New NP in the military

Specialties Government

Published

Hi all,

I am about to graduate as a new FNP and will enter active duty service in the Air Force. I have to first attend officer training and then I'm off to my first base assignment at the end of the summer. I wanted to ask all the Air Force NPs out there to please share any experiences they've had, especially deployments. I know being deployed overseas is pretty much a sure thing at some point and I am curious as to the role of the NP in Afghanistan or Iraq. I am also hoping for a solid clinical education during my first tour and hope that the mentorship will help me in my training. Any experiences along those lines is also welcome. I am both nervous and excited about this huge change and I would love any and all input. Thanks!

Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.

Yes indeed ... when I'm whining about driving during the Virginia winter (which was, admittedly, much snowier this year!), I think about my bro in his big brown non-4-wheel-drive UPS-mobile, and I shut up. :D

Despite no real love for ginormous amounts of snow, I am not crossing Alaska off of my "places I'd like to be stationed at some point" list. :) My brother loves it there.

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Specializes in Anesthesia.
Yes indeed ... when I'm whining about driving during the Virginia winter (which was, admittedly, much snowier this year!), I think about my bro in his big brown non-4-wheel-drive UPS-mobile, and I shut up. :D

Despite no real love for ginormous amounts of snow, I am not crossing Alaska off of my "places I'd like to be stationed at some point" list. :) My brother loves it there.

The drive here in the winter isn't that bad except for early mornings sometimes before the snow plow trucks come by. I would expect that the UPS trucks use studded tires like most people around here during the winter. It makes driving a lot easier. As far as snow goes we got around 60" or so this winter.

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You guys are making me want to go there next :)

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You guys are making me want to go there next :)

We'll go together. We'll make it an allnurses invasion. :)

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Specializes in Anesthesia.
We'll go together. We'll make it an allnurses invasion. :)

Oh man....I am in trouble now....:lol2:

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Specializes in FNP-C.

I spoke to a Army active duty healthcare recruiter yesterday. She said NP billets are closed until the next "fiscal" year which starts in this October. I put "fiscal" in quotes because I forgot what she named it. Also, theres only one slot open this coming October for the Army. Is this just for Hawaii or the Nation? Well anyway, I'm not graduating until August 2011 so hopefully more slots will open up. They said paperwork and stuff to get accepted, etc, takes about 2 months! This is fairly quick considering the AF and Navy told me that they take about 1 year. :eek:

However, my main goal is to get into the Air Force active duty, but I've been having bad luck staying in contact with the only health care recruiter in the Pacific Basin (Hawaii). Very difficult to contact. I met with the AF recruiter in Spring 2009 and she tried to get me into the AF with my BSN to NTP but dam, I got into the FNP program here and couldn't pass up the opportunity to finish up school to obtain my goal of becoming an FNP. Ever since then, my friend contacted her a month ago and said she was just ridiculously bombarded with work and recruitment of healthcare professionals of all fields. :eek: I called many times maybe once a week and still no call back or return emails. I'll just wait till I'm nearly finished within 6 months of my FNP program I guess? :confused:

I'm willing to be patient now since I realized that the AF is where I want to go. My uncle is a retired a Lt. Colonel in the AF reserves (Navy during Vietnam war) and he influenced me into joining the service. I don't expect to become rich, I just know that the military will take care of me if I take care of them to live a comfortable life. So when they tell you that there's only lets say, 1 slot open for FNPs this coming year, do they mean just from that location or the nation? Thanks everyone.

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My recruiter made it sound like there were numerous spots for fnp's. We'll probably never know the exact numbers. Start the application process at least 1 year before graduation.

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I am looking into the AF HPSP as I'm about to begin my MSN program. The recruiter I spoke with told me it was realistic to have the entire scholarship process complete in 2-3 months. Has anyone else heard this? If there are any active duty FNP's online, could you please share your experiences. What's day to day life like? How many extra duties do you have outside of your main clinic/hospital job? Thanks

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Star76 is the only AD FNP on here that I've found. Page 3 she wrote about her experience. WCBCRNA also wrote about his role as a CRNA on page 5 including extra duties, etc. I'll be an FNP leaving for COT in August. Check back because I promise to update everyone. I would think it would take at least 2-3 months. The boards move a little slow and there is a lot of paperwork. To be eligible for the scholarship you probably have to go to MEPS too (get a physical). I don't think they would want to give a scholarship to someone who won't qualify physically. But good luck. Better to get started and eventually get it.

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hi mikefnp. i am in the af hpsp program working towards my fnp. i began the application process in may 2009 and took the oath january 21, 2010. the application process is lengthy but if you start now you should have no problem getting everything done by the start of the next fiscal year (october 2010). i think this is the best time to get your application in so it can be reviewed at the first boards of the year. i don't know how many fnp hpsp students they take every year but i imagine it's not very many.

there is a lot to complete including; the application (includes essay type questions, goal statements, info regarding your background, etc.), meps physical, interviews with a chief nursing officer and np, and then the waiting.

your recruiter is a major part of how fast things get done. the day i met with my recruiter he had me fill out paperwork to get the ball rolling. he also wanted me to go to meps the next day! at that point i was just collecting information so i waited to go until late june. i had my interviews in august and then my packet went to the november boards. i found out that i was accepted in december but at that point they need to process all of the info so, i couldn't take the oath until january.

i began school in august 2009 but the af did not cover any of my tuition/books until the spring semester since i did not commission until january.

i hope this helps.

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I was wondering if anyone in the AF might be able to private message me or post some general data on NP needs of the AF, is this an area of surplus and demand is quickly reached or still an area they actively have to recruit to meet the mission needs.

v/r

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Thanks Melissa and Shapely for the input. Melissa, I would love to hear more about the process and any recommendations you might have as I go down the application path. Any more tips would be appreciated! thanks again

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