Need some answers regarding Army nursing

[kamnan]

Good afternoon all,

I have been looking through several of these threads and have found them to be profoundly helpful. I don't usually post things- but, my questions are so specific that I don't think I'll get them answered any other way:)

Here's my situation:

I am going to be 30 in the fall. I have a bachelor's in social work and have my ADN as well. I have worked Cardiac ICU for the past year and am in love with critical care nursing. I have 3 years in long-term care experience.

I'm interested in joining the army active duty (AD)- but, have noticed that the Army Nurse Corps will NOT take me without a BSN.

So... is it better for me to join AD as a commissioned officer (based off of my current bachelor's degree) and then risk not having an MOS in nursing... all the while, continuing my education and completing an RN-MSN option? Would I then petition to become a member of the Army Nurse Corps?

Or.. is it better for me to join the Army Nurse Corps reserve and complete my BSN and then go AD at that time?

I really want to go AD over reserves. But, I also don't want to be in a position where I'm not doing what I love. I worked hard to get to where I'm at and I want to continue developing professionally as a nurse.

Thanks for any info.... I've found it can be a little difficult finding clear-cut answers for my particular situation.

[just_cause, BSN, RN]

Glad to see you've found good info here~

You do NOT want to gain a commission in a non-nursing realm.. it will take time and luck and time to get back to the nurse corp.. and you will still have to get a BSN prior to being active duty.

You have a few options.. .sounds like you want to be active duty..

Get enrolled in a BSN (acceptance letter) and you can immediately do all paperwork and apply to army nurse candidate program... incentives include having acceptance up to 2 years out (1 year really in your case) and 5k bonus up front, 5k at graduation and 1k per month stipend in school... or you could get in BSN program and at time of graduation apply for direct commission. As you can see those incentives include a lump sum or loan repayment... IMHO the incentives are usually not as big of a deal as knowing or locking in that army commission so I'd probably look into the ACNP program I mentioned.

If you join in reserves or non-nursing capacity its harder to get active duty from reserves.. and really hard to just change branches as you'll have to wait for time to elapse and that branch to release you.. and it will be tough to apply when you haven't been a nurse for x years.. etc.

v/r

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

You are 30 -- you have time! Go get that BSN, then commission -- that's my advice. Also work on getting your CCRN (if you don't have it already) to pave the way to coming in with the ICU (8A) identifier.

[kamnan]

Thank you so much for your information. I wasn't aware about the ANCP. I will have to look further into that. I'm getting close to being maxed out on financial aid from my previous bachelor's degree. So, if I can avoid taking out more loans- it would be incredibly awesome!