University of San Francisco Army ROTC
2130 Fulton Street, San Francisco, CA 94117-1080 USA
Telephone: 800-854-1385 | FAX: 415 422-2355
For more information contact MAJ Warner
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Nursing students can take Army ROTC in college along with their other studies and begin their professional careers as officers in the Army Nurse Corps (ANC). Nursing is clearly a demanding profession that require a cool head and clear thinking. USF Army ROTC can facilitate the development of skills, building of skills that will help you realize your leadership and management potential.
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The University of San Francisco School of Nursing is in the top five percent of nursing schools nationwide. Army ROTC at USF offers special scholarships and other incentives to nursing majors. Nurses are in good company at USF ROTC, where almost half of our cadets are future Army Nurses. In addition, USF Army ROTC Nursing Cadets are eligible for all the same training opportunities and extracurricular activities as any other cadet. Nursing Cadets can also apply for Army ROTC scholarships.
Army Nursing - The ROTC Edge
If nursing is your professional goal, there is no better place to begin your career than in Army ROTC. Army ROTC offers you a unique opportunity to gain practical experience while you receive financial assistance for college. You have chosen a demanding profession. Medical emergencies require a cool head and clear thinking. Making the most of your skills, building a sense of confidence, and helping you realize your leadership and management potential are what the Army ROTC is all about. As a ROTC nursing student, you will be able to combine college electives in military science and invaluable nurse summer training experience with your regular nursing program. You will develop your professional skills while you learn some meaningful things about yourself and what you can accomplish. Upon completion of the program (and provided all prerequisites are met), you will receive a commission as an active or reserve officer in the Army Nurse Corps, ready to take on the challenges of your profession. You will find that your Army ROTC experience has taken you a long way toward realizing your professional goals.
Advantages of Army ROTC
You will not find anywhere else the kind of direct, hands-on experience you will receive in ROTC training. You will be given significant responsibilities early in your career. Leadership. An officer is a leader. That's why leadership and management are stressed as part of the ROTC nursing program. The Army provides nursing students with unique training to develop the kind of skills that will help you take command. Advancement. There is no mystery about how to get ahead in the Army Nurse Corps. Promotions are based on performance, and the career path is clear cut. You will be given the opportunity to progress in rank as your nursing proficiency and effective leadership traits are demonstrated. Professional Environment. As an Army Nurse, you are an important member of the health care team. You've been given the training to meet problems head-on and solve them quickly, adapting to the situation and taking charge. You are a thinker and decision maker, earning the respect of your colleagues and the people who work for you.
"When you go to ER during the ROTC summer training, you get hands-on experience. I was able to draw blood and start IV's. There's no limit to what you can learn. And I'm looking forward to being an officer because being a leader and being able to take initiative are part of being a good nurse."
-Army ROTC Nurse Cadet
Army ROTC nurse cadets must have excellent grade point averages (GPA) to keep their scholarships. However, at many schools their GPA may often be insufficient to overcome the competition to gain acceptance into clinical nursing classes. This is not the case at USF. The University of San Francisco School of Nursing understands that ROTC cadets make better students and their Army training will make them better nurses. At USF, all ROTC cadets in the nursing program are guaranteed to complete the Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree in four years, provided they pass their classes. Nursing students at USF know they will begin their clinical training in local hospitals as a sophomore and get the rest of their required courses when they need them.
Nursing students at USF, a private Jesuit university, all have a personal academic counselor to make sure their individual goals are met. In March 1996, Cadet Command implemented a new program called, "Partnership in Nursing Education (PNE)." This program established "partnerships" with nursing schools affiliated with Army ROTC that will assure progression of nurse cadets into clinical nursing classes. The University of San Francisco is a charter member of the Partnership in Nursing Education Program. Students who receive nursing scholarships must use them at one of the colleges or universities that has a PNE program. The Three- and Four-Year Programs. The three- and four-year ROTC programs are each a series of elective courses designed to be taken along with your regular nursing program. They are divided into the Basic Course and Advanced Course.
The Basic Course is usually taken during the first year or two of college. After you have completed the Basic Course, demonstrated your potential to become an officer and met both physical and scholastic standards, you may enroll in the Advanced Course. The Advanced Course, which includes the Nurse Summer Training Program (NSTP) Clinical Elective, is usually taken during the final two years of college. The NSTP Clinical Elective is described below. The Two-Year Program. If you are a junior or community college graduate, or attending a four-year college but did not take ROTC in your first two years of school, the two-year program has been designed for you. You must attend Basic Camp before enrolling in the Advanced course. The Nurse Summer Training Program Clinical Elective. NSTP Clinical Elective is a three-week program for Army ROTC nurse cadets. Attendance is voluntary.
The NSTP Clinical Elective is conducted at various Army hospitals, and you may attend this Clinical Elective either before or after Advanced Camp, which is mandatory for all nurse cadets. During Advanced Camp, you'll receive training in such areas as land navigation ... communications ... tactics ... physical fitness. During the NSTP Clinical Elective you'll receive "hands on" experience under the director supervision of preceptors -- Army nurse officers who work with you one-on-one throughout your clinical training.
While you follow the same duty schedule as your preceptor, you could receive training in such areas as assessment of vital signs and other measurements and observations...planning of patient care...nutrition maintenance and feeding techniques...range of motion and mobility...respiratory needs...medication administration...emergency procedures...intravenous (IV) therapy, and other special techniques. Weekly group sessions will monitor your performance and enhance your progress. And by summer's end, NSTP Clinical Elective will have shown you a preview of the real world of nursing, developed your professional skills and given you valuable insights into your abilities. To return to the Nurse Table of Contents click here.
"Leadership training in ROTC is more than words. When you're in a field exercise or leadership lab you get a taste of responsibility, of the need to have the answers and earn respect. Everyone says they want a team approach. But I don't see that in civilian hospitals - and I don't think non-ROTC students really understand what a team approach is like."
-Army ROTC Nurse Cadet
You Keep on Learning
Nursing is a dynamic profession. Skills and professional knowledge must be constantly updated. The Army Nurse Corps recognizes that earning your BSN is an achievement to be proud of and is committed to providing educational opportunities so you may continue to enhance your abilities, interests and knowledge. Once you become an Army Nurse, you may apply for specialty courses such as: Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing. This 22-week course is designed to prepare you with the necessary knowledge of clinical skills to deliver care and treatment to psychiatric patients. Development of the qualities of understanding and compassion are stressed, along with proficiency in communications skills. Peri-operative Nursing.
This 16-week course is designed to prepare junior nurse officers to function as first-level staff nurses in the operating room (OR). It also focuses on the OR nurse's responsibilities in the preparation and sterilization of supplies/equipment; special fields of surgery; and the principles and techniques of supervision and management of the operating room. Obstetrical and Gynecological Nursing. This 16-week course is designed to provide you the necessary knowledge and clinical skills required to deliver nursing care to pregnant women, newborn infants and patients with gynecological problems.
Critical Care Nursing. This 16-week course is designed to prepare nurses as entry-level critical care staff nurses in intensive care settings. And once you have obtained career status and met eligibility criteria, you may apply for selection to graduate degree programs such as Anesthesia Nursing or Health Care Administration, or graduate education at the school of your choice.
"Leadership isn't as difficult as it once seemed because of ROTC experiences I've had. During NSTP, I was put on a ward and expected to take charge - a preview of what I'll be doing as an Army nurse and lieutenant, with a broad scope of practice and more management responsibilities than a civilian nurse. Later on, I plan to earn a masters with the Army and become a nurse practitioner or nurse anesthetist."
-Army ROTC Nursing Cadet
ROTC Makes a Difference
Whether you want to specialize in a particular area, such as intensive care, pediatrics, or the operating room, or want to start your career as a generalist you must be able to direct others. You must be a leader and a manager. ROTC enhances your education by providing the unique leadership and management training, along with the practical experience needed for success, either in the Army or in a civilian career. You will develop good judgment and self-confidence. You will gain the ability to analyze situations quickly, to make decisions and to understand what it takes to carry them out.
You will graduate from college with a baccalaureate degree and the honor of being a commissioned officer in the Army Nurse Corps (ANC). Then, once in the ANC, you'll have the opportunity to advance professionally, work with the latest medical technology, and serve with other highly trained medical personnel. Army ROTC will give you a valuable opportunity to build for the future.
"If I had college to do over again, I'd definitely be involved in Army ROTC. The leadership experience - not to mention the fun - was invaluable. Within one year of active duty I had specialty training I requested. Now I'm a pediatric staff nurse at a major medical center."
-1LT Kelly L. Grady Clinical Staff Nurse, Pediatrics
The first step starts with you! For more information contact:
MAJ Christopher Warner
Admissions Officer
(415) 422-5628 | cwwarner@usfca.edu
