I am considering joining the air force as a nurse and I have been told that all slots are full for student loan repayment for this fiscal year (2009). But that the bonus is still available.
I know the new fiscal year starts October of this year. However, my recruiter says that he has heard that there will be no bonus or student loan repayment because of the economy and that they over-did the amt of nurses that they accepted last year. Does any of that sound accurate?
I am also told that I need to give a definitive yes or no on whether I want to join the Air Force before he will even enter my application into the system. He says if I go through the process of getting accepted and then turn it down, then I wasted 4 AFB's time and money.
I am uncomfortable with giving a yes to this before I even get the opportunity to find out about student loan repayment & bonuses for the next fiscal year and before I even find out if I am accepted.
He says if I want to wait to hear about that, it will be December before he knows anything about student loan repayment and then he can enter my app.
Does any of this sound accurate?? Just curious b/c I have no other sources.
Hello everyone. I'm new to this post but I have read through it all. I have a BSN and wanted to join the AF right out of college but my wife talked me out of it. I kept nagging and she finally sees the benefits. I started talking with a recruitor in December. My frustration is a month has gone by and the only thing I have accomplished is sending my medical records to him. I try not to be a pest but everytime I ask him to send me a request for physical form he says, "sorry got behind because of a snow storm, or my computer was down a couple days, or i was out of town a couple days."
My problem is I have been a nurse for 2 years now and right out of school I herniated a disk and spent 4 days in the hospital. I am completely healthy now with no complications. Is my back injury putting me on the back burner and this is why the recruitor is ignoring me? He told me I'd need to be cleared medically. For the last month that is what I am trying to do but I get ignored. I want to get my application in ASAP. The recruitor told me they had record applicants and are being very "choosy" on who they are accepting.
Sorry I got a little lengthy but here are my main quesions. Please someone help!!
1. Will a back injury keep me from being accepted?
2. Am I being ignored because of my back injury?
3. If I get medically cleared and application in by the March deadline, approximately when would I get a yes/no that I got in?
Hello everyone. I'm new to this post but I have read through it all. I have a BSN and wanted to join the AF right out of college but my wife talked me out of it. I kept nagging and she finally sees the benefits. I started talking with a recruitor in December. My frustration is a month has gone by and the only thing I have accomplished is sending my medical records to him. I try not to be a pest but everytime I ask him to send me a request for physical form he says, "sorry got behind because of a snow storm, or my computer was down a couple days, or i was out of town a couple days."
My problem is I have been a nurse for 2 years now and right out of school I herniated a disk and spent 4 days in the hospital. I am completely healthy now with no complications. Is my back injury putting me on the back burner and this is why the recruitor is ignoring me? He told me I'd need to be cleared medically. For the last month that is what I am trying to do but I get ignored. I want to get my application in ASAP. The recruitor told me they had record applicants and are being very "choosy" on who they are accepting.
Sorry I got a little lengthy but here are my main quesions. Please someone help!!
1. Will a back injury keep me from being accepted?
2. Am I being ignored because of my back injury?
3. If I get medically cleared and application in by the March deadline, approximately when would I get a yes/no that I got in?
The AF is going to probably want a letter from a neurologist or an orthopod who specializes in backs to give you a clearance letter. Until you get that letter there isn't much the recruiter can do for you. A typical application process takes 6-12minimum. Assuming that you meet the board in March you should expect an answer within 2-3wks of the board meeting, and then you still have to wait on a COT date etc.
After your back injury are you able to do situps everyday run, jump, go over obstacles etc without back pain or difficulty? That seems like a pretty major injury.
Hello everyone. I'm new to this post but I have read through it all. I have a BSN and wanted to join the AF right out of college but my wife talked me out of it. I kept nagging and she finally sees the benefits. I started talking with a recruitor in December. My frustration is a month has gone by and the only thing I have accomplished is sending my medical records to him. I try not to be a pest but everytime I ask him to send me a request for physical form he says, "sorry got behind because of a snow storm, or my computer was down a couple days, or i was out of town a couple days."
My problem is I have been a nurse for 2 years now and right out of school I herniated a disk and spent 4 days in the hospital. I am completely healthy now with no complications. Is my back injury putting me on the back burner and this is why the recruitor is ignoring me? He told me I'd need to be cleared medically. For the last month that is what I am trying to do but I get ignored. I want to get my application in ASAP. The recruitor told me they had record applicants and are being very "choosy" on who they are accepting.
Sorry I got a little lengthy but here are my main quesions. Please someone help!!
1. Will a back injury keep me from being accepted?
2. Am I being ignored because of my back injury?
3. If I get medically cleared and application in by the March deadline, approximately when would I get a yes/no that I got in?
I don't want to sound negative, but I will tell you based on experience that you will probably not meet the March board. It is already the middle of January. Even if you were to go do your physical next week, they will disqualify you and then request a surgeon general approval. From the time your papers get sent to him in San Antonio and you get a response it will be about 4-6 weeks. My recommendation is the same as prior....either get a f/u appt with a back specialist on your own prior to going to do your physical or wait and let the surgeon general tell you that is what you need. If you wait on SG it will set you back at least another month. I did my physical in Aug, required a waiver; SG needed an ortho consult, did that just before thanksgiving and finally got approved to go on. So, for me it has been 4 months since the physical to the time I am able to interview. Please don't get discouraged just know that it takes time. The economy has definitely helped the armed services with their number of applicants but persistance pays off.
wtbcrna- yes i am back to doing everything....sit ups, jogging, lifting weights, etc. I actually shingled my roof last summer. Thanks for the advice on getting cleared by a neurologist. I think that would be an excelent thing to have going into my physical. I didn't know it was so damn hard to sign your life away to uncle sam! The stigma usually is they'll take anybody that qualifies! What makes it most difficult is that I've already checked out mentally at my current job. I dream about the day I can put in my resignation for the AF.
One plus I hope I have going for me is a good resume. I've only been a nurse for 2 years but by the time I have my app in I will have experience as a charge nurse in med/surg, ED, and CCU. I was also selected by electoral vote to represent 130 nurses for a union contract. In my eyes that shows leadership and I would hope that is what they are looking for!?
Does a good resume help at all or do they even look at it?
Where are you from kato? I graduated from mankato, mn
wtbcrna- yes i am back to doing everything....sit ups, jogging, lifting weights, etc. I actually shingled my roof last summer. Thanks for the advice on getting cleared by a neurologist. I think that would be an excelent thing to have going into my physical. I didn't know it was so damn hard to sign your life away to uncle sam! The stigma usually is they'll take anybody that qualifies! What makes it most difficult is that I've already checked out mentally at my current job. I dream about the day I can put in my resignation for the AF.
One plus I hope I have going for me is a good resume. I've only been a nurse for 2 years but by the time I have my app in I will have experience as a charge nurse in med/surg, ED, and CCU. I was also selected by electoral vote to represent 130 nurses for a union contract. In my eyes that shows leadership and I would hope that is what they are looking for!?
Does a good resume help at all or do they even look at it?
Where are you from kato? I graduated from mankato, mn
I would say that given the high number of applicants they probably are paying more attention to resumes. Write a killer one.
And what you're saying about Uncle Sam taking any warm body is usually true: (1) more so for enlisteds than officers, (2) during peacetime, when they have fewer applicants and more people are stop-lossed, or forced to stay past their enlistment contract, and (3) when the economy is fat and doing well, and there are again fewer applicants available and more people separating to work in the civilian sector.
But the first one is always true - the standards are always higher and the stakes are always higher for officers.
wtbcrna- yes i am back to doing everything....sit ups, jogging, lifting weights, etc. I actually shingled my roof last summer. Thanks for the advice on getting cleared by a neurologist. I think that would be an excelent thing to have going into my physical. I didn't know it was so damn hard to sign your life away to uncle sam! The stigma usually is they'll take anybody that qualifies! What makes it most difficult is that I've already checked out mentally at my current job. I dream about the day I can put in my resignation for the AF.
One plus I hope I have going for me is a good resume. I've only been a nurse for 2 years but by the time I have my app in I will have experience as a charge nurse in med/surg, ED, and CCU. I was also selected by electoral vote to represent 130 nurses for a union contract. In my eyes that shows leadership and I would hope that is what they are looking for!?
Does a good resume help at all or do they even look at it?
Where are you from kato? I graduated from mankato, mn
I'm originally from CT. I graduated from Univ of Central Florida w/ my BSN and Northern Kentuky Univ w/ MSN. It has to do with my married name.
my application process has been tied up with the medical portion for going on 6 months now. I went to one MEPS and they want all sorts of tests and consults and really went off the deep end.. I moved and my file was sent to another MEPS who questioned everything the original physician. No coordination and no follow up and it still is not all resolved. I am told this week and it is a done deal. I have heard that 4 months ago.
I found out that (at least in San Antonio), that if you keep in touch with the recruiting office at least once every 2 weeks or so, the recruiter can actually find out sooner than the results are posted in SOME cases! My recruiter (who probably knows the Colonel who selects and all the Chief nurses really well professionally) and another RN recruiter who works in the same office told me that I should know something (either yay or nay) very soon! The board started a little late on March 2nd and so the results will come out later in March or April....I just want to know if I am selected....The signing of the letter and commissioning will take care of itself. I have really started to hate Civillian nursing with a passion...Its so not "professional nursing" in the Alamo city (I think they are 30 years behind with respect to R & R and treating nurses like professionals, also). I can wait a little while longer....
I am also told that I need to give a definitive yes or no on whether I want to join the Air Force before he will even enter my application into the system. He says if I go through the process of getting accepted and then turn it down, then I wasted 4 AFB's time and money.
Your recruiter is right, but so are you. Many recruiters seem to use this excuse to make you commit. In all fairness they don't want to put out time and effort if you are not going to join, but that's part of their job. Do not let them push you around. Get the paperwork started. You can change your mind at any time (at least until the paperwork has been signed). You need to be able to trust your recruiter to put out all their effort and advocate every step of the way. If your recruiter is threatening you like this before you've even started, you might want to change recruiters.
Your recruiter is right, but so are you. Many recruiters seem to use this excuse to make you commit. In all fairness they don't want to put out time and effort if you are not going to join, but that's part of their job. Do not let them push you around. Get the paperwork started. You can change your mind at any time (at least until the paperwork has been signed). You need to be able to trust your recruiter to put out all their effort and advocate every step of the way. If your recruiter is threatening you like this before you've even started, you might want to change recruiters.
I hope this helped a little. Good Luck!
1. Your contract isn't done until the last time you swear in. You can quit anytime up till then without any repercussions.
2. You usually only have one healthcare recruiter for a given area, so switching recruiters is not usually an option.
It makes me wonder how many people go through the process only to get cold feet at the end. If I were the recruiter and I put all the time and effort in to have recruit after recruit decline perhaps I would be a little more adament on early committment for the next recruit.
It is a long process as the recruit ( one that never seems to end) but it probably os just as long on the recruiter. I know mine drives all over the place and is responsible for multiple states. Plus, I have heard that some recruiters drive the recruits to MEPS and their Interviews - that is a heck of a lot of driving considering the barea covered and the number of applicants...
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babieblue2
35 Posts
Hello everyone. I'm new to this post but I have read through it all. I have a BSN and wanted to join the AF right out of college but my wife talked me out of it. I kept nagging and she finally sees the benefits. I started talking with a recruitor in December. My frustration is a month has gone by and the only thing I have accomplished is sending my medical records to him. I try not to be a pest but everytime I ask him to send me a request for physical form he says, "sorry got behind because of a snow storm, or my computer was down a couple days, or i was out of town a couple days."
My problem is I have been a nurse for 2 years now and right out of school I herniated a disk and spent 4 days in the hospital. I am completely healthy now with no complications. Is my back injury putting me on the back burner and this is why the recruitor is ignoring me? He told me I'd need to be cleared medically. For the last month that is what I am trying to do but I get ignored. I want to get my application in ASAP. The recruitor told me they had record applicants and are being very "choosy" on who they are accepting.
Sorry I got a little lengthy but here are my main quesions. Please someone help!!
1. Will a back injury keep me from being accepted?
2. Am I being ignored because of my back injury?
3. If I get medically cleared and application in by the March deadline, approximately when would I get a yes/no that I got in?