Army Nurse Corp and experience requirement

[Mydreamjob]

If I want to be an army nurse, do I need any RN experience to become an officer?

I received an e-mail from a recruiter who said that I need at least 6 months of work experiences. Is it correct?

Thanks a lot

[jeckrn, BSN, RN]

From what I understand active no you do not need any experience but reserves you need the 6 months.

[Mydreamjob]

Thanks a lot

[just_cause, BSN, RN]

alibi - I recommend not talking with a 'recruiter' - but an army healthcare recruiter.. very different

No exp needed just your degree!

You need exp to lock in a certain skill identifier - but going active duty you can qualify to 'reserve' schooling to attend a course and gain a skill identifier anyhow in gyn/ob, critical care, psych or perioperative.

There is enough general information on this forum and on goarmy.com and some easy google searches where meeting with a recruiter should involve few questions aside from a few to quiz them and make sure you have an ally who can help ya - arm yourself with the info

v/r

[jeckrn, BSN, RN]

You will need at least 1 year experience to have one of the listed schools in your contract. I just completed the perioperative course last year. When I came on active I had 10+ years experience. All the others came in the military without any RN experience and had been in the Army between 2-3 years before being able to attend the course.

[just_cause, BSN, RN]

You can get your one of those schools in your contract when joining the army w/ no prior rn experience.. you will arrive at 1st duty station and spend a few years (Jeck said 2-3.. I've heard 1-2.. ) prior to attending that school and thus gaining ground toward that specialty.. first job isn't really up to you.. based on where you go and what the need is etc. I would consider it your baseline experience, becoming familiar with nursing and the army prior to departing for specialty training.

[SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN]

i do not mean to highjack a thread but now nurses are required to have at least 6 months work experience to join active duty (this does not include the rotc types). specialties also require work experience of at least six months. this information came from my health care recruiter, which is why my application is not fully complete at this time. i am finishing up my specialty work experience, though i have been a nurse for over a year now. the competition to get into the army is stiff. some of nursing specialties are closed until next year! gl!

[just_cause, BSN, RN]

I'd like to see this info in writing.. aside from a verbal to posting.... I say this because of all the branches and all specialties... med, infantry, signal, PT, OT, linguist... on and on NONE require prior experience for initial accession - and that is still true for nursing until a MILPER or AR regulation change has taken place to supersede current regulation, regardless of what a recruiter says.

[Renee4christ]

Unless the army has recently made changes, prior experience is NOT required because I was accepted in September and I graduate with my bsn next month with NO experience. After obc, I will receive training at my duty station. I know if u have 6 months of training prior to obc, they generally place u at a smaller med center.

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

Some of nursing specialties are closed until next year! GL!

Yep ... this is why my packet isn't going anywhere until the next fiscal year starts in October. Then it'll be M5 here as well!

[jeckrn, BSN, RN]

You can get your one of those schools in your contract when joining the army w/ no prior rn experience.. you will arrive at 1st duty station and spend a few years (Jeck said 2-3.. I've heard 1-2.. ) prior to attending that school and thus gaining ground toward that specialty.. first job isn't really up to you.. based on where you go and what the need is etc. I would consider it your baseline experience, becoming familiar with nursing and the army prior to departing for specialty training.

You can attend one of the courses after 1 year, but all of the nurses I have spoken to have been in the Army for at least 2 years. Before you can attend your command has to agree to release you for the class and most commands do not want to lose you. Some commands will release you for the school shortly after 1 year. Alot of this has to do with getting a replacement for you even if you are staying at the facility you are at and deployment of nurses to the sand boxes.

[just_cause, BSN, RN]

Its also having to do with when the course is scheduled, slots available in school - slots available at your unit - # of peeps ahead of you... that being said there are a lot of positives to having that time to get your feet on the ground, get accustomed to unit, army, documentation, etc while still knowing you get opportunity to attend that specialty course... meanwhile rest of economy is very uncertain