New Fiscal Year Decisions

[New1LT]

I just found out that options for new nurses has closed for FY11. The Army is no longer going to have the RN to BSN STRAP program. They are no longer going to accept new grads or 66H without a critical care identifier. I never realized in a million years that the Army would be over capacity for RNs.

[Cursed Irishman]

And you found this out where?

[SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN]

As the above poster asked, where did you hear this information??? I was told by my recruiter that no one will know of the benefits and programs to be offered for F11 until about September. Was your recruiter already notified?

[New1LT]

I talked to my recruiter yesterday because I, like most everyone else on here, am waiting for October boards. I was asking him how the board process was going to happen seeing that I've already gone through them and am in the Reserves. So he was telling me about the process and then proceeded to tell me that he just got back from Ft. Knox where he was TDY for 2 wks and they were discussing their missions and found out that new grad 66H or 66H with little to no experience were not going to be put through. He was basically told that if he had any packets that he was going to send up with these qualifications to not even bother. The discussion was that FY11 missions are for specialty nursing (Critical Care, Psych, OB/GYN, OR, ER, etc.). Like I said before, this is crazy sounding to me. I never realized there were so many nurses attempting to enter or re-enter the Army. I felt horrible because all I do is listen to everyone on here talk about how they've already waited a year and now this. How is this going to affect them? He also said that with all the applicants that do have identifiers that FY11 may even be closed for them after the first quarter. WOW!!

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

I've been told that the M5/ER is very tight, too. There are no guarantees, even with experience, my CEN, and a 4.0 GPA. The best my recruiter can tell me is that I'm very competitive.

[New1LT]

I've been told that the M5/ER is very tight, too. There are no guarantees, even with experience, my CEN, and a 4.0 GPA. The best my recruiter can tell me is that I'm very competitive.

I know! That's why I'm stressed!! All I can do is hope that I, like you, will look favorable with my past military experience, my 4.0, my CEN, my M5 with experience, & my current commission in the Reserves. Like I said, I never in a million years expected this process to be so difficult. They couldn't get me sworn in fast enough last time. I know it was years ago, but one could wish!!! I guess I will stick to my Reserve schedule with OBLC in Nov and starting the first phase of the Captain's Course after OBLC is complete. I can only hope that during that time I get selected for Active duty. Good luck to you Lunah!!! This has been a long hull and I wish you the best and hope that maybe in the near future we can meet in uniform on Active duty!!!

[just_cause, BSN, RN]

... from my 2nd hand info that is correct and the total slots available are far less then last year... over strength.. high retention... despite many qualified applicants.

[jgcadet]

Man that's unfortunate and disappointing ...I am glad I did ROTC when I could to lock down that AD spot.

[SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN]

ok, maybe i am being a little too optimistic with post but here goes... has anyone noticed that there is a huge drop in interest on this forum to join the army compared to this time last year? last year, when i started the process of applying, i noticed as many threads related to the army as i do currently of the navy and af. in fact, now... we are a small group (the same few posters) waiting for boards.

with that said, has it dawned on anyone that maybe people/applicants are being turned away in droves and have been turned away for quite some time? i do not mean by those of us on this forum. i mean by healthcare recruiters.

mission is everything in the military!!! if the ops conversation occurred, there is no way i believe that our recruiters (whose mission includes the recruitment and retention of nurses) just found out the mission for f11. yes, i concede that it is possible that they may have formally been told the new criteria and some may even formally find out in a month or two. however, everyone knows that when something is coming down the pipeline in the military scuttlebutt precedes official announcements and is usually correct (somewhat). therefore, i propose the following scenario:

in anticipation of the new fiscal year 2011, our recruiters have weeded out applicants on his/her own since last fall. for instance, my recruiting office does not have many rn applicants getting ready for boards. in fact, since last year very few went up for boards. speaking logically, there is no way with the given interest in joining the army at this time (and the economy) that there is only a few of us within an entire state who is willing to complete a packet to submit to boards. yet, only a handful went up for boards last year and only a handful will go up this coming year.

thus, if i am correct, relax. those of us still waiting actually have a chance. those of us still waiting were the ones our recruiters selected to complete the process because we are the best ones to go boards. good luck, god bless, stay motivated!

[jeckrn, BSN, RN]

Sounds good in theory since recruiters do not want to put in a lot of work on a packet only to have it rejected. Since they do not only recruit nurses they can focus more on the other professionals they need to recruit.

[just_cause, BSN, RN]

... assuming that since there are few slots that they would not all be designated to lean towards nurses with experience as there are still plenty of applicants.... with experience and no experience alike.

[jgcadet]

That makes sense, but I would assume that the air force and navy would long will fill up before the army. Traditionally, the army has more slots and the other branches seem to fill up faster regardless of job or mos (because of the (technical fields both of those branches offer).