air force nursing questions

Aaron86 · May 23, 2009

Hey Belnadine,

I know for a fact that 20/20 vision is not a requirement to join except for certain jobs (i.e. pilot). There are weight and health recruirements though. According to the recruiter my diagnosis of childhood asthma might be a deal breaker for me even though I only ever had one "asthma" attack and it was over 15 years ago. I say according to the recruiter because it is all really determined once you go for a physical.

There is a deadline for the year according to my recruiter. They start getting everything squared away in August but the officer selection for the year has already passed, so you would have to wait untill January.

My advice would be to get in contact with a recruiter ASAP, just don't sign anything right away. The meeting with the recruiter is more to just determine if you are an eligible candidate, if you meet the general health recruirements and to make sure it sounds like a career you would like. Make sure to ask if you can meet with an Air Force nurse as well. The recruiter was unable to answer some of my questions and gave me the contact information for an AF nurse instead.

There is so much more than needs to be done after the meeting with the recruiter, so don't stress it too much. I was the same way you are but I really wish I had spoken with a recruiter earlier...

by the way, congradulations on the NCLEX. How did you get to take it already? My university just now released my transcripts to allow me to signup.

Edit: And speak with recruiters in other branches as well. It couldn't hurt.

NursePamela · May 23, 2009

Belnadine,

You are right to come to this forum. If you have more specific questions feel free to start a new thread if you can not find the answers you are looking for.

belnadine · May 23, 2009

Aaron86, thankyou so much, that really helped alot. At least now I know where I can start. I graduated from the Philippines last year actually and just took my nclex this year. But I'm an american citizen and I already spoke with someone from the army and they assured me that as long as my state license is valid and am a citizen then it shouldn't be a problem.

NursePamela, thank you, this forum has been very helpful. :yeah:

anoon · Jun 5, 2009

Hey all,

I am also graduating May 2010 and joining the AF Nurse Corps. I started my paperwork at the end of my junior year - does anyone know if that will adversely affect my application process or selection choices??

Spencer2002 · Jun 7, 2009

This is what the recruiter told me. Currently new AF nurses are getting their first requested assignment because of the shortage. But once your first assignment is up, your at the mercey of the AF :) Not sure what will happen in 2010. With the econmy so bad, now people are beggin to join the military

Aaron86 · Jun 9, 2009

Spencer2002, Who is your recruiter? And are you near Virginia by any chance?

I have not been too impressed with my recruiter at all and would like to speak with someone else. He stood me up the first time we had scheduled to meet and didn't make it seem like I was all that in demand when we finally rescheduled.

He also told me that new nurses (or new grad anyway) in the air force only get to choose either Labor and delivery or med surg. And that I would get assigned "wherever they need you". I would fill out a list of preferences but its was unlikely I would get first choice unless they needed me there.

During the meet we set up a visit to a head nurse at the hospital on Andrews AFB and he promised to email me all the info I would need.

After that, when it came to the questionare I had this *little bitty* problem of a doctor determing I was "asthmatic" when I came in to the clinic short of breath when I was 7 or 8 years old. I havn't had an attack since and havn't had a prescription for albuterol or any other medication in the last 15 years....

On finding this out he expressed his misgivings, cancelled the visit a week later, and has since not been returning my emails or calls.

This is really upsetting since I had my sights set on the Air Force.

Spencer2002 · Jun 9, 2009

wow that is horrible to hear. and i can totally understand your frustration. i'm out in boise, id. the recruiters are very busy. i was told there are 18 nursing recruiters in the country and each cover a lot of territory. make sure you are working with a nursing recruiter. past medical history is a gray area especially if it doesn't apply to your current status. unless you have a diagnosis on paper from a doctor i wouldn't even bring it up. i'm not telling you to lie but your health record but is private and federally protected, so what you provide is what they know. like i've said before, the recruiters are meeting their goals rights now because of the bad economy. the af is attracting more qualified nurses with years of experience. i wouldn't put all your eggs in one basket. look at the other military branches and what they have to offer.

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · Jun 15, 2009

Let's sort things out here....there are a lol of variables in your questions...lol
1. I received my entire bonus about a month after I reached my permanent duty station. I am not sure how that will work with NTP, although your recruiter or the Chief Nurse that you are scheduled to talk with should be able to give you a more definite answer.
2. Deployments clarification: "The original AEF cycle is divided into five pairs designed to have all Airmen on a 1:4 dwell ratio for deployment. In other words, during contingencies, Airmen should expect to deploy for 120 days and return home for 480 days. Manning for almost half of the Air Force career fields make it impossible to maintain the 1:4 ratio in current circumstances." The deployment cycles are about to change or have changed already for some, but as far as I know it should stay the 1:4 way as above for most nurses. http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123101035
Try this link for military maternity leave: http://pregnancy.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Military_Maternity_Leave basically it is a 4 month deferment from deployments. Also, just because you are in the bucket to deploy does not mean you will deploy, not everyone deploys every cycle and not everyone deploys on that exact schedule sometimes it is shorter and sometimes it is longer or not at all.
3. Being an AF nurse isn't a lot different than being a civilian nurse on a day to day basis, especially when you are just starting out. Shifts are generally 12hrs on the wards and 8hrs in clinics/PACU etc. Basically a work week for the ward would be work MT off WTh work Fri/SAT/Sun and then off MT work WTh off Fri/Sat/Sun. Now the big kicker to that is you are a military nurse and you will have meetings, extra duties, appointments to do on your time off so you can plan on probably spending an extra 8-10hrs a wk on your off time doing other stuff for the military. In general the AF revolves around a M-F 0730-1630 work week, and they don't really care that you nights/days/shift work etc.
Hope this helps...

OMG - PANAMA SCHEDULE!!! I love it - best schedule I ever worked when I was active duty - this makes me very happy and has me really crossing my fingers - anyone know if Wilford Hall does Panama??

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · Jun 15, 2009

Hey Belnadine,
I know for a fact that 20/20 vision is not a requirement to join except for certain jobs (i.e. pilot). There are weight and health recruirements though. According to the recruiter my diagnosis of childhood asthma might be a deal breaker for me even though I only ever had one "asthma" attack and it was over 15 years ago. I say according to the recruiter because it is all really determined once you go for a physical.
There is a deadline for the year according to my recruiter. They start getting everything squared away in August but the officer selection for the year has already passed, so you would have to wait untill January.
My advice would be to get in contact with a recruiter ASAP, just don't sign anything right away. The meeting with the recruiter is more to just determine if you are an eligible candidate, if you meet the general health recruirements and to make sure it sounds like a career you would like. Make sure to ask if you can meet with an Air Force nurse as well. The recruiter was unable to answer some of my questions and gave me the contact information for an AF nurse instead.
There is so much more than needs to be done after the meeting with the recruiter, so don't stress it too much. I was the same way you are but I really wish I had spoken with a recruiter earlier...
by the way, congradulations on the NCLEX. How did you get to take it already? My university just now released my transcripts to allow me to signup.
Edit: And speak with recruiters in other branches as well. It couldn't hurt.

You CAN go ahead, though, and work on your package - the boards are "rolling" boards, meaning they meet every month and they will fill spaces as they have them available. My understanding is they meet pretty much every month. My package went to the most recent board on June 3rd, and I got a COT date of 23 August. I was originally told my date was in October (which would have made it FY2010 - the next fiscal year) but it was changed to August.

The military runs on a fiscal year from Oct 1 - Sept 30, so I don't know where the recruiter got January as a starting point.

And not all pilots have 20/20 vision, either, believe it or not. :smokin:

Spencer2002 · Jun 16, 2009

I have my Chief Nursing interview this week and scheduled for COT in Oct. I wonder if they may move me up to August? I was told by my recruiter that all the 09 COT slots were filled by other health professions. Did they tell you why?

amfc · Jun 16, 2009

past medical history is a gray area especially if it doesn't apply to your current status. unless you have a diagnosis on paper from a doctor i wouldn't even bring it up. i'm not telling you to lie but your health record but is private and federally protected, so what you provide is what they know. like i've said before, the recruiters are meeting their goals rights now because of the bad economy. the af is attracting more qualified nurses with years of experience. i wouldn't put all your eggs in one basket. look at the other military branches and what they have to offer.

i had asked this question on a thread i made, but even if you have asthma, could you get a waiver from a doctor? i have asthma that's triggered by allergies, although i never had an asthma attack, but during the seasons it can get labored but i'm on allergy shots and an inhaler.

allnurses Guide · Jun 16, 2009

I had asked this question on a thread I made, but even if you have asthma, could you get a waiver from a doctor? I have asthma that's triggered by allergies, although I never had an asthma attack, but during the seasons it can get labored but I'm on allergy shots and an inhaler.

yes, it is possible to get a waiver for asthma and no it is unlikely that you would based on the fact you require daily use of your inhaler plus allergy shots. Also, no civilian doctor can give you a waiver. Waivers have to go through each branches surgeon generals office. None of us on here can give you definite answer it would be best to talk with a recruiter