I am an Army Nurse now (68C)
Well an enlisted nurse, LVN to be exact. I just graduated from my year long course. It use to be the M6 program but is is called the 68C. I will be working in a Forward Surgical Team and working in a ICU section.
Also this means that I will be posting more in the future.
Category: Pointless blather
Congrats
Congratulations. Hope you enjoy the new job!
Congratulations and good luck!
Hard work pays off. Congratulations.
a year long AIT? and here I thought my 5 weeks of 11B and 2 weeks of 11M training sucked.
But it is not like AIT, I was living off post with the family and had all the freedoms that were not present at Basic and AIT. Just test after test.
Congrats, hopefully its a stepping stone for more, such as being an RN or MD
Yes, I want to be a RN, the logic that if I work with RNs doing similar work that I will have a easier time when I am in school to become one.
Welcome to the profession. Code Brown in Room 3
I’m not entirely sure … let me rephrase that … I AM ENTIRELY sure that I do not want to know what a “Code Brown” is.
Oh you damn well know what a “code brown” is…
Coffee meet screen, screen meet coffee.
lol
Been there, done that, in ways most people would not care to hear about.
Sporkmaster, having met many, many ‘code browns’ with colicky horses and my cat Buttons, whose life was far too short, I can assure you that when you have to wipe someone else’s butt for him or her, you get attached to those people in ways that parents know and understand.
Patch ’em up, bring them home … Save lives.
GOD BLESS YOU!
Ditto what MCPO said.
Congrats. That is a hard course and the certification testing is brutal.
However, your correct title is 68C – Practical Nursing Specialist.
I have never met a 68C that refers to themselves as an Army Nurse.
When you say “Army Nurse” .. it gives the connotation that you are in “The Army Nurse Corps.”
In order to be in The Army Nurse Corps, you must be commissioned and have a BSN in Nursing (Active).
Not to be snarky or diminish your accomplishments AT ALL. Just google “Army Nurse” and see what comes up.
https://www.google.com/search?q=army+nurse&oq=army+nurse&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j0j69i60j0l3.3646j0j7&sourceid=chrome&espv=210&es_sm=122&ie=UTF-8
Congrats. Have fun with the FST.
I think what Army Medical might be saying is “all those chicks were REALLY hot and looked smokin’ in those fancy nurse outfits”.
But I could totally wrong.
Well, yeah but most of the guys they were treating were on some type of drugs
Medical…yes to all above. I hear the 18D course is a pretty good course as well…some say brutal also!
Well, all that is true, but my understanding is that Sporkmaster can now go to work with the VA as an LPN and also can do so in certain states (in fact, I was given to understand that in California it was possible to challenge the RN licensing exam for Army LPNs).
I’ve often been flummoxed about how the Nurse Corps treats different kinds of nurses. An RN with an associate degree in nursing is not eligible for commissioning, but a BSN RN is? Why not treat the ADN like any other officer without a Bachelor’s degree and let them go as far as 0-3 until they get a Bachelor’s degree, or come up with some sort of warrant for them?
68W58: I’m guessing that’s because at least on the Active Duty side of the house, a 4-year degree seems to be a prerequisite for commissioning. That requirement is currently in place for OCS application as well.
http://www.goarmy.com/ocs.html
Hondo-that may be the requirement now, but at least relatively recently the requirement for OCS (for the Guard at least) was the equivalent of an associate’s degree-64 hours-with the stipulation that you couldn’t advance past Captain without a Bachelor’s degree (I know several current and former officers who were in this category).
In any event, it seems to me that the professional certification should be what matters. Both ADNs and BSNs have to pass the RN licensing exam in order to practice.
A few years ago, during the height of the war, there were all sorts of stories about physicians well past the normal retirement age deploying to combat (and more power to them). Some of them doubtlessly went to medical school back when it was two instead of four years (though they are all considered M.D.s) and who knows whether they had kept up their continuing ed requirements. It all just strikes me as a bureaucratic hoop to jump through more than a legitimate requirement to satisfy the patient care mission.
Not sure when the requirement changed to a degree, and it’s always possible the source I consulted was misleading. For the USAR the OCS regulatory educational prerequisite to apply was formerly completion of 3 years of college/90 SH (waived for MOH/DSC recipients).
http://www.apd.army.mil/pdffiles/r140_50.pdf
Follow-up: the original source apparently was misleading. This source gives the educational requirement for those already serving to apply to OCS as still being completion of 90 SH – generally held to be the “cut line” for 4th year status in most colleges/universities. (That also agrees with the AR I found and cited above, so I’m pretty sure it’s correct.) The source goes on to say that civilians applying must have a 4-year degree – which is consistent with the first source (goarmy.com) due to different audience (goarmy.com is concerned with informing/recruiting from the general public). Both sites are thus “correct”, but are targeting different audiences.
http://www.military.com/join-armed-forces/join-army-officer.html
Yes, the licanse is from Texas so I would have to do some work to transfer it to the State that I would be working for.
This was made as a stop gap to fill in Nursing shortages as far back as the 1950s.
This program does not require you to have any college to attend.
I have a background as a Certified Nurse Assistant on the civilian side. Your comment was just so damn rude. The Soldier is an Army nurse. The Army didn’t always have Practical Nurses and now they do, giving the enlisted a chance to be nurses a. You need to go back and do your research.
Well the NCLEX testing was challenging but not the imposable test people talked about. When I was done, I felt pretty good about it.
I know, but the work is considering nursing, so not sure how to label it.
Congratulations, Sporkmaster. Well done.
Congrats, Spork!!!
Congratulations!
Congrats, but don’t stop there!!
Well done, Sporkmaster.
Congratulations! That’s a major accomplishment.
Sporkmaster…Congrats….go to 3:50….
Congrats on your successfully completing your training! Doing a 1 yr AIT is something else.
I remember when I was getting ready to join out of high school and the Navy offered me something to do with Nuclear Propulsion on a Sub. AIT was 2 or 3 years or something crazy. I told him I would think about it. The Army guy asked me if I wanted to jump out of planes. Planes?? hell yeah…Still think I might not have made the right choice.
Hooah!
Congratulations! I hope you love every moment of your chosen passion. Well done.
Tough job. Maybe the toughest there is. Never forget the reason you chose it–no matter whaqt sort of horseshit may come your way. I’d rather offer you my thanks nore than congrats–but you get both. Good luck.
Yep, I never had a moment of regret at anytime during the course.
Is that about the same as a 92Charlie?
Not sure what that is.
92 series is supply. Many moons ago medical was 91 series and 91C was the LPN.
I was in AIT when they did the switch from 91W to 68W. But it had become M6 rather then 91C. I was thinking that 91C was referring to something new, possibly in a different branch.
My older brother was a 91B/C and took his long course at Fitzsimmons in 74/75. Ended up being a Ward Master at Ft Stewart for his final assignment prior to retirement in 1988. He sure turned out to be a good old country doctor. May he RIP.
Congratulations! It’s a hard job — and you can be proud every moment you do it.
You’ve been there before.
Good on ya, Spork! Well done and carry on. Yeah.
Congratulations.
Nothing quite like military medicine. Congrats. Always good to see another 68 in the club. I’m 68W.
I was one of the newest 68Ws becuase I was in Ait when they changed over from 91W to 68W.
Hey congrats on graduating. I’m leaving to 68c ait in a month. Just wanted a little advice on the school and how difficult was it. I’m prior service so going as an MOSt might be a little less stressful:)
First congrats on getting a slot. From what I understand it will be harder to do so in the future. Ok Phase one Fort Sam: Here are some of the biggest changes. 1. Most of the Soldiers will be right out of basic rather then graduates from Whiskey land as Medics. So as a prior service you should watch out for drama. If you are a NCO you will be in a student leadership position. 2. Longer Phase one to contaminate the training lost that happened at whisky land. Our day started at 0500-0600 PT, 0600-0700 eat shower get ready for the day. 0700-1200 class. 1200-1300 lunch. 1300-1630 class time. 1700 end of day formation. There was a one day FTX to learn how field hospitals function and practice some sample operations. All the tests will be on basic anatomy with hands on lab time to practice basic nursing care. There 10 anatomy tests, and four tests on drug calculations, such as if what is the rate in ml per hour if you want to give a person 200ml in a 30 minute time frame. You are recycled if you fail four tests or a single test three times. Phase 2. Will depend on the site. You should know where your phase two site is from your orders. Mine was at Fort Sam Houston. We took a total of 18 tests not including the NCLEX test. There are clinical rotations were you work on different parts of the hospital. On each day you can be expected to do certain tasks; write a soap note or make a nursing care plan. You will have to do a presentation/case study at the end of every rotation. You are recycled if you fail four tests or a single test three times. Failed tests from phase one did not carry over. There were parts that were hard for me, but may not be for you. Know your drugs, you will have to create drug cards at the start of phase two and will be expected to know the drugs to pass the medicine portion.… Read more »
congrats 🙂
First, congrats. How much free time did you have during AIT after the first few weeks? Did you have weekends off? And how do you like the job now that you are out of AIT?
So, did you have summer and holiday block leave or no? Four day weekends for the holidays? Thanks for the info, I am trying to get this MOS once I can in November for a reclass.
Found this site via google search. Going to reenlist into this in a year or so. My advice to ya as i noticed you want to become a RN one day. Shadowing is good, but learn as much as possible on diagnosing. I dont know how army RNs work but i know the civilian side. They diagnose as much as a physician does. They call up the Dr just to verify/get the ok to proceed. The lives of patients are in a RNs hands,not the Dr persay.
Learn heart rythyms as well. Sign up for any additional training. ESP med surg/oncology,radiological nursing, PCU, ALS and others if possible. This will open up a world unknown to many new nurses. Remember, you are a Nurse now no matter if its just a LPN/LVN. RNs just have more schooling and a greater focus on management and supervisory positions. Lots more paperwork involved.
I may not be a nurse yet,but will be. Do take what i say tho. My wife has been a RN for 10 years now and has worked hospice care, radiology, med surg/onco and now PCU. She makes about $40/hr for anyone interested. Yes, she holds a BSN. Good luck in your career. You chose wisely.
What FST are you going to? I’m currently the ICU NCOIC and wondering if you’re going to be my incoming SM. We don’t typically take anyone fresh from AIT…just curious.
There’s an interview process we do and part of it is having prior experience doing patient care in various settings. Maybe you’re going to another team who is doing things differently. Either way, congratulations and best of luck! FST’s are the cream of the crop!
I leave for basic on Jan 6 2015 and I chose 68C. I will be in Texas for AIT for a year. And based on what I’ve read in this blog, I have a challenging year ahead of me. I’m ready.
Thanks for posting all of this helpful information. Is there a way to ask a few questions about this AIT? Specifically relating to being able to have my husband moved to Sam Houston while I’m in Ait and what is the process involved in this?