out of Doc
Theres no point asking me about Nursey type things, in fact theres not much point in asking me very much, unless its green and smells and has a knife sticking out from twixt the shoulder blades then I will be of no use to anyone
Ask Flo!!!
You have a slight chance of getting a modicum more sense out of her then out of Doc
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voodoo sprout
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Before I start, I'd better just point out my position; Im an RN trainee medical assistant about 1/3 of the way through trade training, planning on transferring to Naval Nursing a few years after I qualify as an MA, so I've been asking around a bit.
First off, yes people do join at your age, and not only in the Navy, but the average age of a civvy student nurse is 30 so you'll be ok (Naval Nurse training is done to the usual civilian programme albeit with a few bits of navy training bolted on here and there).
Basic trainign is nothing like you'll be doing in your career in most brnaches let alone nursing, you will be doing some marching and kit maintenance etc but it soon becomes second nature and once you get past basic and you start being treated as an adult, things do become a lot more relaxed.
As far as I know relationships between officers and ratings are diapproved of (I'm not sure if they're downright illegal), though relationships between ratings are ok as long as you a) keep it sensible or b) go mad but don't get caught
. Having children will complicate things, nurses are increasingly being deployed on ships and abroad (one Nursing Officer I worked with went to Afghanistan and has Iraq on the horizon), and while you can ask for a shore or hospital base, that won't be guaranteed such is life in blue suit. That said support in service is quite good if you have kids, if you get pregnant you get normal maternity leave and you even get issued a special rig (a rather fetching loose fitting dress style affair). I can't comment on the details, but Nursing does seem to be as stable a branch as you'll find within the mob.
As a job, it is an excellent career. Most of the work is either in the larger sickbays (dealing with routine clinical issues & admin, running small wards, all sorts of health/stop smoking clinics and so on) or in hospitals, where you work as a civilian nurse in just about any specialisation going (A&E and intensive care seem to be quite popular), though you can get pinged, one nurse put in for A&E, until drafty got stuck in and he ended up spending 18 months in an orthopaedic ward wiping backsides and dishing out paracetomol. There is a fair opportunity to expand, it's common for nurses to attend the military awareness course, and there are (admittedly very few, mostly A&E and ITU) places to work with the commando brigade when it goes on operations.
Compared with nursing, MA's do have far more options, and more scope for serving at sea, with the commando forces, in submarines etc (though of course that's male only at the moment), abroad and so on. Plus the work is more varied, there's a lot of emphasis on emergency medicine, and on board ships there may only be a single leading MA to look after the ships company. However personally I don't fancy it as a long term career, and an awful lot of nurses are MA's who changed over to raise their clinical skills for instance; if you want to do both you can but once you qualify as an MA, your likely to have a long (4 - 7 years depending on who you talk to) wait before the manning control chaps allow you to move. Another advantge is that while there are now some civilian qualifications for MA's, they're currently pretty much worthless whereas a Naval Nurse will get the full civvy qualification so geting a job in nursing once you leave the Navy is dead easy.
First off, yes people do join at your age, and not only in the Navy, but the average age of a civvy student nurse is 30 so you'll be ok (Naval Nurse training is done to the usual civilian programme albeit with a few bits of navy training bolted on here and there).
Basic trainign is nothing like you'll be doing in your career in most brnaches let alone nursing, you will be doing some marching and kit maintenance etc but it soon becomes second nature and once you get past basic and you start being treated as an adult, things do become a lot more relaxed.
As far as I know relationships between officers and ratings are diapproved of (I'm not sure if they're downright illegal), though relationships between ratings are ok as long as you a) keep it sensible or b) go mad but don't get caught
. Having children will complicate things, nurses are increasingly being deployed on ships and abroad (one Nursing Officer I worked with went to Afghanistan and has Iraq on the horizon), and while you can ask for a shore or hospital base, that won't be guaranteed such is life in blue suit. That said support in service is quite good if you have kids, if you get pregnant you get normal maternity leave and you even get issued a special rig (a rather fetching loose fitting dress style affair). I can't comment on the details, but Nursing does seem to be as stable a branch as you'll find within the mob.As a job, it is an excellent career. Most of the work is either in the larger sickbays (dealing with routine clinical issues & admin, running small wards, all sorts of health/stop smoking clinics and so on) or in hospitals, where you work as a civilian nurse in just about any specialisation going (A&E and intensive care seem to be quite popular), though you can get pinged, one nurse put in for A&E, until drafty got stuck in and he ended up spending 18 months in an orthopaedic ward wiping backsides and dishing out paracetomol
. There is a fair opportunity to expand, it's common for nurses to attend the military awareness course, and there are (admittedly very few, mostly A&E and ITU) places to work with the commando brigade when it goes on operations.Compared with nursing, MA's do have far more options, and more scope for serving at sea, with the commando forces, in submarines etc (though of course that's male only at the moment), abroad and so on. Plus the work is more varied, there's a lot of emphasis on emergency medicine, and on board ships there may only be a single leading MA to look after the ships company. However personally I don't fancy it as a long term career, and an awful lot of nurses are MA's who changed over to raise their clinical skills for instance; if you want to do both you can but once you qualify as an MA, your likely to have a long (4 - 7 years depending on who you talk to) wait before the manning control chaps allow you to move. Another advantge is that while there are now some civilian qualifications for MA's, they're currently pretty much worthless whereas a Naval Nurse will get the full civvy qualification so geting a job in nursing once you leave the Navy is dead easy.
Fluffy bunnies - Grrrrr!
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Doc
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Yeh I'll back up Voodoo there, I knew of a few MA's who transferred to Nursing. I know one who even went to Medical School and became a Doctor. Apparantly in the old days the Navy sponsored the odd Medical school placement but those days are long gone.
The Naval Nursing service has shrunk since when I was in what with Haslar becoming tri-service RNH Plymouth being sold etc etc.
I liked being a MA as you got to diagnose aswell as treat which nurses dont tend to do even though they are better qualified clinically. Plus MA trauma training is top class especially with the RM and you get yourself on a few courses.
Voodoo there was another MA on here who was with me at Cdo Logs and hes a remote medic now and has done the rigs as has North Sea Tigeress an ex-MA(Q)
I got a job as a medical rep and do the odd "med cover" when Im on my travels since leaving repping.
So once your out of training get yourself on loads of courses before nursing as your quals and more importantly your experinces will be well sort after once you enter civvy street.
The Naval Nursing service has shrunk since when I was in what with Haslar becoming tri-service RNH Plymouth being sold etc etc.
I liked being a MA as you got to diagnose aswell as treat which nurses dont tend to do even though they are better qualified clinically. Plus MA trauma training is top class especially with the RM and you get yourself on a few courses.
Voodoo there was another MA on here who was with me at Cdo Logs and hes a remote medic now and has done the rigs as has North Sea Tigeress an ex-MA(Q)
I got a job as a medical rep and do the odd "med cover" when Im on my travels since leaving repping.
So once your out of training get yourself on loads of courses before nursing as your quals and more importantly your experinces will be well sort after once you enter civvy street.
