Air Force NTP Applicant FY17

Jazi123 · Dec 21, 2015

That's so little OB, I'm nervous but recruiter said I should stick to OB if that's what I want. I understand that extra curricular things are really considered. I'm interested in hearing about the GPA thing too though.

jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA · Dec 22, 2015

The thing is if you pick 'clinical nurse' instead of OB, then you'll end up doing inpatient med-surg for several years. You also might not even get the OB identifier at all if you pick 'clinical nurse.' That means you would have to do the OB/L&D fellowship to go back to OB ever again. It might be years before you have the opportunity to do that.

That's a lot of maybes for my taste. You're better off staying civilian, getting some more experience, getting some certs, and taking some more grad school classes if you don't get it the first time. I don't see too many OB floor nurses running around with an MSN, so I think you'll have a decent shot at OB (not to say it's unheard of but it's not very common).

Jazi123 · Dec 22, 2015

Thank you for your feedback jfratian. My experience is in Community Health Nursing with the military (pregnant, babies, and young children) but since its not "clinical" I am considered a "new" nurse and need to do NTP. I think that's another reason why my recruiter thinks I have a good shot. However if I don't get in, I think I will take your advice and go get some experience. In fact I am starting to do a shift a week at my local Naval Hospital on the L&D floor but since its not "full-time" again the Air force doesn't consider that experience either.

ls23 · Jan 14, 2016

I am applying as well! I am pretty nervous because it is so competitive. I am in the process of filling out all of the forms and obtaining the LOR. I graduate this May, so I am excited to follow this thread and get as much information as possible. Good luck to everyone!

Grippos85 · Jan 26, 2016

Anyone else applying?

Those that are applying, how is everything in the process going?

Camo-angel · Jan 30, 2016

I think somewhere a month ago someone asked about GPAs for people who were accepted? I had a 3.74 GPA. When I applied the minimum required GPA was 3.4 I think. If anyone has other questions about the application or how to improve chances, let me know. I commissioned in Oct, just finished up NTP and now I'm at SAMMC

vlang · Feb 17, 2016

Camo-angel:

That's so exciting! I'm in the process of applying now. Working on collecting my letters or rec and making my GPA as competitive as possible :) Any "norms" you kindof noticed they accepted between you and the others currently in the NTP? such as GPA, school involvement, ROTC background? Oh and I was wondering, did NTP start in October or you were considered "commissioned" october? Because I heard NTP was in January. also, HOW IS SAMMC?! thats one of my top choices :)

So incredibly excited and eager to start! Alas, I graduate in May and will have a few months worth of waiting.

vlang · Feb 17, 2016

I graduate May as well! How has the application process been for you so far?

Camo-angel · Feb 19, 2016

I commissioned and started COT in October, then started NTP in November. Originally I wasn't going to commission until January, but I specifically requested to go sooner if possible and they found an opening!! At NTP there were 14 of us total, and only 6 of us went through COT. The others went through ROTC which is a different path. I didn't notice many norms per sey but everyone was hard working and dedicated. GPA is very important, but so was leadership opportunities and your extracurriculars. Make sure you're involved with more then just school. As an Officer you do a lot more than just bare minimum, or at least the good ones do. They already expect you to be good at your job, but to be promoted or gain higher responsibilities you have to go above and beyond. SAMMC is nice so far, I haven't started on my unit yet, just finishing up in-processing this coming week. They really want you to start working ASAP, and so far everyone's been helpful and understanding. Feel free to ask me any other questions!

breathesoccer · Mar 1, 2016

I am applying for FY17. I am in California and my recruiter is in Hawaii. I have my chief nurse interview in a few weeks. It was a real pain getting 5 recommendation letters from professors. I was bugging them every week for over a month. Just got my last one in today. I am in an ABSN program and graduate in August.

vlang · Mar 2, 2016

Thanks for being so open to questions! Im working on my application now and Im just so excited to hopefully be commissioned :) Questions: What was officer training like? what was NTP like and what work did you do beyond working the RN position in a unit? Did you find most people got one of their top choices for where they got stationed? What is expected of you as far as doing more than just what the job calls?

Camo-angel · Mar 2, 2016

Officer Training was difficult, but not nearly as difficult as basic is for enlisted. It's 5 weeks total, and you go through phases. Each time you phase up, you get more privileges as a group. The first two weeks were the toughest, that's when most of the yelling, calling out mistakes, criticizing, and pushing is (not physical of course). That's also when a few people may give up and leave. Keep your morale high, in your flight as well as with everyone else. Five weeks is nothing when you look back at it. Your days will be long, up at 0430 and in bed at 2300 every day except Sundays and some Saturdays. Just play their game with the extra duties and you'll be fine. Remember it is a training and learning opportunity. You really will learn a lot if you keep a good attitude.

NTP was a lot of fun for me, I was at Tampa and FL is my home anyways. You will work a good 3 days on the unit plus one day a week for seminar, which can be lecture days, briefings, working on your EBP, skills, etc. You have group PT on your seminar day but otherwise PT is on you to keep track of (you'll even put it in a document so they know you're doing it lol). Depending on where your NTP is you may have an EBP to do in groups of 5 or so. We worked on it for the final month then presented to the hospital. You'll also have various assignments outside of the hospital like the PT chart, skills tracker documents, paperwork from your impact clinical days (day in ER, day in ICU, etc). Otherwise there's free time to explore and connect with whoever happens to be off the same day.

Yes I found most people got their first or second choices of where to go. Depends on what the AF needs really, but there are definitely a couple bases that ALWAYS need nurses so you'll generally get them. For example, my number one was SAMMC and here I am working at SAMMC! Other popular ones that get lots of nurses are Keesler, Eglin, Nellis, Travis, and Elmendorf in Alaska. But if you put down Alaska, make sure you mean if cause they will send you there!

Doing more than just the job will depend where you're stationed. Basically think like a hierarchy. You have 20 nurses, all medsurg, similar experience, all do their job like you expect. But in the military you should do more than just bare minimum. One of our core values is excellence in all we do. How can we be excellent if we only do bare minimum? So doing more means volunteering to help out. We may be nurses, but we also run a lot of the behind the scenes stuff like quality improvement, safety regulations, testing EBP, organizing parties or fundraisers, etc. The list goes on, there will be plenty opportunity to get involved. Basically just be ready to do more than just work 12 hours and say "I'm done" because that's not how you get noticed as an outstanding officer. And be very careful turning down any offers to volunteer or take more responsibility. I'm not saying you have to volunteer for everything, so dont lol BUT, if you ASK to help/volunteer/be a part of something, then turn the offer down, they will remember that next time an opportunity comes up.