Air Force Nursing!?!?

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i graduated nursing school in august 2011 with my bsn and have been looking for a civilian job but have been unable to find one. i have recently considered joining the air force as an rn. i was wondering if you could answer some questions i have.

1. how much warning do they give you for deployment?

2. once i'm finished with cot and working in a hospital how flexible are the schedules in advance. like if i planned a vacation ahead of time and booked my flight and paid for my room. would there be a chance to lose all of it? or if i'm in a wedding and i get a notice that i'm being deployed could i delay it so it doesn't interfere?

3. my husband is an emt but he wants to go for his rn. he wanted to enlist in the af but has been told a few times not to until he has his bsn. what suggestions do you have for working his schooling with my joining?

4. does it effect my chances if i'm a new nurse almost a year out of school with no experience? i am applying to ob and my advisor told me that would help. what explanation should i give them if they ask why there is such a long gap? i haven't been able to find a job though actively searching and i am working as a nurse extender now (cna with a fancy name).

thanks everyone!

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Hi,

I've been in the Air Force a little of ten years but just recently was accepted into a nursing school, and hopefully an Air Force nursing program. I can't answer your questions as specific as you would probably like as I've never been a nurse in the Air Force but I can give you a general idea.

1. Deployment rates can vary by job but typically you have plenty of warning before you go. I'm in a job considered to have little warning and we get about 4+ months but other jobs can know a year or more out. I have seen cases where people were deployed within less than a month due to an emergency by the original person scheduled to deploy.

2. One thing about the Military is that their needs come first. Typically, if you schedule out leave and make plans you will have no issues. As usually, there are always exceptions. I've seen people miss their own scheduled weddings, births and graduations or just have leave cancelled for various reasons; I'm working this weekend and some of my coworkers leave was cancelled short notice.

3. I've been in 10 years and just finished all my prerequisites to transfer to a state university to finish a 2 year nursing program and receive my BSN. Your husband may not be in the same boat for prerequisites as he is already an EMT, but for the first few years of the Air Force it can be difficult to attended school with deployments, job training and work schedules. I've been fortunate that the last couple years my schedule has been stable enough to allow me to attend school near full time, before that I got a class here and a class there, 1 to 3 a year. There are some good enlisted to commissioned nursing programs and the age limit is 42 on most compared to 32 for non medical commissions. There is a lot to look at for this scenario as the potential is there to get stuck in a job that doesn't afford the opportunity to attended school; what if you're stationed in a foreign country? If you get into the Air Force, I would recommend he focuses on school and not join.

4. Can't help you with this question but if you are close to an Air Force base I would advise contacting the Chief Nurse on the installation (Call the base operator, get the number for the clinic/hospital and then keep asking questions on how to contact the Chief Nurse). The Chief Nurse will be able to answer all these questions more in depth than you can imagine. If you take anything from this response it should be to talk to a Chief Nurse. While I would never talk bad about an adviser (recruiter?) let me just say it is best to get your info about a job in the military from the people who do the work.

On a final note, the military lifestyle isn't for everyone. I've heard stories of RN's that joined, excelled as a nurse but couldn't get used to the military lifestyle. I have also heard of RN's that loved it. I personally can't wait to become an RN in the Air Force but then again I'm a little partial. Good luck.

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Nevermind everyone... I got disqualified for having asthma :crying2: Stupid asthma. Any other suggestions? I got nothin

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Thank you so much! That's very helpful

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