Thinking about joining the Air Force

[miniemt27]

I am a 26 year old female who is interested in information about joining the Air Force for nursing. I graduated with my BSN in March with a 3.97 GPA, president's honors and on the Dean's list but have not been able to secure a job as an RN as of yet. I just had a baby in March and my husband just got out of the Army in Feb. I want some real information before I see a recruiter! What is day to day life like? What is the schedule like? How hard is it to get into flight nurse or trauma nurse school? What rank do you start as? Any information you can provide would be greatly appreciated!

[AFhopeful]

There are two ways of joining the Nurse Corps as a direct accession. You can join Fully Qualified (1 year+ experience) or as a New Graduate. If you join as a new graduate you will be placed in the "Nurse Transition Program". This currently is a ~9 week program in different civilian locations (one military location). Due to cut backs in the Armed Forces, they don't hold boards very often anymore. Unfortunately you just missed the cut off for this years New Grad/NTP boards. Every MTF (medical treatment facility) is going to be different on the schedules/everyday life, the floors, etc. As a new graduate you start as an O-1, if you have experience they do take that into consideration.

Right now it is VERY competitive, but it looks like you have all the qualifications that would make you a great applicant. To be honest, I would contact a health professions recruiter. They will know when the boards are held, what the Air Force needs, and how to start the application.

As far as flight school and the ER/ICU fellowships, the AF wants new graduates to have a couple good years of med/surg experience under their belt (the other option is OB/L&D which doesn't eliminate anyone from those fellowships!) before applying. During my NTP I heard Active duty flight nursing isn't fully staffed right now and turnover is high so it's easier (grain of salt) to get in, but the fellowships for ER/ICU are pretty competitive.

There is a lot of good information already on this board so a bit of searching and reading can probably answer many questions you have.

[miniemt27]

Thanks for the information. I guess my other question would be, can you transfer to ER/ICU after you are already in? I don't want to go in as one thing and not be able to get where I want to be. I have looked at other forums but have not found the specific answers I have been looking for. Thanks!

[AFhopeful]

You can but it would take 2-4 years to be eligible apply for the fellowship, and they are apparently very competitive right now.

[JillyRN]

Just want to back up what AFhopeful stated above. Unless you already have at least a year of RN experience, you would have to go for an NTP slot. The ER/ICU/Trauma slots are filled by those slotted into the Fully Qualified boards. I was also told to expect at least 2 years before being able to apply for a fellowship. If you had RN experience, they give you constructive credit towards your rank (6 months of military credit for every 1 year of civilian experience). The most important thing to keep in mind is how competitive it is right now to join. This leaves a lot less room (or no room) for negotiation when it comes to your preferences. If you apply with an open mind and be willing to meet the needs of the AF whatever they may be, I think you will be much better off.

I started the process to apply for a fully qualified clinical nurse spot last October and will finally be submitted to the board this upcoming October. For this reason, I would recommend getting a hold of a health professions recruiter now (that alone can take a little while). Since they already get so many applicants, you don't have to worry about them hounding you to join. It's definitely the other way around right now.