What did you do during summer break?
WSU College of Nursing students Brianne Harder and Nick Castro worked in the largest military hospital outside the United States – Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany – learning clinical skills and getting an idea of the responsibilities they’ll take on as Army Nurse Corps Officers.
Harder and Castro are ROTC cadets. After they graduate from the College of Nursing in May they’ll be commissioned as 2nd Lieutenants in the U.S. Army, where both envision careers as Army nurses.
They were chosen to participate in the month-long Nurse Summer Training Program at Landstuhl with cadets from around the country. They work with preceptors on 12-hour shifts, Harder in labor and delivery and Castro in the ICU. One of their mentors at Landstuhl is 2nd Lt. Jaclyn Sison, a 2016 BSN graduate from the WSU College of Nursing. All the cadets will produce a group project at the end of the internship. “Then we can spend the rest of our time traveling and seeing Germany,” Harder said via email.
After they’re commissioned and pass the NCLEX exam, they’ll be sent to Fort Sam Houston in Texas for the Army’s Basic Officer Leader Course. They’ll work for two years in Med/Surg before moving on to their specialties of choice – ICU for Castro and either Peds or ER for Harder.
Both Harder and Castro said being involved in ROTC has been gratifying.
Said Castro, “ROTC has provided me with opportunities to grow as a person and as a future nurse for the United States Army.”
