Posted on Nov 3, 2015
Uniform Question Related to the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service
28.4K
50
52
5
5
0
So today while pumping gas I noticed a woman wearing what appeared to be a military uniform. My friend asked if she was Navy and I was curious enough to step over and ask.
She replied that she was a [U.S.] Public Health Service officer.
It is hard to explain why but her uniform did not look 'real'. Plus, her ribbons were not individual- each line of ribbons horizontally was one piece. And they were slightly misaligned.
I was inclined to say something about her ribbons being out of alignment but held back.
I also had noticed she had no Blue sticker on her car's windshield. When I asked about that, she said 'they don't do that anymore', adding that 'all you have to do is show your ID'.
When I asked, she said she was a nurse practitioner which of course would have meant she was an R.N.
I did not ask to see her ID and just said goodbye.
1. Was I looking at a civilian dressed in a military uniform?
2. Do you, as Active Military, feel it is inappropriate for a former service person to point out uniform deficiencies?
3. I've obviously not been in a PX for more than a few years- do they make horizontal bars of ribbons in one piece?
Thanks!
She replied that she was a [U.S.] Public Health Service officer.
It is hard to explain why but her uniform did not look 'real'. Plus, her ribbons were not individual- each line of ribbons horizontally was one piece. And they were slightly misaligned.
I was inclined to say something about her ribbons being out of alignment but held back.
I also had noticed she had no Blue sticker on her car's windshield. When I asked about that, she said 'they don't do that anymore', adding that 'all you have to do is show your ID'.
When I asked, she said she was a nurse practitioner which of course would have meant she was an R.N.
I did not ask to see her ID and just said goodbye.
1. Was I looking at a civilian dressed in a military uniform?
2. Do you, as Active Military, feel it is inappropriate for a former service person to point out uniform deficiencies?
3. I've obviously not been in a PX for more than a few years- do they make horizontal bars of ribbons in one piece?
Thanks!
Posted in these groups: 
Uniforms
CG-NAP11: Public Health Service
Uniforms CG-NAP11: Public Health Service
Posted 10 y ago
Responses: 14
0
0
0
What would you have done if she said yeah I'm a fake? As far as I know they still sell ribbon bars.
(0)
(0)
0
0
0
BTW Nurse Practitioners are not RNs. RNs require an associates degree minimum. Many nursing programs are 4 year. A NP requires a masters degree. They can write prescriptions and do many of the routine medical monitoring of chronic illness that doctors are simply overqualified for but absent NPs, have to do it. Many NPs used to be RNs but then completed their graduate program.
Living rural means you see more NPs. At our small town clinic, they have doctors, Physician Assistants, and RNs. The PA/NP side is masters level education. They didn't exist when I was younger. A NP handled my Express Scripts medication transfer to the new office and gave me a new one. In rural areas you hope you don't have to see the Doc because it would mean something more serious. There's a pretty good protocol that determines which provider you see. Works fine as the next level up is right there if needed.
Living rural means you see more NPs. At our small town clinic, they have doctors, Physician Assistants, and RNs. The PA/NP side is masters level education. They didn't exist when I was younger. A NP handled my Express Scripts medication transfer to the new office and gave me a new one. In rural areas you hope you don't have to see the Doc because it would mean something more serious. There's a pretty good protocol that determines which provider you see. Works fine as the next level up is right there if needed.
(0)
(0)
SSG Paul Forel
Captain Ball...Thank you for your input.
I believe you may be mistaken with regard to NP's not being nurses.
The PA was originally supposed to make up for the shortage of physicians, particularly in rural communities since so many physicians prefer 'the big city'.
What I'm about to say is not to contradict you. I have first hand experience with a NP who was running one of those mini clinics we now see at CVS pharmacies. In this case, she was clueless, was very scattered and her methodology for writing Rx's was capricious and without merit.
She had made a bad recommendation regarding which antibiotic she wanted the patient to take- she did not seem to have an understanding of which antibiotics to recommend based on whether the bacteria-causing illness was gram negative or gram positive.
Scary stuff, especially since most patients don't have a former Army medic sitting in on their exams as a form of QC.
I believe you may be mistaken with regard to NP's not being nurses.
The PA was originally supposed to make up for the shortage of physicians, particularly in rural communities since so many physicians prefer 'the big city'.
What I'm about to say is not to contradict you. I have first hand experience with a NP who was running one of those mini clinics we now see at CVS pharmacies. In this case, she was clueless, was very scattered and her methodology for writing Rx's was capricious and without merit.
She had made a bad recommendation regarding which antibiotic she wanted the patient to take- she did not seem to have an understanding of which antibiotics to recommend based on whether the bacteria-causing illness was gram negative or gram positive.
Scary stuff, especially since most patients don't have a former Army medic sitting in on their exams as a form of QC.
(0)
(0)
0
0
0
SSG Paul Forel
She is correct in that the military doesn't issue windshield stickers anymore. The Air Force and Army haven't used them in quite some time, and the Navy stopped using them around 2011.
She is correct in that the military doesn't issue windshield stickers anymore. The Air Force and Army haven't used them in quite some time, and the Navy stopped using them around 2011.
(0)
(0)
SSG Paul Forel
I C. Thank you for letting me know. I suppose that explains why I have not seen many stickers here in KC, MO. I am apparently in the cross roads of a few Air Force bases and I was wondering why I have not seen many Blue or Red stickers.
Thank you again, PO1 Miller.
Thank you again, PO1 Miller.
(1)
(0)
0
0
0
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google