Army Nursing ROTC?

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Hey everyone, I'm new to this discussion board but I thought I might be able to get some insight on a question that I have. My husband is Active Duty in the Army and because of that, I have been set back in my nursing education. I got into a program out in Washington and then we received orders to move to Hawaii. Looking at the schools out here, it is extremely expensive so we are deciding for me to join Army ROTC (for reserves afterwards) but I'm curious to know:

- how does it work balancing nursing school and ROTC?

- difficult to receive a scholarship?

- if someone has actual experience, what is the transition from ROTC to the Army?

Also, if anyone has any other advice, I would greatly appreciate it. At the moment, my biggest concern is whether I can receive a scholarship or not. I passed my medical DoDMERB so I am medically qualified for ROTC, and I also passed the Army Physical Fitness Test, so really.. the scholarship is the last step to beginning..

Advice? Thanks!

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Moved to the Government and Military Nursing forum

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Hi BCurtis

I was in the ROTC briefly until I realized it wouldn't work out with my nursing schedule (partial answer to your question #1). I can tell you that when I was going in, scholarships were very competitive (this was back in 2006/2008). It depends very heavily on your grades. I was a straight-A student through high school as well as college and was able to obtain the scholarship twice but was never able to use it for a number of different reasons.

For the brief time I was in the ROTC, it was extremely difficult for me to manage my time so that I could keep my grades up and keep up in ROTC. I had class 4 days a week and the one day I would've had off, I had ROTC, so I was a very busy student. The turning point for me came when my grades began to slip, I requested a pass from the FTX to study, and I got 100% on the physiology exam that my prof had never had anyone ace before. That very clearly delineated for me that if I was going to stay in the ROTC, I was going to have to sacrifice part of my nursing education. Being that I was in college for nursing and not ROTC, I was not willing to do that. In addition, my nursing school had mandatory classes we had to take in the summers, which prevented me from going to LDAC and eventually resulted in my leaving the program.

All that having been said, I did not transition from ROTC to the Army, but I did transition from being a civilian with ROTC experience to the Army. I think ROTC folks were better off when they hit BOLC at Fort Sam because they knew the basics of soldiering: marching, basic commands, basic maneuvers, etc. However, the folks at BOLC are well aware that they have people coming in as officers who have no knowledge of the military whatsoever and they are very willing to help them make the transition as smooth as possible.

Hope that answers some questions for you. Feel free to look around this board. Lots of people have asked the same questions you're asking. Good luck!

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Hi BCurtis,

I am a recent graduate of the nursing/rotc program and it is very challenging to balance the two, I actually was doing the accelerated nursing program and didnt join rotc until my junior year of college. I now work as a nurse recruiter til I leave in august for bolc. I feel better prepared for bolc, just because I've been emmersed in the program while doing nursing, so I've gotten really good with time management, as I also was working full time.

So to answer your question, scholarships are very competitive, especially for nursing students. Look at schools in the area that have rotc "nurse mission" they are schools that will receive more funding for you.

The other thing is look at the nursing school itself, often they have scholarships that are based at the university specific for nursing school. Another way would be to joing national guard/reserve and go in as a smp student and let them pay for it, they're budget is much larger than rotc. Hope this helps, let me know if you have any other questions.

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Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.
However, the folks at BOLC are well aware that they have people coming in as officers who have no knowledge of the military whatsoever and they are very willing to help them make the transition as smooth as possible.

BCurtis, just wanted to agree with what I've quoted, and also wanted to add that there is also a pre-BOLC course for direct commission folks; it takes place about 3 weeks before BOLC starts. This is something your recruiter needs to be aware of early after your selection so that you can make sure you get to the pre-BOLC course. The direct commissionees at my BOLC session who were able to attend pre-BOLC were much more confident/less clueless than the other direct commissionees like me with no Army experience myself (other than being a military brat and my husband being prior service). I found that the prior service/prior NCOs were excellent in teaching the clueless as well -- the were awesome! So if ROTC doesn't work out, you'll get brought up to speed one way or another. :)

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Specializes in Critical Care (SICU/Trauma).

I too did ROTC for a few years. I have heard that some universities (ones who are obligated to provide nurses) work very well with their nurses to ensure they have flexibility in physical training schedules, FTX, things of that nature. However, my school did not. Ask the ROTC Senior Military Instructor (usually the senior NCO) if they have a "nurse mission". If they do, they WANT and NEED you to graduate. If not, they don't really care either way.

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MURunner86 and Lunah are quite correct--some schools really work well with ROTC and some don't. The school I attended was a satellite school--meaning they didn't have an ROTC program of their own--they were sending their students to another school to get the ROTC program. As you might imagine, scheduling conflicts were a dime a dozen considering I was balancing two different curriculums from entirely different colleges. Definitely follow the advice above and check and see how long the ROTC has been established at the school, how the nursing school interacts with ROTC, etc. Talk to both sides and see what they say and proceed from there.

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Hi,

I am currently a nursing student in ROTC. First off, let me tell you that I absolutely love being in ROTC. I find it challenging, but very rewarding. I can't wait to be an Army nurse! To try to answer your questions, finding balance between school and ROTC can be difficult. They are both demanding, but organization is key. I try to work ahead as much as I can to alleviate some stress. I would try to get in contact with some of the nursing cadets at the school you are looking at to see how they manage. As mentioned before, it really depends on your school and ROTC program. My school and program have a great relationship and are both dedicated to helping me succeed which helps a lot. As for scholarships, from what I have heard it is getting harder and harder to get one because of budget cuts. However, it can't hurt to apply!

Good luck!!

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