Job Description

As an Officer in the Navy Nurse Corps, you’ll develop strong peer-to-peer relationships with Navy Physicians – along with the respect and honor that accompany the Navy uniform.

• Work with a team of talented colleagues united by a common mission
• Seize opportunities to educate, lead and shape policy within Navy Health Care
• Instruct Hospital Corpsmen on how to provide quality patient care
• Choose from sought-after specialties – study to become a nurse practitioner or a nurse anesthetist or even attend the famed Naval School of Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md.

As a Navy Nurse, you’ll elevate your credentials and set the standard as you:

• Apply leading-edge medical advances at world-class hospitals
• Utilize some of the most advanced technology on the planet like Radio Frequency Identification, which can lead to less paperwork and more meaningful patient care
• Work at the best military nursing facilities on shore, at sea and in the field
• Find new meaning in the term “teamwork” with top health-care professionals on the highly respected Navy Health Care team

Healer of mind, body and spirit. Ambassador of hope. Respected nursing professional. There’s no exaggerating the significance of the role you’ll serve as a nurse in America’s Navy.

Specific Responsibilities

In the Navy Nurse Corps, you’ll provide high-quality nursing care for Sailors, Marines and servicemembers – and their families – wherever duty calls. Doing everything a typical nurse would do:

• Check vitals
• Treat wounds
• Manage triage
• Lift spirits, restore hope and mentor others

Then step outside of your comfort zone. That could mean taking part in humanitarian relief efforts, like administering infant vaccinations to the children of Cienaga, Colombia, or providing emergency care to victims of a deadly earthquake in Haiti. Outreach programs at home and abroad. Collaborating with physicians, surgeons, cardiologists and fellow nurses as colleagues and equals. Developing the leadership skills that will set you apart.

Nursing Specialties

Navy Nursing offers an amazing scope of career opportunities. Plus the chance to mentor junior team members and teach others.

Navy Nurses can focus on any of more than a dozen sought-after practice areas, including:

• Critical Care
• Education
• Emergency Trauma
• Manpower System Analysis
• Maternal/Infant
• Medical/Surgical
• Neonatal Intensive Care
• Nurse Anesthetist
• Nurse Midwife
• Nurse Practitioner
  • Family
  • Pediatric
  • Psychiatric
  • Women’s Health
• Pediatrics
• Perioperative
• Psychiatric
• Public Health
• Research
• Training Management

Work Environment

As a member of the Navy Nurse Corps, you may serve at any one of more than 250 Navy and medical facilities around the globe, in some of the most dynamic environments imaginable … Hawaii to Japan, Germany to Guam, and Washington, D.C., to Washington state.

You could work at one of the highly acclaimed National Naval Medical Centers in Bethesda, Maryland; Portsmouth, Virginia; and San Diego, California. Or you could provide medical support to deployed troops aboard one of two dedicated hospital ships: the USNS Comfort and USNS Mercy.

Still more health-care opportunities are available stateside and abroad, on board a surface ship, working closely with a nearby aircraft squadron, or even with the Fleet Marine Force. Or you could work at a Navy medical clinic anywhere from London, England, to Kaneohe, Hawaii.

No matter where you serve, you’ll provide leadership and expertise to support your country, the men and women who defend it, their families and the world at large.

Education Opportunities

Wherever you are in your nursing career, the Navy can help ease your financial burdens and advance your career with generous scholarships, financial assistance and continuing education.

High School Students

The Navy can cover the full cost – up to $180,000 – of your nursing education at some of the best colleges and universities in the country. You may receive a scholarship through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC).

As a student, you can concentrate on your education or training with no military/training obligation until after your program is completed.

Offers have many variables. To get details and find out which offer would benefit you most, request that a Navy Recruiter contact you.

Nursing Students

For the Nurse Candidate Program (NCP), you can get an initial grant of $10,000, plus a stipend of $1,000 per month for up to 24 months. That’s up to $34,000 to help pay your way through nursing school.

Offers have many variables. To get details and find out which offer would benefit you most, request that a Navy Recruiter contact you.

Qualifications

To qualify for Active Duty employment consideration in the Navy Nurse Corps, you must:

• Be a U.S. citizen currently practicing in the U.S. (contact a
  Navy Medical Recruiter for details)
• Be a student or graduate in good standing of a U.S. education program granting a bachelor of science degree and accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE)
• Be licensed to practice in a U.S. state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or a U.S. territory (new graduates must obtain a license within one year of beginning Active Duty service)
• Be willing to serve a minimum of three years of Active Duty
• Be between the ages of 18 and 41
• Be in good physical condition and pass a full medical examination

After the Navy

In the Navy, your extensive training, continuing education and unrivaled experience as a nursing professional will offer superior career advancement opportunities that will pay off long after you return to the civilian world. Beyond your affiliation with a world-class health-care network, you will take seasoned expertise, unmatched versatility and proven management skills into the private sector. Your ability to work effectively under pressure with a deep sense of pride and honor for what you do will only make you stand out more – putting you in high demand as a practicing nurse.