Military Service in Nursing School

Veterans Day has come and gone, but I have still not stopped thinking of the men and women in uniform that serve our country. Nurses have always played a large role in military service, one that perhaps has not received the recognition it deserves.

Every career fair that I have gone to, either while I was in nursing school or out of nursing school, has had either the Navy or the Army present to recruit nursing students and nurses into the service. Although I have never joined, I have always taken a strong interest in what is involved in joining these services as a nurse.

As a nursing student if you enlist with the Navy not only will they provide a large sign-on bonus of $10,000 they will also provide a stipend of $1,000 while you finish nursing school. Serving in the Navy will then ensure you a job, as well as providing specialty training while you’re enlisted. A requirement for joining the Navy Nurse Corps is a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing. Visit the Navy.com site for more information.

If you are interested in becoming a nurse in the Army you have the option of joining the Army ROTC to receive half or full scholarships to nursing school. You can then choose to enlist in Active Nurse Corps or Reserve Nurse Corps. Both of which provide great sign-on bonuses, loan repayments, and numerous other benefits. For joining the Army Nurse Corps, you do not need a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing. For more information with the GoArmy.com site.

The U.S. Air Force, U.S. Coast Guard, and U.S. Public Health Service also recruit nurses and have similar benefits to joining their service.

If you have an interest in not only caring for people, but serving our country as well there can be numerous benefits to you financially, as well as providing a stable career as a nurse.

If you have experience enlisting while in nursing school, please share with us! I would love to hear your thoughts on making that decision while in nursing school. I would also love to hear from current nurses and their experience providing care to military personnel and civilians around the world.

Simulators in Nursing School

One of the more recent additions to nursing education has been high-tech simulator mannequins. While I was in nursing school, I had the opportunity to practice I.V. insertion on a simulator (Virtual I.V.) that showed a virtual image on the computer as I was inserting the needle into a fake arm. It was very educational as it showed the precise depth and angle of the needle. It had the ability to quiz you on what supplies you needed and was able to simulate different veins in different parts of the body. It also provided the tactile stimulation of “feeling” when you enter a vein or miss one. I thought this was extremely helpful in order to build confidence before practicing I.V. insertion on real patients.

We also had the opportunity to work with a full-body simulator that provided practice in different areas such as urinary catheter insertion, auscultation of heart and lungs, wound care, NG insertion and suctioning, and many more. Our instructors were also able to program the simulator to have different heart rates, respirations, blood pressure, and palpation of pulses in order to practice resuscitation and critical thinking skills.

Overall, the use of simulators has been a positive experience in my nursing education. It has provided a safe environment for me to practice my skills before applying them in a real setting on a real patient. Having our instructors present to change the simulator’s vital signs enabled me to use the nursing process to provide care to an ever-changing patient. The ability to download the information after practicing on a simulator helped our instructors debrief us and teach from our actions.

One thing that I really think would have improved the simulator experience would have been to have full access to the equipment. The way the simulators were built into our curriculum only allowed supervised access to them during certain lab days in the semester. A better way to help students learn from these tools would be to have an open lab with senior nursing students available for assistance.

Does your nursing school have simulators to practice with? Are they built into your nursing education? If so, do you have free access to use them? I would love to hear how other nursing schools are implementing this new technology.

Bullying

The increase of suicides in this country related to bullying in this past year has pulled at the heartstrings of the people in this country, including mine. Most recently, a freshman at Rutgers, committed suicide after being bullied and humiliated for his sexual orientation. This has caused uproar in the community and forced everyone to look at the issue of bullying and how we can stop it.

According to a survey published in the New York Times in October, one in five college students who identify themselves as “gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender” reported harassment due to their sexual identification. Unfortunately, nursing schools are not protected from this number.

Many colleges now have student-led groups for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students. Does your nursing school have one established?

Do not let bullying happen to you, or someone you know. Even if you think you are strong enough to handle it on your own - please seek help. The purpose of harassment is to tear someone down until they break. Be sure to have resources in place to know how to prevent, stop, and recover from bullying before another tragic incident happens again. I would encourage you to find out about the various groups and organizations available at your nursing school, stay aware and offer your support.

For more information please see the many resources on “Speaking OUT Against Bullying” at http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/rts/glbtrt/popularresources/bullying.cfm