Downsizing Military Medicine

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Specializes in Psychiatry.

Hey, for those of you with your ear to the rails, any word on force reduction in nursing?

I read an article recently about restructuring the military to utilize personnel in more combat related positions. I infer that means privatizing healthcare to a contractor.

Any knowledge?

My recruiter isn't really aware or isn't saying but my career field OML'd last year while I was waiting for a medical waiver (which I got for a late 30s gent). Trying for army RESERVE 66R. Some federal service, 7 collective years nursing experience with 4 years as a Psych NP.

Thanks team.

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The little bit I’ve heard & read is that it’ll be a force reduction of 10-15k. They will fill the spots with civilian workers. Their drive will be focused on building the ICU, OR & CRNA numbers.

There doesn’t seem to be a lot of information out there.

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Specializes in Psychiatry.
8 minutes ago, Spring624 said:

The little bit I’ve heard & read is that it’ll be a force reduction of 10-15k. They will fill the spots with civilian workers. Their drive will be focused on building the ICU, OR & CRNA numbers.

There doesn’t seem to be a lot of information out there.

Thanks for the update. I'm pretty positive I won't get selected this fall at which time I'll hang it up forever (unless I could magically go to crna school as a psych NP lol).

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44 minutes ago, PMHNP Man said:

Thanks for the update. I'm pretty positive I won't get selected this fall at which time I'll hang it up forever (unless I could magically go to crna school as a psych NP lol).

Talk is talk. My unit has new med-surg nurses coming every month I’ve been there, (& supposedly they’ll reduce their numbers first) so until it’s actually implemented & your packet looks good there’s always a possibility. Good luck to you!

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Specializes in Operating room, ER, Home Health.

I work at an Army hospital and what we have heard the positions being eliminated are ones is that do not have a job in a deployed setting, ie OB nurses, pediatric doctors etc.

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Specializes in NP / USAFR Flight Nurse.
6 hours ago, Jeckrn1 said:

I work at an Army hospital and what we have heard the positions being eliminated are ones is that do not have a job in a deployed setting, ie OB nurses, pediatric doctors etc.

Im commissioning as a flight nurse and when I questioned my recruiter about it this is what I was told as well. Also, that it is approx 10K jobs.

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Specializes in Adult Critical Care.

The issue with the proposed medical force reduction is that congress hasn't yet approved the funds to hire new civilians to replace the lost military medical personnel. Any cuts are far from final. That

The overall concept makes sense. I personally get very annoyed with OB or peds or NICU nurses who inevitably deploy as adult med-surg nurses; they typically have a very steep learning curve in their new roles. The providers, technicians, and nurses in these specialties are clearly the low-hanging fruit in any force reduction.

I really am not sure about psych NP numbers specifically.

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I too have read this article. From the looks of things, i have very similar credentials as you and had recently looked in to Air Force Reserve. When i spoke to the recruiter, i had not disclosed my exact specialty, other than being an NP. He looked into my region and said there were no current medical openings in Colorado or NM. He suggested i contact the Air Natl Guard recruiter to see what availability they had, so i put in an inquiry. I'm hoping to hear back from them soon; however, i am not feeling confident about open positions at this point.

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Specializes in Psychiatry.
45 minutes ago, tacoma_jim said:

I too have read this article. From the looks of things, i have very similar credentials as you and had recently looked in to Air Force Reserve. When i spoke to the recruiter, i had not disclosed my exact specialty, other than being an NP. He looked into my region and said there were no current medical openings in Colorado or NM. He suggested i contact the Air Natl Guard recruiter to see what availability they had, so i put in an inquiry. I'm hoping to hear back from them soon; however, i am not feeling confident about open positions at this point.

I've never had any positive contact with any form of air force recruiter. Many guard, both air and army, units (probably most) lack positions for nurse practitioners as well as nurses. Let us know what you find out.

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Forgot to mention that i did receive swift email reply from an inquiry i had submitted to an Army Recruiter. They replied with...

Incentives for USAR Direct Commission:
* Special Pay: $25,000 per year, participants must choose 2, 3 or 4 years * HPLRP: $50,000 for 3 years ($20,$20, $10)

Specialized Training Assistance Program (STRAP) MSN STRAP is available for Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Programs. Participants receive a monthly stipend, currently $2330.78. Participants incur a 1 year obligation in the Reserves for each 6 months or less of financial assistance and must serve in the Reserves upon completion of training."

Of course, they did not specify if/where this position is currently available, but i did appreciate the rapid response, so they may still be hiring for Psych NPs. Admittedly, my preference was Air Force Reserve; however, i may look into it this.

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Specializes in Psychiatry.
7 minutes ago, tacoma_jim said:

Forgot to mention that i did receive swift email reply from an inquiry i had submitted to an Army Recruiter. They replied with...

Incentives for USAR Direct Commission:
* Special Pay: $25,000 per year, participants must choose 2, 3 or 4 years * HPLRP: $50,000 for 3 years ($20,$20, $10)

Specialized Training Assistance Program (STRAP) MSN STRAP is available for Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Programs. Participants receive a monthly stipend, currently $2330.78. Participants incur a 1 year obligation in the Reserves for each 6 months or less of financial assistance and must serve in the Reserves upon completion of training."

Of course, they did not specify if/where this position is currently available, but i did appreciate the rapid response, so they may still be hiring for Psych NPs. Admittedly, my preference was Air Force Reserve; however, i may look into it this.

Is that for FY 20 or fy19?

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