Army Nurse Corps

Army Nursing - ROTC partners with WKU School of Nursing

If nursing is your professional goal, there is no better place to begin your career than in Army ROTC. Army ROTC offers you a unique opportunity to gain practical experience while you receive financial assistance for college.

You have chosen a demanding profession. Medical emergencies require a cool head and clear thinking. Making the most of your skills, building a sense of confidence, and helping you realize your leadership and management potential are what the Army ROTC is all about.

As a ROTC nursing student, you will be able to combine college electives in military science and invaluable nurse summer training experience with your regular nursing program. You will develop your professional skills while you learn some meaningful things about yourself and what you can accomplish.

Upon completion of the program (and provided all prerequisites are met), you will receive a commission as an officer in the Army Nurse Corps, ready to take on the challenges of your profession. You will find that your Army ROTC experience has taken you a long way toward realizing your professional goals.

Advantages of Army ROTC

Experience: You will not find anywhere else the kind of direct, hands-on experience you will receive in ROTC training. You will be given significant responsibilities early in your career.

Leadership: An officer is a leader. That's why leadership and management is stressed as part of the ROTC nursing program. The Army provides nursing students with unique training to develop the kind of skills that will help you take command and be more competitive.

Advancement: There is no mystery about how to get ahead in the Army Nurse Corps. Promotions are based on performance, and the career path is clear-cut. You will be given the opportunity to progress in rank as your nursing proficiency and effective leadership traits are demonstrated.

Professional Environment: As an Army Nurse, you are an important member of the health care team. You've been given the training to meet problems head-on and solve them quickly, adapting to the situation and taking charge. You are a thinker and decision maker, earning the respect of your colleagues and the people who work for you.

ARMY ROTC FOR NURSING

The Two- and Four-Year Programs:

The two- and four-year ROTC programs are each a series of elective courses designed to be taken along with your regular nursing program. They are divided into the Basic Course and Advanced Course.

The Basic Course is usually taken during the first year or two of college. After you have completed the Basic Course, demonstrated your potential to become an officer and met both physical and scholastic standards, you may enroll in the Advanced Course.

The Advanced Course, which includes the Nurse Summer Training Program (NSTP), is usually taken during the final two years of college. The NSTP is described below.

The Two-Year Program:

If you are a junior or community college graduate, or attending a four-year college but did not take ROTC in your first two years of school, the two-year program has been designed for you. Courses from both the Basic and Advanced Course are combined to enable you to complete your training within two years.

For more information on the four- and two-year programs click here.

The Nurse Summer Training Program:

NSTP is a paid training program normally attended the summer after your junior year of college. It consists of a field phase and a clinical phase and will provide opportunities to develop and practice your leadership skills in both environments.

During the field phase of NSTP, you'll receive training in such areas as land navigation, communications, tactics, and physical fitness. After the field phase of NSTP, you'll report to an Army hospital for clinical training. Formal classes are limited. Instead emphasis is placed on "hands-on" experiences, supervised by your preceptor - an Army Nurse Corps officer who will work with you one-on-one throughout training.

While you follow the same duty schedule as your preceptor, you could receive training in such areas as assessment of vital signs and other measurements and observations... planning of patient care...nutrition maintenace and feeding techniques...range of motion and mobility...respiratory needs...medication administration...emergency procedures... intravenous (IV) therapy, and other special techniques.

Weekly group sessions will monitor your performance and enhance your progress. By summer's end, NSTP will have shown you a preview of the real world of nursing, developed your professional skills and given you valuable insights into your abilities.

You Keep on Learning

Nursing is a dynamic profession. Skills and professional knowledge must be constantly updated. The Army Nurse Corps recognizes that earning your BSN is an achievement to be proud of and is committed to providing educational opportunities so you may continue to enhance your abilities, interests and knowledge. Once you become an Army Nurse, you may apply for specialty courses such as:

• Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing: This 22-week course is designed to prepare you with the necessary knowledge of clinical skills to deliver care and treatment to psychiatric patients. Development of the qualities of understanding and compassion are stressed, along with proficiency in communications skills.
• Pediatric Nursing: This 16-week course is designed to help you increase your knowledge and skills in the areas required in giving direct care to children and infants. You'll learn to identify, appraise and manage childhood conditions, as well as manage children's immunization programs.
• Perioperative Nursing: This 16-week course is designed to prepare junior nurse officers to function as first-level staff nurses in the operating room (OR). It also focuses on the OR nurse's responsibilities in the preparation and sterilization of supplies/equipment; special fields of surgery; and the principles and techniques of supervision and management of the operating room.
• Obstetrical and Gynecological Nursing: This 16-week course is designed to prepare nurses as entry-level critical care staff nurses in intensive care settings.

And once you have obtained career status and met eligibility criteria, you may apply for selection to graduate degree programs such as Anesthesia Nursing or Health Care Administration, or graduate education at the school of your choice.

ROTC Makes a Difference

Whether you want to specialize in a particular area, such as intensive care, pediatrics, or the operating room, or want to start your career as a generalist you must be able to direct others. You must be a leader and a manager.

ROTC enhances your education by providing the unique leadership and management training, along with the practical experience needed for success, either in the Army or in a civilian career.

You will develop good judgment and self-confidence. You will gain the ability to analyze situations quickly, to make decisions and to understand what it takes to carry them out.

You will graduate from college with a baccalaureate degree and the honor of being a commissioned officer in the Army Nurse Corps (ANC).

Then, once in the ANC, you'll have the opportunity to advance professionally, work with the latest medical technology, and serve with other highly trained medical personnel.

Army ROTC will give you a valuable opportunity to build for the future.