ADN RN looking at joining Navy

[JenRN1004]

Hello. I am a registered nurse with an associates degree and 14 years of experience. I am interested in joining the Navy as a nurse and have no military background. Could someone please give me some insight on what to expect and how to go about joining? I also noticed to join as an officer, it says they "typically" require a 4 year degree. Can my RN license and 14 years of nursing experience still qualify me to join as an officer vs enlisted?

Thank you all in advance for your help.

[jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA]

Nope. You need BSN for all three nurse corps (AF, Navy, Army). You can enlist as an E3 or E4 (depending on the branch), but I doubt you'd be happy with the pay drop.

If you had a BSN, you would certainly enter as an O-3 in the Army or AF; the Navy won't count any of your ADN nursing experience.

[Don't Tread On Me]

All branches require a BSN in order to become an nurse corps officer; however, the Army does have an enlisted MOS that is an LPN/LVN, but that is if you are ok with not being an officer. The Navy does not offer LPN/LVN positions.