Applying in the military

Specialties NP

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Any NP here applied to the military? I'm somewhat interested but I honestly do NOT want to do any running, climbing, basic training, or weapons training. Also would I be relocated all the time? I'm told that recruiters don't tell the truth so I'm hoping someone here would know more.

It sound like you misunderstand what the military is. Nurses and other healthcare providers in the military are soldiers/sailors/airmem first and HCPs second. If that's not something you can sign on for, the military is really not the place for you despite some of the nice financial benefits available. There are occasionally civilian nurses hired to work in military facilities however I've never know of any such positions other than staff RNs but I could be wrong there. Even these civilian jobs are more rare due to higher recruitment of enlisted nurses and sequestration.

Yes, you totally misunderstand the military. Your position in the military is to be ready, physically and mentally, to deploy wherever they want you. I'm now a civilian military contractor, a PMHNP, and that is probably more to your liking. The military can't hire enough nurses so relies heavily on civilian nurses. In our behavioral health dept of about 50 people we have a few military medics, 1 psychiatrist, 1 social worker, and the 2 dept heads. Everyone else is a civilian. We have a huge new hospital which is not yet finished and they are talking about having no inpatient, or very limited inpatient beds, due to lack of nurses. The trouble with military folks in a dept is that they are always being pulled away for meetings or training so you can't rely on them being there. The group practice manager of our dept is also a civilian.

Ditto to what the PPs said. If you're not willing to participate in physical training (to include running), basic soldiering training (weapons, land nav, urban warfare, etc) and frequent moves--to include deployments--, the military is not for you.

You are a soldier first*, nurse second.

(or, y'know, sailor/airman/whatever service you're joining)

I don't know about any of the most recent wars, but nurses in Vietnam came under fire and some were killed. Course that can happen at any hospital.

Specializes in Home Health, Podiatry, Neurology, Case Mgmt.

My MIL is an RN in the military, and my husband is a medically retired veteran due to injuries he received in combat. That being said, as others have mentioned you are a service member FIRST and nurse/NP LAST...you have to do all the basic training and then advanced training as an officer (usually go in as a Captain), your best bet would be to speak to a recruit and find out what is offered, you can do active duty and/or reserves (my MIL is reservse- 2 wk summer, every other wkend and of course if her combat CASH (hospital/medical group) deploys she does too.

If that is not to your liking but you would like to work WITH service members and/or veterans, you should look at your local VA and/or military treatment facilities to work as a CIVILIAN! you can go to usa jobs dot gov to see local open positions and there usually are several NP and RN positions availilbe and some that offer relocation expenses as well.

Specializes in pediatrics.

From what I understand, in the Active Duty Air Force side, Family NPs are the workhorses in the clinics, and they deploy. Peds NPs again are workhorses BUT no deployments- as of yet... they only send one pediatrician down range for the ICU/ward. And Mental Health NPs get an HOUR to spend with their patients, and from what I've heard, they absolutely love it. They deploy, but honestly, combat stress is the most relaxing place in the whole hospital (at least when I visited, haha)!

Running will become your life, unless you get a profile and get it renewed (by some scumbag doc that doesn't care) for the rest of your service commitment. And really, it's the push-ups/sit-ups that kill PT tests.

As a commissioned officer there's a sad little "boot camp", but nothing to cry over.

Weapons training is badd@ss and required for deployments (there you carry a weapon on you 24/7). Believe me you- nothing is as terrifying as seeing medical folks pull perimeter duty, but it's even MORE terrifying if they don't know their weapon and don't want to know it.

And depending on your service commitment- maybe you wouldn't relocate ALL that often... and it would depend on what type of NP you are. OR if you have a special needs child- they'd have to be near services, so you'd be stuck there too.

Definitely do some soul-searching! It's a wonderful job to be in if you love it, or it will make your life miserable. Attitude is important, but don't convince yourself you're something you're not. It's really not for everyone. Good luck! :)

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