Army nurse process

[ak1]

Hello everyone! I'm a junior in my first semester of nursing school and since this Summer I've been interested in joining the military in some capacity as a nurse. I applied to the Navy Nurse Candicay Program but sadly didn't make it in. I'v been looking at the discussions you all have posted but I'm a bit confused on the information. My hope is to join the army as a L&D nurse but I've been told that its not possible or hard as a new grad. The advice I was given is to join an ROTC program, which I looked into but my school is private and doesn't offer the program. The other option is to join direct commission after graduation. I would appreciate any advice and information on the process of direct commissioning. So far I've seen, I will need at least 1 year of experience in ICU or ER and the process is competitive. It has been difficult to find a medical recruiter to speak to get information. 

[Rhody16x, BSN]

Since your school does not have ROTC your only option will be to direct comission. If your goal is become an L&D nurse in the Army I highly suggest gaining some experiece on the civilian side in L&D and earning a board cert to be competitive. After you get some experience reach out to an AMEDD recruiter and hopefully slots are available! You can reach out to an AMEDD recruiter as a new grad and see if spots are open, but be aware you will work med-surg for 2-3 years before being able to apply for the L&D course. Side note, there’s been talk about the army getting rid of 66G’s (L&D) nurses/CNM’s, however, people are still being sent to the course. See what the  Airforce is offering too!! Good luck!

[CC Freakazoid, MSN]

In order to direct commission into L&D, you will need to come in with work experience. If you are trying to go in right out of school, you can reach out to an AMEDD recruiter and ask about the Clinical Nurse Transition Program. This is for nurses with less than 6 months of experience. Once completed you will do med-surg for approx a year before you can specialize> im not sure if this is only for active duty or reserves/guard as well.

[Jeckrn1, ADN, BSN]

DHA (Defense Health Agency) has made a recommendation that the military only has medical providers who have a mission in a combat zone.  L&D is one of the areas that they want to switch over to all civilian since there is no need for L&D nurses in a war zone.  

Right now it is hard to get a direct commission since the Army Nurse Corp is over staffed, some ROTC grads end up in the reserves.  Once you graduate and get some experience it might be different so keep trying.