AFIT For Acute Care Nurse Practioner

[jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA]

I'm currently a med-surg nurse for the Air Force. I've looked into Geriatric/Acute Care NP programs, and they generally don't seem to require ICU experience. I'm interested in attending a NP program via AFIT and working in a hospitalist role for the Air Force after graduation. I've seen NPs fill this role, but many of them have a critical care background. Can anyone tell me if it is possible to do it with my background (which will likely be 3 years of med-surg and 2 years of PACU by the time I would hypothetically start grad school).

[SunnyNP]

Acute Care Nurse Practitioner here. It's not impossible to go the route your considering. My background was critical care and I would recommend strengthening your ACLS/ATLS as well as completing a FCCS course. A lot of my job is ventilator management and invasive procedures/ Central line placement. Not sure you would get this on a Hospitalist Service. I work primarily with Intensivists and Pulmonary Critical Care docs.

[jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA]

Do you work for the military? It seems like there are so few bases with real critical care units, that there wouldn't be much of a need for acute care NPs. I'm concerned that I'm going to do acute care NP and be thrown in a clinic.