# Army Officer, Medical-Surgical Nurse (66H)



## HN8404 (Apr 1, 2013)

Well I wasnt too sure whether to post this in the education section or the tactical but here it is..

Is any one here familure with the commisioned Army officer medical-surgical nurse proffesion? 

Medical-Surgical Nurse (66H). 

*Description of duties*. Provides professional nursing care and health promotion in military health treatment organizations and in the broader military community. Responsibilities may span ambulatory, medical-surgical, emergency, and critical care nursing. 

*Special qualifications*. 

(a) Be a graduate of an accredited nursing program acceptable to DA and hold a current state license to practice nursing. 

(b) Be a graduate of an accredited nursing program acceptable to DA and hold a current state license to practice nursing. 

*Special grading of positions*. 

(a) Forward Surgical Team, positions associated with SI 8A will be graded MAJ. Other Medical-Surgical Nurse positions will be graded CPT. 

(b) Medical Detachment, Minimal Care, Commander will be graded MAJ. 

*Unique duty positions*. 
(a) Clinical Staff Nurse, Medicine-Surgical Nursing.

(b) Clinical Nurse Specialist.

 (c) Adult Ambulatory Care Nurse Practitioner.

 (d) Family Nurse Practitioner.

 (e) Clinical Head Nurse, Medical-Surgical Nursing.

 (f) Chief, Medical-Surgical Nursing.


So where im trying to get at with this thread is, can you be a paramedic in the military/Army as a commisioned officer?

Here is the link where I got my information from
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/officerjob1/l/blnurse.htm


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## VFlutter (Apr 1, 2013)

For any military nursing officer slot you must be a BSN RN. To my knowledge there are no similar positions for paramedics.


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## HN8404 (Apr 1, 2013)

*?*

well obviously not in the civilian sector but what im asking is; is it possible to work at a paramedic (not an infantry medic) level in the Army as an officer? or at least from what I can see from the description of duties part is that you can to some extent.

I know im probably asking in the wrong place but im afraid of going to a recruiter and having them fill me with a bunch of BS.
I was trying to see if any veterans here might have some inside knowledge of this or not.

All input is welcome but its probably going to boil down to me visiting the recruiter  

But tell me what you all know regardless


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## m0nster986 (Apr 1, 2013)

At a minimum, you need a Bachelor's degree to become an officer in most branches.  Keep in mind it is extremely competitive as a civilian going in but not so much if you are already a serviceman.  Then they will place you wherever THEIR needs are.


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## HN8404 (Apr 1, 2013)

**

well im completely happy with that!!

Iv already been enlisted for 5 years with another three years on inactive reserves and im familiar with the "THEIR needs" side of things as far as where im going. If I can work as a paramedic on a commissioned officers salary doing what I love, this would be my dream job 

not to mention the sweet retirement pay after 20 years of active duty service!! I could actually go into a civilian nursing position after my time in.   count me in


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## Akulahawk (Apr 1, 2013)

Here's a link from the Army's recruiting site: goarmy.com... It has some more specific information about their requirements.


http://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-jobs/amedd-categories/nurse-corps-jobs/medical-surgical-nurse.html


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## Carlos Danger (Apr 1, 2013)

HN8404 said:


> what im asking is; is it possible to work at a paramedic (not an infantry medic) level in the Army as an officer?



No, it is not. 

Unless something has changed very recently, the Army has no commissioned MOS's that have anything to do with prehospital care.


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## HN8404 (Apr 1, 2013)

*I figured*

I figured it would take a little digging on my part to really find out for sure since it seems like im getting mixed responses or unknown. But this has all been great info guys, thanks!

I wasnt going to make any assumptions about what a nurse corps officer does in the Army but I was hoping for the pre-hospital setting. But again great info  keep it comming! I like to hear what you guys know and think about the possible career routes with a medical-surgical nurse (66H)


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## VFlutter (Apr 1, 2013)

HN8404 said:


> keep it comming! I like to hear what you guys know and think about the possible career routes with a medical-surgical nurse (66H)



I am confused. Are you planning on getting your BSN so you can be a 66H?

I think forward surigcal teams are the closet you will get to pre hospital care.


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## HN8404 (Apr 1, 2013)

Chase said:


> I am confused. Are you planning on getting your BSN so you can be a 66H?
> 
> I think forward surigcal teams are the closet you will get to pre hospital care.



sorry, I should have clarified that I was asking about the possibilities of a commision into the military in the hopes of working in an ambulatory setting. If it was possible? 

The closest thing to an officer that works hands on in the paramedic type setting (that iv found so far) would be the forword surgical teams you were talking about. And yes, im aware that it takes a bachelors degree in nursing to do this.

The chances are slim that there is actually a retired nurse corps officer in this forum but I was trying to hear it from the horses mouth to find more out about it.

But all info is helpful


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## Clipper1 (Apr 1, 2013)

Try this site:

http://allnurses.com/government-military-nursing/


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## Luno (Apr 2, 2013)

HN8404 said:


> I figured it would take a little digging on my part to really find out for sure since it seems like im getting mixed responses or unknown. But this has all been great info guys, thanks!
> 
> I wasnt going to make any assumptions about what a nurse corps officer does in the Army but I was hoping for the pre-hospital setting. But again great info  keep it comming! I like to hear what you guys know and think about the possible career routes with a medical-surgical nurse (66H)



Flight Nurse


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## RocketMedic (Apr 2, 2013)

Paramedic services as we know them are provided by civilian contractors on bases. Pre-aid-station and prehospital medicine in combat settings are generally provided by medically-trained 'medics' who hold EMT-Advanced skillsets and EMT-B certification, if that.


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## Carlos Danger (Apr 2, 2013)

Luno said:


> Flight Nurse



In the Army?


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## Luno (Apr 2, 2013)

Halothane said:


> In the Army?



Yep, they're putting more on the birds with the medics...


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## VFlutter (Apr 2, 2013)

Luno said:


> Yep, they're putting more on the birds with the medics...



I need to look into that. Last time I check they didn't have any nurses on rotor wings. Only fixed wing transports.


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## Carlos Danger (Apr 2, 2013)

My understanding is that, while the "enroute care" thing is developing, the Army currently has no plans to create a flight nurse MOS and there are currently no RN's in the Army who fly regularly.

So you would join as a regular 'ole RN with a critical care modifier, and you may get the opportunity to attend the Enroute Care course at some point. Then, if you are ever in a forward deployed role you may get the opportunity to do some flying. 

The Navy is pretty similar.

The only branch that has an actual flight nurse MOS is the Air Force, and it is all fixed wing, interfacility transports.


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## Luno (Apr 2, 2013)

JECC is developing, especially since most times you need an RN or higher for blood product, however I think I jumped the gun as there is the N1 ASI that is the Aviation MED NP.


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## HN8404 (Apr 2, 2013)

There isn't just the nursing route I could take that will get me into a hands on emergency care position with the Army.

There's also other specialties like physician assistant and a few others that I haven't looked over yet. Some are even forward deployed in emergency health care.


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## Handsome Robb (Apr 2, 2013)

I heard the Army just decided to make EMT-P a requirement for their flight medics.

Just word of mouth though. 

Some military bases have fire departments that respond to EMS calls on the base but most contract that out now too.


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## HN8404 (Apr 3, 2013)

Robb said:


> I heard the Army just decided to make EMT-P a requirement for their flight medics.
> 
> Just word of mouth though.
> 
> Some military bases have fire departments that respond to EMS calls on the base but most contract that out now too.



Well I know there's a certain amount of class room hours and hands on that a civilian needs to get EMT-P (I don't know what the national average is off hand)

Wouldn't that be overkill besides a waste of resources and man hours? I could understand a basic or even intermediate but the paramedic is a bit much. But I have been wrong before lol


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## AzValley (Apr 4, 2013)

I have heard this as well but have not seen anything concrete.


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## HN8404 (Apr 7, 2013)

*thanks!*

hey guys, thanks for all the great input and advice. Ill be sure to check out all my options and the links you provided.

Thanks again!!


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## shakilwani (Apr 8, 2013)

i am medical doctor graduated from india ,at present working as EMT in military base camp in Afghanistan.is there any vacancy for me there.thanks


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