PNP09

Hello... A couple of questions: do you have any military experience and how much nursing experience do you have? Many who will reply will be people with a lot of active duty time, which presents a significantly different experience in terms of salary and job satisfaction. If you have any prior service time, that can count toward a higher pay rate for you. The Navy will not give you pay entry base credit for your civilian experience, so you will essentially come in with zero years of service. This has an impact on how you compare salaries with your civilian counterparts. I have heard from many longtime Navy nurse practitioners that they make far more than their civilian counterparts, but most of them started out in the Navy as new nurses and were sent back to school by the Navy. Which means that they have more time credited for pay and rank and little to no student loan debt. Its a pretty sweet deal if you did it that way. I will tell you what it is like for those who come in direct accession. No student loan repayment on your first commitment and no RN-ISP on your first commitment. Those items are meant to be used for retention purposes. They will evaluate the amount of time that you have practiced as an RN with a Bachelor's degree and divide that in half (example 8years as a BSN, 4 years credit). They will give you 100 percent credit for the time you spent in your full time ARNP Program. If you were an ADN for 10 years and just got your BSN, you get no credit and will likely lose money. They were offering RN sign on bonuses and you can probably qualify for one of those. I don't mean to sound focused on the pay, because the service aspect is so very important and something I consider to be invaluable, however, it is something you must consider. They typically want you to move every 3 years. Your job is obviously the care of military dependents, but there will be collateral duties as well. You are deployable as a PNP, probably more for humanitarian efforts. But also as a nurse, although that probably isn't likely. Military life has positives and negatives, it really depends on you and what you need. Do you have a family? How old are your children? What kind of work does your spouse do? Do you want to commit to full time? The PNP field is very specialized and used at specific locations. There is another post by a Navy PNP named Tim (actually a response to my own similar question) that gives a good list of the places where PNPs are used as well as other useful information. I would suggest that you find a PNP that is able to let you shadow them... For more than a few hours, probably at least a week. That way you can see not only the clinical aspect, but any other expectations that there may be. It allows you to really evaluate the kind of fit that it would be for you. If it isn't, you could always work in an MTF As a civilian contractor and still provide that service to the valued military members and their dependents without the impact of moving, etc on your family. It can be difficult to find jobs in these economic times for spouses. Best wishes! I hope this reply doesn't come too late! Really do your homework! Get what you are worth!

Thank you so much! That is wonderful that he is graduating, I pray for the same successes for my son. I hadn't considered that the base size might affect his services, but I guess it makes sense. I know that in the civilian world, more autism services are available in the larger cities as well. Do you have any information as to how difficult it is to utilize civilian providers if you are at a smaller base?

Thanks, it does. With autism we have basically had no coverage for any of the therapies that are critical for autistic children (Speech, OT, ABA). I pay out of pocket for anything that we do outside of the public school system. Our insurance company hasn't gotten on board with covering services for autistic children. Looking over Tricare, it seems that the military has programs available, I just wondered how easy they were to access and if there were exhaustive waiting lists. Thanks for your input!

I am interested in the experiences of any military families (medical or nonmedical) with special need children related to health care services provided, accessibility of programs, education, or anything else. I am considering a career in advanced practice nursing in the AF or Navy and have an autistic child. I want to know how the services/coverage provided by Tricare compares with those available in the civilian world. Also, how do you view the effect of military life on your child/children. Any input is appreciated! Thanks!

Thank you for the information (and for what to expect).

I will graduate in August. So I have to pass board certification after that. My background is OB as well (mostly L/D). Thanks anyway, I'll just see if he emails me back. Good luck on your interview!

I can tell you that my recruiter stated "We do deploy." He said approx every 15 months several job areas are selected with certain numbers for each position (hope you can understand what I mean), for example, I will be a Pediatric NP, so they may need 5 of them (just an example, I have no idea), and if they get 5 volunteers right away, then the slots are full, but if they don't and its my turn, I go. That being said, I know that there are probably different areas that you would deploy to depending on your specialty (critical care, pediatrics, OB, etc). But I have very little information as I am still trying to decide. So, to those of you who have more experience... does that sound accurate?

I have been trying to decide between the AF and Navy. I have met with an AF recruiter and have all of the forms to start, the Navy has not been easy to make contact with. I have been leaning more toward the AF as it was something that I wanted to do right out of high school and didn't (married a Marine instead). Do you know where you want to be stationed initially? If you don't mind me asking, and I know this may sound stupid, did you fill in the forms and then print them or print them and fill them out? I emailed my recruiter but haven't heard back yet. If selected, I will actually be going in as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, so it will kind of be a new role for me altogether. Good luck with the rest of your process! I'd love to hear when you get a COT date. Thanks!

Congratulations on your carrer goals! I share your passion for helping families with autism. I am a nurse with about 7 years L/D experience but my passion turned to autism when my son was diagnosed. It is a difficult journey that families experience as you said. I decided to pursue my passion by way of an advanced practice degree as a pediatric nurse practitioner. When I started at my first clinical site, I shared this with the providers and the owner of the practice called around and arranged a clinical experience for my with a Developmental Specialist this summer (start next month!). I live in Central Florida and am also aware of the lack of Autism Specialists. It seems that you must be in a larger city to find such providers. I will be working with one in Orlando this summer, I think that my current preceptor knew of 2 in the area. More resources are becoming available, finally. Just out of curiosity, is South Carolina lacking when it comes to autism services? I had considered moving there. Also, there is a conference in Hilton Head, SC next month offered through Hackensack University with 3 days focused on Developmental Issues and Autism which is geared toward pediatric providers. Good luck, and thank you for caring enough to want to help those so desperately in need of understanding.

I can sympathize with you in that I am on the same side of it as you are (considering it with a family...of 6!). I really benefitted from reading your post and all of the responses. I know a lot of people don't support the idea that I am even considering a military career. But like you, I have always wanted to. I think that it offers to our children a good example (which is generally our goal as parents) of responsibility and, of course, service to our country. It also exposes them to new experiences. Have you started the process yet?

I graduate with my MSN as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner August 09. I am looking into both the Air Force and the Navy, trying to decide which would be best for me. I would love any information from any PNP's in either branch regarding their military career and what to expect as far as assignments, pay, COT training, processing time as well as job satisfaction. Also, I will be certifying as a Primary Care pediatric nurse practitioner, and that is where my training is. I have not trained in a PICU and want to be sure that I won't be expected to function as an Acute Care PNP. Does this happen? I have a former AF nurse tell me that it was possible. One more thing (and I know that there may not be any info on this), I am particularly interested in autistic spectrum disorders and developmental pediatrics. I know opportunities may not be available initially, but is there any possibility later down the road to focus on this in the military that you know of? (Are there any new programs, etc) Again, any information would be greatly appreciated! Also, did any one else have trouble contacting recruiters and getting follow up? Thanks again!