Med/Vet-to-BSN Option Now Offered at the College of Nursing

A new Med/Vet-to-BSN Option is now being offered at the College of Nursing thanks to Assistant Professor Frances Hardin-Fanning, PhD, RN, who received a Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) grant for military veterans interested in nursing careers.

The College is one of only 20 nursing programs in the nation to receive HRSA funding for a veterans’ educational option of this kind. The $627,000 grant is a three-year project that aims to recruit and transition an estimated 25 to 50 veterans with military medical training into the civilian nursing workforce by 2018. The College intends to use existing and newly developed academic and non-academic resources within the BSN Program and strengthen partnerships with valued on-campus collaborators as well as veterans’ organizations throughout Kentucky.

According to Dr. Hardin-Fanning, five student veterans began their studies this fall as an additional cohort with second-degree option students.

“These student veterans are older, have had careers and bring life experiences and training with them that are unique,” she said.

Anthony Dotson, MS, MMAS, BBA, was still in uniform in 2006 when he came to Kentucky from Syracuse University to become commander of UK’s ROTC program. His hope was to recruit ROTC cadets for our nursing program as successfully as he did at Syracuse.

“I love talking to nursing students,” he says. “They have more in common with veterans and military folks than they even realize.”

One such Nursing student, Damien Enzenbacher, joined the Army right out of high school and spent four years in active service, including time on a tank crew just miles from the demilitarized zone in South Korea and a year in Iraq with a unit of Army Scouts. Enzenbacher also served in the National Guard for four years.

“I needed to take a few years off and build up an income settle down from Iraq and just reintegrate myself back into civilian life,” he said.

At age 29, Enzenbacher is now married with a son and another child on the way. He is looking forward to graduation coming up soon.

College of Nursing Dean Janie Heath, PhD, APRN-BC, FAAN, not only grew up in a military family but also raised one herself as the wife of a now retired military officer.

“Men and women who put on a uniform, that’s an honor in itself,” said Dr. Heath. “For them to have an opportunity to join what I consider the most noble profession there is makes this new opportunity to help our veterans become part of the nursing workforce really very special.”