ACNP with flight focus applying for just Flight RN job?

[davisone]

IM just thinking out loud on this...but after college I go into the Army from ROTC as med/surg nurse for a year then specialize in either ER or critical care nursing. When I get out I was thinking about going to Case Western Reserves ACNP program because it is a flight program. But I was wondering what an employer would say/ do if an ACNP with flight focus and four years military experience applied for a RN position? And would they have to pay more?

[deemo21]

If you were applying for a staff nurse position, if the hospital offered a differential for a MSN you would be eligible. I don't believe that you would make a tremendous increase in pay because of your MSN. Your experience may make you a better candidate than someone else. If you completed a master's degree program and became a nurse practitioner with military and flight experience, it would be great to use that experience to apply for a position as a nurse practitioner as opposed to a staff nurse. But that's just my opinion. As I understand it, the ACNP at Case Western is still an acute care NP program, it just has the added benefit of having a few classes that include flight specific concerns for nursing practice.

[PMFB-RN, RN]

We have several advanced practice nurses who work in our hospitals flight crew. The work part time or casual. Two are CRNAs and one is an adult NP who works full time for the neurology department. All were flight nurses before going to grad school. They all make the same as the flight RNs who have ADNs.

FWIW out medical transport service does not consider ER experience to be a qualification for their flight nurses. they want high quality critical care experience.

[Medic09, BSN, RN, EMT-P]

In most places, a flight nurse with ACNP won't make any more money and won't be allowed to do much more. On the other hand, I worked with a Chief Flight Nurse who was an ACNP and I really appreciated having someone available with the extra education and insight. Personally, I like the idea of having an ACNP for the really critical and long transports.

The only NPs I've seen over the years who consistently operate as NPs in the flight environment are Neonatal NPs.

[TraumaSurfer]

There are several hospital based flight programs that have NPs now for all age groups including adults especially with the changing acuities and responsibilies of central specialized services that some hospital systems are utilizing.

You could contact the CCT teams at Cleveland Clinic if you want to know about more opportunities for Fight or CCT NPs for a more personal approach to your question.

But, if the position does not call for an NP, then you will probably be limited to the RN scope and pay.

[PMFB-RN, RN]

In most places, a flight nurse with ACNP won't make any more money and won't be allowed to do much more.

*** I don't really know what more they could do than the regular transport RN. There doesn't seems to be much we can't do already. About the only thing that comes immediatly to mind would be inserting chest tubes. We (transport RN and parmedic) do not do that with our service.

Kinda why they don't run with physicians. There isn't very much they can do in that enviroment that can't be done by a well trained transport crew.