flight nursing in the air force?

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Hello,

I was wondering if anyone could give me any opinions or information about flight nursing in the air force, especially in the reserves? I woudl appreciate any information. Thank you.

Kimberly Rush

My waiver was approved on 10/09/2009! It was approved for 3 years, during that time I plan on getting approval for PRK. I do just want to serve my country and was more than willing to do a clinical spot, however SG sent back an approved waiver! Now my next question is how quickly can a Commission come through? My recruiter had to send my rank calculation in three times for it to finally not get kicked back, once my rank is confirmed then I believe my file gets checked by her boss and then forwarded to the East Coast to the head of Nursing for Commission approval, so my question is: how fast or slow is the turn around? I would love to swear in on Nov. 3rd, is that a possibility or am I expecting too much? I'm just anxious to start a new chapter n my life, I specifically went back to school to get my BSN to be able to serve my country, so now that I finished, I'd like to get started!

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Thanks

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Specializes in Flight/ICU/CCU/ED/Trauma.

I think that would be rather quick, but who knows. It's been a long and painful experience for many people, long and not painful for others...but the theme seems to be a long process either way.

I didn't know they would commission you at all without a BSN...unless of course you have a BS in something else.

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Actually, I have my BSN now, I finished up in Aug of this year! That was a whole other painful experience. I had to switch Universities when I was 3 classes from graduating with my BSN due to the fact that their ADN program was accredited but their BSN was not yet and I needed to graduate from an NLN or CCNE accredited program to be able to go into the Air Force! I've wanted to do this since I was 19 yrs. old nothing like waiting 21 yrs to fulfill a dream! I'm sure it will be well worth the wait!:specs:

Thanks

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:nurse:

yeah! i am finally in and attended my first uta this month! i also took my pft and scored an 89.5! my capt needed my score before she could apply to cot for me!does anybody know how long it takes to hear whether you are accepted to cot? my capt. at the aes put a request in on 2010/mar/09. i thought we would have heard by now or am i expecting too much! i want to let my boss know well in advance, the cot date that we are looking at is 2010/may/24! anybody know if they are going to that one?

thanks

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Specializes in Flight/ICU/CCU/ED/Trauma.

Most of the COT dates for this fiscal year are already full...but take that with a grain of salt. There are people that get last minute slots all the time. There's a guy that I know who was called on a Friday and reported to COT on Tuesday because a seat opened. If you can leave at the drop of a hat, it makes it easier to get in, but you won't really know for sure when you're going until the last minute.

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This is such a great thread--and although I'm certain you guys have answered every possible question, I find that I'm still intrigued to know more as this is what I intend to do with my future.

At the present time I am working to acquire an Associates in Nursing. I will be done this December (thank the heavens above), but will be enrolling with an accredited University immediately after to obtain my BSN. Realistically, this is going to take about 2 1/2 to 3 years. I'm somewhat concerned about the "cut-off" as it pertains to age. I am 34 now.

I will be talking to a recruiter before I finish my BSN, of course, but the age is still a factor (even if I am a young 34-year-old). :) Would it be a good idea to go ahead and see what my options are with an Associates in Nursing?Is there a possibility that I could go ahead and join, starting on my BSN right after, or is that just completely ridiculous?

Also, there has been quite a bit of talk about the difference in Flight Nurses commitment with the reserves versus the traditional requirements (i.e. working more hours on a monthly basis). This isn't a problem for me (or so I don't think it would be), but I am somewhat curious about how one goes about holding down a steady job when there are such demands as a reservist?

Another thing. There was talk about eye exams. Is there a possibility that a person would be denied due to astigmatisms? I have a slight condition in my right eye, but it doesn't always require glasses. My prescription is very weak. Just thought that was interesting, as I didn't know great eyesight was a prerequisite for Flight Nursing, since I won't be flying the craft, that is.

I appreciate any response.

Jennifer

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I have astigmatism. 1.25 diopters in the left, 1.25 in the right. Passed MEPS. Still waiting to get my flying Class III physical. Oh yeah, I am nearsighted too! I wear glasses, but it's not that bad. Went through MEPS with a dude who had the Coke bottle glasses on, needless to say he was going to need a waiver.

Here are some vision and refractive error standards for different flying classes.

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/airforce/l/blflyeye.htm

Thought the age cutoff was 42 minus any prior service?

You could probably join as enlisted (a RN I work with was prior service and entertained the idea of joining as an Aeromedical Evacuation Technician but chose not to) but I don't know how things work once you get your BSN. You'd probably have to wait until your contract out to come back in as a Flight Nurse. And all the initial training would delay your BSN to some degree. Personally, I'd just bust tail and get the BSN out of the way first.

During my interview I was told 1st weekend, 3rd weekend, 2 weeks AT and some other time here and there. Not counting the initial training of COT or RCOT (13-23 training days), SERE school (19 training days), Water Survival (2 training days), Flight Nurse School (21 training days) and Aircrew Initial Qualification (19 training days).

I was offered the opportunity to go active duty for 6 months to get all the training in once I am official(which I would jump on in a heartbeat, but that's just me dying to get up and going).

I've read through threads here and remember seeing statements of 90-120 days a year. I also remember in the interview talks of going active duty for short stints for missions (which would be so freaking awesome).

My full time job is 3 days a week. I imagine I am just going to be as busy as hell when this all is up and going.

Waiting for MEPS to release my physical to my recruiter, then I need my Class III physical, then maybe after that it's just paperwork to the board?

I am dying to get going, but I am using the time to become a runner. Pushups, situps no problem. But the running is 50% of the PT test and I have never been a runner. I can pass, but I want to excel. Unfortunately, I am finding that running adaptations are a lot slower than weights!

Hope that helps, maybe sometime this year I'll have some inside knowledge!

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Thanks for all the info LarryV. I am interested in becoming a flight nurse in the AF reserve and was trying to determine if I could complete all of the training requirements and keep up with my school schedule. I will be starting grad school next year and by the sounds of it, the initial training is going to take about 4 months to complete. So I'm trying to determine when the best time would be to put my paperwork in.

So please keep us posted on your application process, and the timeline of events. I think this would be an opportunity of a lifetime and I can't wait to get the process started. So congratulations to you. And by the way, where are you going to be stationed?

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Hey I'm looking into becoming an in flight medic as a reservist at Lackland AFB in SA. I was wondering if you could give me some details to the job? I'm going to interview for it and then my recruiter told me we'd set up the contract where the job is in there. My questions are what else will I be going through? Do you go to flight school? Overall, what was your training like? Will I get to be in the air a lot or will I be grounded? Thanks!

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* this is mostly in response to B141emt or anyone else with the experience. I cannot find much information online and I do not know the other name for the job. Thanks!

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Specializes in Flight/ICU/CCU/ED/Trauma.

Are you talking flight nurse or flight medic? If you mean medic, then that's an enlisted position... you'll go to BMT (basic training), then tech school (where you'll become an NREMT) and then your unit. From there you'll go to flight school, ground training (usually with your unit or on your base), water survival and SERE school. You will have patient contact on missions, but other than that, you'll be doing a lot of training flights and static ground training. For more patient experience, you can go on to get your EMT-I (going away soon) or your EMT-P (paramedic)...but they won't change your scope of practice with the AF.

If you are talking flight nurse, then you're looking at COT, flight school, ground training, water survival and SERE. Again, patient contact with mission, otherwise see above. You'll get more patient contact as a nurse in a civilian position than as a flight nurse in the AF (which I would recommend to keep your skills up).

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okay thank you so much! I appreciate it!

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