Day in the Life of a Flight Nurse

I will be doing the ride along next month, and I am so nervous. The flight crew works 24 hrs on and 3 days off. So I will be with them for 24 hours. Eventually I would love to be a pediatric flight nurse.

I will tell you all about it. We might not even have any cases. But they said, if we don't get to fly out, I can pick another day to stay with them. All I know is that it will be in May. They didn't tell me the day yet.

Jen,
I also am on the course to become a flight nurse too. Ride along done, COMPLETLY AWSOME!!!! Most of the programs require dual licensure as far as rn/emt or rn/emt-p because flight is considered pre-hospital, and nurses, as far as I have been told can't do pre-hospital on just their license because we don't have the transport. (could be wrong though). Any how the program I am wanting to work for some day requires 5 years critical care/er with 2 years of it pediatric, 5 years as a nurse and the dual license rn/emt-p. I acutally just finished the emt course this week, and take national registry sometime next month, hopefully. Creighton in NE offers nurse to emt and rn to emt-p programs, I plan on taking the paramedic part in the fall. Good Luck in your quest! And get in for a ride along

p.s. also read book "trauma Junkie", Great! book couldn't put it down!

well jenna, the dual licenseure, RN/EMT-P im sure really depends on the agency you work for. We have quite a few RN's that were not medics first and are still not medics.. i guess it just depends on your state, and your agency.. either way.. i wish you the best of luck..
oh... and if you have never been in a helicopter before and start to get green on your first flight, stare at your shoes and focus on them, breathe in your nose and out of your mouth, that advice was given to me many years ago, and it works! i have been flying for years and i will be the first to admit, i have stared at my shoes quite a few times!!

oh.. and about the age limit thing..
i have no idea. that would probably also depend on your agency.. i am in my mid 30's, and i work w/ some medics, and RN's that are well into their 40's.

Thank you for that advice. I am sure I will have to use it.

A good start now for you would be to at least get your Basic EMT license and do some volunteer work whether it is for an EMS company or a local fire department. I was a firefighter, EMT and CPR instructor before I entered nursing school. I also volunteered in the ER at a level I trauma center that coincidently had an air ambulance. It was a big motivating factor for me being around these types of people and is probably what pushed me into this field of work. I love what I do and would think of doing nothing else. Good luck.
Jason