ARMY ROTC Nurses? Officers?

[AvaRN22, MSN, RN]

hello,

i am starting grad school this august and i am considering going through the army rotc program because of their full tuition scholarship (though i would rather join the af, but they don’t have a full scholarship option).

here are a couple of questions:

1. are there any current or previous nursing students in army rotc students out there that can tell me what it's like to be in rotc?

2. is it hard to get into rotc?

3. what does being an officer really entail?

4. what will be my duties as an officer?

5. what’s a typical day/week like?

6. most importantly:is most of the work paperwork or actual direct patient care as an officer?

i’ve searched through the website and have requested some information, but they just seem to talk about the benefits (i.e. 30 days paid vacation, full tuition, etc). but i want to know what i will be doing/details, not just incentives.

really, any insider info would be helpful.

thanks =)

[CEG]

I am not an AN, but am an Army officer. I did ROTC for my undergrad degree and I would highly recommend it. I think schools vary a little, but at mine I did PT (physical training, exercise) Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 0600-0715. We had leadership lab where we learned Army-ish things like marching and map reading on Tuesday mornings from 0600-0800. I took one class per semester, in the beginning they were 1-2 credits and by the end 4 credits. We did training exercises, a long (3-4 day) one each semester with several one day training exercises during each semester. We also did other events such as charity fund raisers, a formal dinner ("Dining Out"), and things like carrying the flag at football games.

The classes were not too difficult but the physical stuff was pretty challenging. I really enjoyed ROTC and am so glad I did it. I grew tremendously as a person and because of the Army I have had so many experiences and so much more responsibility than my civilian counterparts.

Being an Army officer brings with it a lot of responsibilty. Physical respoinsibilty such as maintaining all of the equipment and being financially liable for it, but also being a good example and taking care of soldiers.

I can't speak to what you will do as an Army nurse, but my kds were both delivered by an Army nurse-midwife who definitely provided tons of hand-on (wonderful) care. PRobably depends on your specialty area and what job you are in. If you have any specific questions feel free to PM me.

[KM484MadOX]

I am an ARMY Nurse but did not go through the ROTC program. I received a direct commission following my basic RN program. The ARMY helped me get my BSN through the STRAP progarm. I have been in now 15 years and it was the best decision I ever made. As a nurse you will be expected to be able to do all the physical fitness requirements for your age group (sit-ups; push-ups and 2 mile run). Having that requirement helps you maintain great physical fitness. I think that going through the ROTC program will benifit you because you will not only learn the nursing profession you will learn how to be an ARMY officer. That was a little more difficult for us that came in on direct commission. I love my Army experience and have been called to active duty recently to help train the medics that were being deployed to IRAQ.

Good Luck with your ARMY choice