flight nursing in the air force?

Its fun we fly to Hawaii a lot. Its on our route. You have to go to Fight school and survial school (about 8 weeks) then their ground schools two weeks. and about six training flight on your primary airplane. you will not have a normal life whiled you are training so don't plan to go to school like PA, or NP you won't have the time. you will have to fly at least once every two months but count on every month. I have been to Japan, Hawaii 4 time this year, Guam and about five states. Training missions are nice but the live ones with real Patients are the best. you will fly with two nurses and three medics (medics are LVN/EMT-B that suture, do IV's and give drugs but no narcotic that's your job) most medics in the reserve are cops Firefighter/paramedic they are straight (most are but don't be surprise don't ask) most of the Male RN with two years RN are to but there is are a few, most of us don't care just pull weight (99% us don't care but there are old timer). If you do it you can get a lot out of it but it not easy. Most nurses find the schools easy but you have to stay healthy and some find that hard. The time it demand out of your life is hard for most. but flying home 30 wounded marines with tatter and broken body from war to their family is worth it. I never done that I have flown premature babies in incubators and on vents for heart operations on more then once, a mother in labor to the states so the baby can have a heart operation when it's born or it would have die. Reties home to die in their homes with their families around them and I have brought home Soldiers that were less then 46 hours from the battle field home to their families. It's not a glamorous job but it have its monuments.

Flying Ed, are you still in the AF reserves? I'm waiting for the final thumbs up on my package...was a former Navy Nurse (active duty) who has crossed over into the blue...can I pick your brain? I will be assigned to the 439th at Westover ARB.

Flying Ed, are you still in the AF reserves? I'm waiting for the final thumbs up on my package...was a former Navy Nurse (active duty) who has crossed over into the blue...can I pick your brain? I will be assigned to the 439th at Westover ARB.

Hi PACU,

How are things going over at Westover? I'm starting an accellerated BSN program soon in Worcester and have been wanting to join the Reserves as an Officer for some time now. Let me know how its going.

All the best

I no longer at Westover. I am no longer drilling with the USAFR, I am a full time student in Florida. If you have any questions about the USAFR, i out of touch. If you want to know about grad school, CRNA, then I might be able to help.
Cory

Sorry about the screw up, did not notice that you were not talking to me. FlyingED

Hey guys! I know this an older post but thought I could post on here rather than making a new one.
I am currently a Pediatric nurse in Atl, GA (work on a neuro, neurosurgery floor although planning on going to go ICU soon if I dont go into the AF) I have a BSN and a prev degree as well. I have almost a year experience so not too much...I have been more interested recently in the reserve rather than AF nursing - had a few questions if someone can answer.
I am really interested in becoming a flight nurse and have heard that you can go straight into in the reserve rather than just reg branch, is this true?

1) Do you think I would be accepted as a ped nurse?
2) what are the commitments like?
3) I know it is part time but what is the normal schedule like, as well as the pay?
4) I want to keep my civilian job, is this possible with training as well later commitments?
5) what is the normal training and later, job, like?
6) Does anyone know if the AF reserve base in GA (Dobbins AFB) any "good"?

ANY input/opinions are GREATLY apprceciated. I am serious about the decisions I am wanting to make in the next 2 months and really am interested.
Thanks so much in advance. Have a great day....

Hello,
I am probably not the best person to ask at the moment. I am currently in Grad school at UNF in the Nurse Anesthesia Program. But, I have an opinion on several of your questions.
1. Yes, I have a friend in Texas who is in my squadron who is PICU nurse. She would be a great reference for you. If you want her number let me know.
2. The Air Force Reserve Flight Nurse is not a normal reservist. We fly, we fly a lot. When I was flying I served around 90-120 days a year. Not a normal one weekend a month, two weeks a year job.
3. The pay is worth it. Granted a 2nd Lt does not pay the greatest, but pay increases nicely with rank. Active duty; if you decide to go that route, is very nice financially for a nurse. The problem is the time commitment away from your family. Time goes by quickly, depending on your nursing experience and negotiating skills you may get 1st LT when you get your commission. Promotions are about every two years up to Captain, then after that you need to complete extra training, and have an open rank position in your squadron for promotion. A lot of my friends are getting ready for LtCol positions. We joined in '99 so that is a nice rise in the ranks for a short period of time.
4. It is a federal offense for a company to punish or refuse a reservist the opportunity to serve their country. If at any time your threatened, or implied a threat, a quick call to your base JAG office will solve the problem. I personally worked as an agency nurse and had an extremely flexible schedule.
5. If you are looking for a challenge as a nurse and as person I highly recommend the USAFR. As a flight nurse you will not only have to be a nurse you will have to be flight qualified. Missions are either "training" or "live". The links below are to my squadron in Washington.

http://www.446aw.afrc.af.mil/shared/...-2974K-001.jpg

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...en-us%26sa%3DN


6. Dobbins is like working any other job. They have good points and bad points and they change continuously. I don't even know what sort of airframe that they fly, my advice to you is contact the Director of Operations or the Senior Air Reserve Techni
cian (Senior ART) and request a face to face. The senior ART is an Officer and a GS employee who works full time for the squadron. The ART knows everything about the squadron and will be able to tell you what they need and whether you will be a good fit. I interviewed like a new job.

7. The commissioning process is fairly extensive and a pain in the butt, so don't be in a hurry.
8. Being an Officer in the Air Force requires that you be able to lead and follow, think hard about who you are and what you can offer to the Air Force, this is not a normal job. It is a commitment that will change your life. For example, in August of of '05 my wife and I had a new baby and with 2 wks notice i was in Afghanistan. I missed my family and my new baby, but there was no doubt in my mind about going. Ask yourself if you can do that.

If you have any other questions please feel free to ask. I will put you in touch with my friend from Texas for more input r/t PICU and Flight nursing.

Good luck
FlyingED




QUOTE=ugaRN;2832349]Hey guys! I know this an older post but thought I could post on here rather than making a new one.
I am currently a Pediatric nurse in Atl, GA (work on a neuro, neurosurgery floor although planning on going to go ICU soon if I dont go into the AF) I have a BSN and a prev degree as well. I have almost a year experience so not too much...I have been more interested recently in the reserve rather than AF nursing - had a few questions if someone can answer.
I am really interested in becoming a flight nurse and have heard that you can go straight into in the reserve rather than just reg branch, is this true?

1) Do you think I would be accepted as a ped nurse?
2) what are the commitments like?
3) I know it is part time but what is the normal schedule like, as well as the pay?
4) I want to keep my civilian job, is this possible with training as well later commitments?
5) what is the normal training and later, job, like?
6) Does anyone know if the AF reserve base in GA (Dobbins AFB) any "good"?

ANY input/opinions are GREATLY apprceciated. I am serious about the decisions I am wanting to make in the next 2 months and really am interested.
Thanks so much in advance. Have a great day....[/quote]

FlyingED -
Thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions. I really appreciate it. If you flew that much (which I dont mind) how did you work another job? Did you do PT at another position (that is what I am concerned about) - I dont mind working PT and doing reserve as long as I do not really suffer financially, ya know.

Dobbins flys C130s - or I could go to motgomery, AL and do c-17s (that is about 2.5 hours away but more than likely Dobbins would be better, esp if we fly that much)

I would love if you could put me in contact with the PICU nurse. Feel free to PM me for email- if they feel more comfortable contacting me. Either way is fine. I would greatly appreciate their input and guidance.

So did you join reserve or active duty? I was confused as to the path you took.....
do you think it is better to be a reservist or for me just to commission in active duty - that is what my decision is coming down to, although I am really leaning toward reserve. Do you know anything about them paying for a masters? Although I dont know when I would have the time. Ha.

Thats funny that you sent me those links, I actually looked at those last night....


Lastly, do you think I should just contact the Senior ART before I hear from a recruiter? I am waiting for a call back.....

Thanks so much again and good luck in school!

I am looking into one day going into nursing and I was also thinking of joining the AFR as an aeromedical evac technician. I wanted to make sure what the training pipeline consists of and how much time as a reservists you would normally spend deployed. As a prior service Marine I wouldn' mind flying the the tactical type of evacution missions. Also, I was thinking montgomery had C-130s. I just came across this thread and would appreciate any input into the 4N aeromedical field. Great stuff!