You must complete an accredited nursing program with a bachelor's degree in science to become a military nurse, pass the National Council Licensure Examination in your state and enlist in the military branch in which you intend to serve. Talk to the military recruiting medical officer to find out more information about the various nursing programs available, or visit the VA nursing website. An RN degree with a BSN is required for active duty military nurses. A BSN is not required for nurses who serve in the military reserves.
The Navy Nurse Corps Anesthesia Nurse Program at the Naval School of Health Sciences is a partnership program of Georgetown University and Uniform Services University. The program is 30 months long; 12 months of attendance of classes at either Georgetown University, Uniform Services University and the Naval School of Health Sciences, and 18 months of clinical training at the Navy's Medical Treatment Facilities in San Diego, CA, Portsmouth, VA or Jacksonville, FL. You need a bachelor of science degree and a GPA of 3.0 and one year of nursing experience in acute care, such as ICU. Course curriculum focuses on anesthesia theory and decision making and acute and chronic pain. For more information, visit the Naval School of Health Sciences website.
The Army offers a nursing anesthesia program through Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C. The program is 30 months long; 12 months of classroom attendance at the U.S. Army Medical Department Center and School (AMEDDC & S), Fort Sam Houston, in San Antonio, Texas, and 18 months of clinical rotation at one of six facilities. Courses include general nurse anesthesia practices, pharmacology, chemistry, physics, biochemistry, anatomy, physiology and pathophysiology for nurse anesthesia, advanced health assessment, statistics in nursing, fundamentals of nurse anesthesia practice, theoretical foundations in nursing, research in nursing, anesthesia nursing seminars/conferences, thesis, nurse anesthetist clinical practicum and nurse anesthesia role practicum. Enrollment requirements include one year of experience as a nurse, graduation from a National League of Nursing accredited school with a 3.0 grade point average, a GRE score of 1500 or a MAT score of 50. You can visit the Walter Reed Nursing School website for more information (see Resources).
Uniformed Services University (USU) in Bethesda, MD has one of the best graduate level military nursing schools. Students who are active duty military members of all branches study nursing here. The school offers students a master of science degree program and a PhD in nursing science for research scientists, which is a 91-hour program. The course curriculum includes 12 hours of nursing knowledge courses, 10 hours of research methods, 12 hours of cognate courses, nine hours of electives, six hours of statistics and 21 hours of dissertation. There are also programs in family nursing, nurse anesthesia, perioperative clinical nursing and psychiatric mental health nursing. You can find out more information on enrollment requirements and course curriculum by visiting the USU website (see Resources).
The Veterans Administration offers scholarships to full- and part-time VA registered nurses who are interested in baccalaureate and advanced nursing degree programs through the VA National Nursing Educational Initiative (NNEI). If you join the Navy Reserve Nurse Corps through their Nurse Candidate Program, you may be entitled to receive up to $34,000, which includes a $10,000 grant and $1,000 monthly stipend for 24 months while you are attending nursing school, as of early 2011. If you are already enrolled in a nursing school program, you may be eligible to receive monthly income assistance up to $1,992 and up to $50,000 in nursing student loan repayment monies. For practicing nurses, if you join the Navy Reserve full time, you may be entitled to a sign-up bonus ranging between $20,000 and $30,000 and up to $40,000 to repay your nursing school student loans, plus postgraduate educational programs paid for by the Navy.