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Discussion

How hard is it to join as an RN?

Hello all,

I have been interested in joining the military for a long time. Right now I am in an ASN program ( I know you need a BSN) and I plan on start studying for my BSN ASAP!!! While I do that I plan on working in ICU ( the hospital I work for has a novice nurse program for ICU). So does being in the ROTC program give you a leg up? Or do I still have a chance? I'm thinking of the reserves as my choice. Thanks for any info you can give me. And also thanks for serving our country!!

Nikki

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    All branches are very competitive at this point. If you have ICU experience, I think that will be helpful. For the Army's purposes, they'll probably want you to have two years of ICU before you could join as a critical care nurse. I'm not sure if you're interested in the Army -- you didn't specify a branch -- but experienced nurses have the best shot right now, in my opinion. Even ROTC nurses are not being guaranteed active duty slots -- many seem to be going to the Reserves. Good luck in the rest of your ASN program! :)

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    As far as I know. The Navy ROTC almost guarantees you a spot for their nursing program. (You still have to go through NCP, but they look rather highly on that)

    As far as the Air Force, ROTC guarantees you a spot (from what I'm told) with their nursing program.

    Army, you're not guaranteed an active duty slot. It's about a 50/50 shot from what I was told.

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    ROTC doesn't give you a 'leg up' if you're talking about ROTC at the uni level - it's one of the pathways into the military as an officer.

    USAF ROTC students who are studying nursing have applied through ROTC for a nursing officer slot as an active duty officer. The US Army is currently not giving every ROTC grad an active duty commission, but they are still given a commission: some are Reserves and some are AD, and there are pros and cons for each. As far as I know, the Navy is still running like the USAF: all active commissions.

    Some Army ROTC folks on this board have said it's more like a 1 in 3 chance of receiving an AD versus a Reserve commission and not a 50/50 chance.

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