military and nursing school

LukeSchool · Jun 20, 2010

You may try other career instead. Nursing may get you in military.

Anisettes, BSN, RN · Jun 20, 2010

If you are already IN the military, there are opportunities to go to Nursing school and you payback with years of service (contact a recruiter). There are also ROTC opportunities. But I don't think they'll just pick up your tab. They have plenty of people already in-service awaiting acceptance into the available programs.

sk8inghunny · Jun 20, 2010

As far as I know the GI bill will cover your tuition for any career you choose....even after you leave the military.

JStyles1 · Jun 20, 2010

With your English being like that, I'd say no.

TREC96 · Jun 20, 2010

don't you think that's a little uncalled for?

@ pineapple devil

aflac381 · Jun 20, 2010

@ pineapple devil, that was a typing error on my part. I didn't see that. I meant to say, "Can". Not I, but Can. So watch how you say stuff to people when you talk to them.

JStyles1 · Jun 20, 2010

It has been discussed numerous times on this forum. So many people come on here looking for help, yet they cannot produce a simple sentence because of their broken English. It was not a personal attack at you, just an observation. Most people proofread posts on here so we take posts as they are. Since everything that is said on here has to be taken for the way that it is written (ie: if you type in all caps you are yelling. if you do not use the language correctly, you probably don't use it correctly in person either), we can only go based on what we see. Sorry you took it wrong.

huggiebear1979 · Jun 21, 2010

To the original poster, it depends on what you are going for? example-LPN/LVN/ADN to my understanding some of the reserves will pay for ADN...as some of the other posters said ROTC would be an option for BSN and Navy and Army have programs called Nurse Candidate Programs-which will pay you while in school if your going for your BSN....my guess is that you aren't currently in the military based on the limited knowledge...hope that helps some....

tokebi · Jun 21, 2010

There's also the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences) where you can get top notch education for free in exchange for your military commitment. Their selection criteria is very high, though.

As earlier poster said, GI Bill is another great opportunity. If you're serving already and signed up for it, that is (I remember having to choose between the GI Bill or having my previous student loan paid off.)

I lived off the GI bill while I went to vocational nursing school. It doesn't specifically pay your school, but rather, you get monthly payments depending on how much you have served. At least that was my experience years ago.

westmidwest · Jun 21, 2010

It has been discussed numerous times on this forum. So many people come on here looking for help, yet they cannot produce a simple sentence because of their broken English. It was not a personal attack at you, just an observation. Most people proofread posts on here so we take posts as they are. Since everything that is said on here has to be taken for the way that it is written (ie: if you type in all caps you are yelling. if you do not use the language correctly, you probably don't use it correctly in person either), we can only go based on what we see. Sorry you took it wrong.

fyi it's "i.e.," not "ie:"

those who cast stones...

chuckster, ADN, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Jun 21, 2010

The short answer is "it depends".

If you are talking about the active military, without a degree you would be an enlisted person when you joined (E-1 or E-3 if you have at least 60 college credits). Once in the military, after completion of both basic training and advanced individual training (AIT), you can get financial assistance for classes which will vary depending on your branch of service and your active duty location. For example, the Air Force has their own community college and many of their course offerings are on-line, so it doesn't much matter where your permanent duty station is. On the other hand, while the Army doesn't have their own CC, they often have arragements with nearby local colleges and teach many courses on post (at Ft Bragg, where I was stationed, both Campbell College and Fayetteville State University tought evening classes on post - I was able to finish through Calc II at Bragg). While all of this sounds good, it is highly unlikely that you'd be able to complete a nursing program. I would doubt that nursing would be a program of study that the military offers but even if it were, your duty assignments would almost certainly interefere (you will have evening and weekend duty, ususally on a rotating basis and you will also have training assignments that will result in your missing classes and clinicals).

Things are a bit different in the Guard or Reserve. For the Guard, depending on your state, you may qualify for substantial tuition assistance - I believe this is also true for the Reserves but am not certain. Keep in mind however that if you do not have prior military service, you will need both basic and AIT. They can be done over 12 months where you go to basic one summer and AIT the next, but they will take up most of two summers. And unfortunately, you will also have weekend drills - at least once a month - which means that you will be out of pocket for a Sat & Sun, almost certainly interfering with your clinical schedule.

In my opinion, it would be nearly impossible to manage either option above. Your best bet is to contact a recruiter and see if the have any programs for nurse candidates. I'm not familiar with any nursing programs but for other professions, such as law or medicine, these programs require that you are already accepted to or enrolled in med or law school. My understanding is that you are essentially a ROTC cadet while enrolled in school and receive your commission upon graduation. You will need to serve a certain number of years on active duty once out of school, which is not a bad thing.

Alternatively, you can simply enlist for a few years and let the GI Bill pay for school once your service obligation is done. Or you can get your nursing degree and then accept a direct commission as a military nurse. I believe that both the Army and Navy have programs that will extinguish part or even all of your school debt. Plus, you will get great nursing experience in the service, which will help enormously in getting a good job when you are discharged. The only rub here is that you need to have a bachelor's degree for a direct commission, which rules out ADN's.

Remember that this information is worth evey penny you paid for it. To get the straight dope, you should talk to a recruiter.