Students' experiences with military nurses as faculty

The United States Army Nurse Corps (ANC) and the University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMDSON) formed a partnership to address the nursing faculty shortage. Six ANC officers served as full-time faculty at the UMDSON for a 2-year period. Given that the student experience is central to the context of learning, the purpose of this study was to describe the experience of the students who interacted with ANC officers. Using a descriptive phenomenological approach, 14 nursing students participated in open-ended, in-depth, audiotaped interviews. Although the students had preconceived ideas about ANC officers as faculty, following engagement with the officers, the students reported many positive attributes of having ANC officers as clinical instructors and an enlightened understanding of the role of the military in today's world. The findings of this study indicate that the use of ANC officers is a plausible solution to the ongoing nursing shortage.