Nurse Corps

Thank you for your interest in Navy Medicine. The Nurse Corps includes over 2,566 active-duty and reserve nurses serving in various specialties worldwide. Navy Nurses have been providing excellent care to Sailors and Marines at medical treatment facilities, shipboard and Marine Corps assignments since the establishment of the Navy Nurse Corps in 1908. Nurses play a vital role in the integrated healthcare team, bringing their unique experiences to provide the best healthcare possible while also teaching Hospital Corpsman basic healthcare skills. I encourage you to utilize this website as a starting point for discussing Naval Service as a nurse with others. The decision to serve your country is commendable. Our Sailors and Marines require nurses who possess expertise, quality, compassion, and advocacy. Should you choose to join us, you will truly understand the special calling of service. Best of luck in your pursuit of nursing.

Rear Admiral Robert Hawkins
Chief, Nurse Corps, U.S. Navy

The Navy Nurse Corps is comprised of more than 2,500 active duty and reserve nurses in over 20 specialties who provide care or support patient care to our Navy and Marine Corps warfighters, their families, and retirees. Navy nurses are stationed at military medical treatment facilities (MTFs), medical education institutions, clinics, hospitals, and research units both within the United States and at locations around the world. Navy nurses deploy in support of combat operations, disaster relief, and humanitarian assistance missions, providing the best care our nation can offer ashore and afloat.

Officers in the Navy Nurse Corps earn a competitive salary, regular promotions and pay increases, comprehensive medical, dental, and life insurance coverage, travel opportunities, excellent retirement and educational benefits, professional training, and a rewarding clinical practice.

Additional benefits: 30 days of paid vacation a year, use of military recreational facilities around the world, the opportunity to serve in a variety of nursing specialties and global facilities and be a part of supportive team of highly trained professionals.

Join the Elite: Navy Nurse Corps

Join Navy Nurse Corps Brochure Cover Page

YouTube Video - Ep. 8: Lifeline Ashley Flynn
This Sailor spent her career caring for resilient warriors. Now she has become one. This is life as a Navy Nurse.

Specialties

Ambulatory care nursing
Critical care
Education and training management
Emergency/trauma
Family nurse practitioner
Health care business analytics
Maternal infant nursing
Medical-surgical
Mental health
Neonatal critical care
Nurse anesthesia
Nursing education
Nurse midwife
Nursing researcher
Operational nursing
Pediatric nurse practitioner
Pediatric nursing
Perioperative
Psychiatric health nurse practitioner
Public health

NURSE CORPS NEWS

Fresno native named Junior Officer of the Quarter while serving in Guantanamo Bay 12/17/2024

U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa Nurse Visits Himeji University Nursing School 12/4/2024

Naval Hospital Twentynine Palms nurse earns RADM Elizabeth S. Niemyer Award for advancing patient safety 12/3/2024

Please send all questions/inquiries related to Navy Medicine Nurse Corps to: usn.ncr.bumedfchva.list.recruitment---navy-nurse-corps@health.mil

Specialty Videos To learn more about some of the specialties that are offered in the Navy, please see these short videos by some of our nurses.
Ambulatory Care Ambulatory Care Nursing is a complex, multifaceted specialty that encompasses independent and collaborative practice. Modern professional ambulatory care nursing is a unique domain of specialty nursing practice that focuses on health care for individuals, families, groups, and populations. We practice in primary and specialty care outpatient venues, non-acute surgical and diagnostic outpatient settings.
Critical Care Critical care nurses provide direct care or influence care for acutely/critically ill patients who are at high risk for actual or potential life-threatening health problems, working in diverse settings to include military treatment facilities, onboard ships, and austere operational environments. These nurses are required to refine their assessment skills, blending in data obtained from a variety of invasive/noninvasive monitoring technology.
Family Nurse Practitioner A family nurse practitioner (FNP) in the Navy delivers health promotion, prevention, as well as care for acute and chronic conditions for the active-duty member and their dependents. The FNP prescribes medication, orders, and interprets diagnostic tests, and provides education and anticipatory guidance to patients assigned. Providing world class care to our unique population requires the collaboration with a multidisciplinary team and the FNP is an integral part of this process.
Healthcare Business Analytics The Healthcare and Business Analytics (HBA) Specialty is comprised of five distinct but related nursing communities: manpower analysts, Baylor graduates, nursing informaticists, process improvement, and Joint Commission. These communities offer a variety of capabilities to impact the Navy Nurse Corps and Navy Medicine through data-driven decision-making. HBA nurses use data analysis and predictive modeling to assist nursing leadership and guide continued change within Navy Medicine and the Nurse Corps to have the right people in the right places at the right times.
Labor and Delivery Labor & Delivery nurses specialize in the care of women, newborns, and families during the antepartum, intrapartum, and postpartum period of pregnancy in a variety of settings across the globe. We utilize “wartime critical” skills daily that are transferrable to forward deployed environments to support readiness of the warfighter and their family.
Medical-Surgical As the largest and most diverse specialty in the Nurse Corps, the 1910 community represents over 30% of the Nurse Corps with over 800 billets spread across 95 locations. The 1910 nurses have a wide-reaching impact, from inpatient bedside care to post-anesthesia care to ambulatory care and have been vital members of the Navy Medicine team throughout all major conflicts and humanitarian missions. We serve not only as nurses, but also as advocates, teachers, leaders, mentors, and subject matter experts influencing evidence-based and high-quality care for our warfighters and beneficiaries.
Neonatal Critical Care Neonatal Critical Care Nurses are specially trained, compassionate nurses who provide comprehensive nursing care to critically ill and convalescing neonates and their families. We gather and analyze complex and diverse clinical data and collaborate with neonatologists and pediatricians to provide the best neonatal care at military hospitals, neonatal intensive care units, and nurseries throughout the world.
Nurse Anesthesia A CRNA, or Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, is an advanced practice nurse specializing in the administration of anesthesia. Navy CRNAs practice independently in settings ranging from military hospitals to Navy ships and remote field units. CRNAs collaborate with surgeons, dentists, physician anesthesiologists, nurses, and other healthcare professionals to provide high-quality anesthesia care.
Nurse Midwifery Certified Nurse Midwives are Advanced Practice Registered Nurses that provide primary care to women throughout the lifespan including during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period; sexual and reproductive health; gynecologic health; and family planning services. Midwives provide critical readiness care to women across the Uniformed Services.
Nursing Research Nurse researchers advance military health and readiness through nursing-led transdisciplinary research and evidence-based practice. Our vision as nurse scientists is to foster a healthy, ready, and resilient Force.
Operational Nursing Operational Nurses are unique in the Navy; we practice across the domains of land, sea & air providing quality safe clinical care to the warfighters and front-line operators in demanding dynamic environments. Often called upon to fulfill these responsibilities autonomously, only the most capable and clinically prepared nurses are selected to satisfy these highly sought after roles.
Pediatrics Pediatric nurses provide care anytime and anywhere to the world's littlest heroes, in a variety of developmental stages and ages. We practice across the healthcare spectrum from outpatient clinics to the intensive care setting and deployed operational units. Our expertise is utilized in the care of beneficiaries as well as those in need across the globe, extending relief through humanitarian global health engagement and disaster response.
Perioperative Navy perioperative nurses complete specialized training to learn evidence-based guidelines to provide care for patients before, during and after surgery. Primarily working as circulating nurses responsible for the overall management of intraoperative care, they play an integral role coordinating a multidisciplinary team within a fast-paced, highly technical critical care setting. In addition to serving at state-of-the-art facilities across the globe, perioperative nurses are afforded unique assignments to provide surgical care in austere environments both on land and at sea. Nearly all Navy perioperative nurses earn accredited certification and have opportunities to develop advanced knowledge in perioperative practice, sterile processing, business management and leadership.
Public Health Public Health Nursing’s mission is multi-faceted to focus on the current well-being of the public, planning and prioritizing future approaches to prevent disease, and promoting health and fitness to allow our Warfighter population to fight and win. Public Health spans many disciplines, reaching into many other fields. Within our community, PHNs collaborate with other professions with the goal of identifying solutions for reducing inefficiencies and advocating for opportunities to impact Warfighter readiness.

Join Navy Nurse Corps

There are many ways to join the Navy Nurse Corps, whether you are currently in high school, nursing school, active-duty enlisted personnel, or are a practicing nurse.

For more information, visit https://www.navy.com/careers-benefits/careers/medical/nursing.

FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC)
The Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) – Nurse Option is a scholarship program that provides full tuition to the college of your choice, monthly stipends, summer training, and more so you can enjoy a traditional college experience while preparing to commission as an Ensign in the Navy Nurse Corps.

For more information on NROTC, visit https://www.navy.com/careers-benefits/education/nrotc or https://www.netc.navy.mil/nstc/nrotc/

FOR CURRENT NURSING STUDENTS

Nurse Candidate Program (NCP)
The NCP provides a monthly stipend for full-time juniors and/or seniors in accredited Bachelor of Science Nursing programs accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) or the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission, Inc (NLNAC). Students can apply for the NCP after their sophomore year.

NCP participants may receive a substantial sign-on bonus paid in (2) installments and a monthly (taxable) stipend paid in (2) increments on the 1^st and the 15^th of each month for 24 months while in the program and which stops on the graduation date. No further funds are paid until you report for active duty.
NCP participants are NOT entitled to tuition payments, reimbursement for books, fees, equipment, etc., or annual training. **This is not ROTC; no drill time is involved. **

After graduation, participants attend (5) weeks of Officer Basic Training to become Navy Nurse Corps Officers. Service obligations depend on the length of the benefit received, generally 4 years of service for 12 months of scholarship or 5 years for 13 to 24 months of scholarship.

For more information, contact your local medical Navy Recruiter

FOR PRACTICING NURSES

Direct Accession (DA) Program for Practicing Nurses
Direct Accession (DA) is the entry program with a sign-on bonus for nurses who have graduated from an accredited nursing program with a baccalaureate degree or higher in nursing and successful passing of the Registered Nurse National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX).

You may qualify for additional monetary accession bonuses or incentive pay depending on your specialty.

Nurses with several years of clinical experience may have the opportunity to commission at a higher rank and paygrade upon entry.

For more information, contact your local medical Navy Recruiter

Navy Reserves
The Navy Reserves is part-time service that allows you to balance your service to the country and your home-life. The Navy Reserve provides benefits such as educational and financial assistance, VA guaranteed home loans, Military Commissary and Navy Exchange privileges for you and your family, access to Officers’ clubs worldwide, special pay incentives for in-demand skill sets, retirement benefits after 20 qualifying years, and TRICARE Reserve Select health insurance for you and your family.

Practicing nurses opting to serve part-time in the Navy Reserve may qualify for an immediate, one-time sign-on bonus. Nurses with certain specialties may have the option of choosing between a sign-on bonus, nursing school loan repayment assistance or specialty pay.
Graduate students enrolled in a postgraduate nursing program in certain nursing specialties and opting to serve part-time in the Navy Reserve may qualify for loan repayment assistance.

For more information on the Navy Reserves, visit https://www.navy.com/joining/ways-to-join/reserve?q=who-we-are/about-navy-reserve

FOR CURRENT ENLISTED SAILORS/PERSONNEL

Medical Enlisted Commissioning Program (MECP)
MECP is a commissioning program offering qualified enlisted men and women from all enlisted ratings a chance to earn a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) followed by an appointment as an Ensign in the Navy Nurse Corps. MECP is open to active-duty enlisted sailors and marines.

Those accepted into the program receive full pay and benefits of their pay grades while going to school for their BSN. MECP students may use their Montgomery G.I. Bill as well as other outside financial assistance to pay for schooling.

Once accepted in the program your enlisted obligation will extend to cover the period of schooling and you must serve a minimum of 10 years as an officer to be eligible for retirement pay.

For more information on MECP, visit https://www.med.navy.mil

Seaman to Admiral-21 (STA-21) Program
The STA-21 Program is an opportunity for outstanding active-duty Sailors to receive a top-notch college education and become commissioned officers. STA-21 keeps participants on active duty at their current enlisted pay grade so that they receive all the pay, allowances, benefits, and privileges while still being eligible for enlisted advancement. Time spent in school will count towards pay purposes but not retirement. Sailors will receive up to $10,000 per year to cover tuition, books, and fees but they will pay any costs above $10,000 per year. Participants attending inexpensive universities that do not require use of the entire $10,000 for any year will not be able to keep the difference.

The selection process is based upon the applicant's history of fleet performance with emphasis placed on the identification of those applicants who possess the academic and leadership potential necessary to become outstanding Naval officers.

For more information on STA-21, visit https://www.netc.navy.mil

FOR CURRENTLY SERVING NAVY NURSE CORPS OFFICERS

Nurse Corps Graduate Program:
Graduate education is one of the many requirements to advance your career in the Nurse Corps. Officers may obtain a graduate degree on their own time through the tuition assistance program or apply for Full Time Duty Under Instruction (DUINS).

DUINS offers the opportunity to attend school on a full-time basis at no personal cost while receiving all benefits, pay and allowances of their paygrade. Officers must have a minimum of two years’ commissioned experience to apply. Depending upon the degree applied for, students may attend one of three military service schools: Naval Post Graduate School, Monterey California, Army Baylor, Waco, Texas, and The Uniformed Services University, Bethesda MD.

Students not in the degree fields provided by service schools may select a nationally accredited civilian college and universities leading to the requested subspecialty code.

The NC Graduate Programs also provides program management for perioperative nurse training for active-duty Navy NC officers that occurs outside of the DUINS process.

If you are interested in joining the Navy Nurse Corps, please fill out the contact information at: https://www.navy.com/contact-us

Bureau of Medicine and Surgery
7700 Arlington Blvd. Ste. 5113 Falls Church, VA 22042-5113
This is an official U.S. Navy website
This is a Department of Defense (DoD) Internet computer system.

General Navy Medical Inquiries (to Bureau of Medicine and Surgery): usn.ncr.bumedfchva.list.bumed---pao@health.mil