Cadet Nurse Detachment

Our Cadets who are enrolled in the School of Nursing are also assigned to the Cadet Nurse Detachment. Being in the Detachment enhances their nursing education by providing unique leadership and management training along with the practical experience needed for success, either in the Army, or in a civilian careers. Cadets focus primarily on obtaining their nursing degrees while being afforded the opportunity to participate in military activities offered by the Corps. The Army Nurse Cadet Detachment conducts visits to Army hospitals to provide future Army Nurse officers with a better understanding of the work environment that they will enter after graduating from the University of North Georgia.

It is very challenging to be a nurse Cadet at the University of North Georgia. Those who successfully make it through the program proudly commission as second lieutenants and become nurses in the Regular Army, Army national Guard, or US Army Reserve.

Being a nurse in the Army has it's rewards and benefits:

• Starting salary is $55,000 per year.
• 30 days of paid vacation every year.
• You pay no health insurance.
• You pay nothing into a retirement plan, but can retire in 20 years and immediately start receiving retirement pay.
• You get promoted faster and assume positions of increasing responsibility as an Army nurse much faster than in the civilian world.
• You get fully-funded nurse specialty training as a nurse lieutenant.
• You get promoted twice within four years after you graduate college. Four years after college you will be an Army captain making $89,000 per year.
• 80% of Army nurse captains who desire a masters degree in nursing get selected for a fully-funded master's program.
• You get to serve your country in uniform while also serving the Army's soldiers and families.

How do I become an Army Nurse while attending the University of North Georgia?

• After your junior year of high school, apply for admission to the University of North Georgia as a Cadet.
• Enroll in the Corps of Cadets in the pre-nursing program.
• In the Fall Semester, inform the Professor of Military Science (PMS) that you want to be an Army nurse.
• The PMS will provide you with instructions on how to compete for a slot in the School of Nursing. The PMS is allocated five slots in the School of Nursing for Cadets who want to be Army nurses. You will compete with other Cadets who are also interested in those five slots. The PMS will make his or her selection in January.
• If you are selected for a nurse Cadet slot, you will start year one, associate of nursing degree program, the following fall.
• Contract with the PMS to commission as an Army nurse at the beginning of your second year at the University of North Georgia.
• You will complete your ASN (associate's of nursing) in two years, then take the NCLEX (the exam required to become a Registered Nurse).
• You will then take three or more semesters of nursing to get your BSN (bachelor's in nursing).
• The summer before your last year or semester, you will attend the Leadership Development and Assessment Course (LDAC) at Ft Lewis, Washington with thousands of other Cadets who are about to enter their senior year of college. You will also do the Nurse Summer Training Program (NSTP) where you will go to a major Army hospital and practice nursing alongside regular Army nurses for a couple of weeks.
• On the day you graduate from the University of North Georgia, you will receive your commission as an Army nurse lieutenant along with your BSN.
• From there, you will go to the Army's nurse training school for a few months at Ft. Sam Houston, TX.
• After that, you will be assigned to a major Army post hospital as an Army nurse and start on your career.