With the national nursing shortage and nearly 195,000 openings for registered nurses each year, now may be the ideal time for veterans to enter the field.
Many skills learned through active duty military service — such as decision-making, working under pressure, and adaptability — are highly transferable to a nursing career, said Laura Jonsson, senior vice president of operations at Arizona College of Nursing.
“The nursing workforce is expected to grow by six percent from now until 2032,” she said. “It is recession-proof. There are global opportunities because of the aging population. That leads to definite job security.”
When most people think of nurses, they think of those who can be found at a patient’s bedside. But there’s more to nursing than that, Jonsson said.
“What’s transpiring in health care is moving patients to their home as soon as possible or even trying to prevent hospitalizations in the first place by treating them in the home,” she said.
Nurses can also be found working in private medical practices, in schools and in other institutions.
“There are so many variables open as a career,” Jonsson said. “I can’t think of any other career that offers such diversity and opportunity.”
The majority of AZCN’s students are working adults who are looking to make a career change, just like those who are transitioning to the military, she continued.
“In the military, you have this sense of family, you build these bonds because of the experiences and deployments you have together and it's very much the same in nursing,” Jonsson said.
Jonsson noted that a career in nursing provides both longevity and stability.
“You can spend 10, 20, 30 years and not do the same thing the entire time, but you’re still a nurse, just like the military,” she said. “You can travel to different places, you have different skill sets that you develop.”
AZCN students can complete their nursing degrees in as little as 2.5 to 3 years and military experience can be turned into college course credit.
“Every day, you are touching someone’s life and making an impact, even if you don’t even know it in the moment, you are impacting someone’s life,” Jonsson said. “All of your heart and caring can go into this career, just as it does with the military.”
Veterans Affairs educational benefits can be used to cover the cost of nursing school and Johnson said AZCN offers specialized assistance to help veterans navigate their VA benefits and beyond.
“We have veterans groups at our individual campuses that provide peer support,” she added.
To learn more about Arizona College of Nursing, visit here.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.