Air Force Nursing

Editorial Team / Moderator · Jul 7, 2018

I know for the Army, it was cumulative and yes, 3.5 was the minimum. That application process itself for any branch is long (expect a year), so you are really out of time to pursue NTP.

All routes are competitive; how competitive compared to each other changes based on the needs of the service at the time.

Being selected for grad school while serving is very competitive, yes.

Your nursing school experience does not really count for much as it is expected. Being an EMT and CPR instructor is a nice footnote to any military application, especially if you volunteered in either capacity.

If you really want to pursue the military, get experience and then apply. Good luck with the NCLEX!

melm07 · Jul 7, 2018

I figured the GPA was pretty much set in stone, but good to know nonetheless. I will pursue the FQN route, hopefully I can get in sooner rather than later :)

Thanks so much for the reply!

jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA · Jul 11, 2018

You may get around the cumulative GPA if your school has an odd grading scale. The Air Force will adjust your GPA to a 10 point scale. My school used a 7 point scale, and so my GPA actually went up when I applied.

Fully-qualified is less competitive because the AF hires more experienced nurses than it does new grads by a wide margin. There are more spots for experienced nurses. Even though you could be applying against really experienced people, most people looking at the military are on the younger side. Plus, there are more spots.

If you join the AF as an ER nurse, then they can keep you in the ER for 2 assignments (2 locations). That could be 4 years (2 overseas assignments) or even 8 years for 2 stateside assignments. It depends on how much they need nurses in your current specialty versus the specialty you want to switch to. OR, ICU, ER, and flight are always very high needs.

You gt $4500/year to spend on tuition for part-time education. Going back to school full-time requires 2 years served at your base and a competitive application process.

khouse05 · Jul 11, 2018

I agree with what is posted before. I heard that you need at least a 3.5 GPA. The process is long so you might as well start working now. I am a fully qualified nurse that applied and it took me a year to go through the process.

I have seen quite a few nurses that have joined with one year of experience. I think it is a good idea to get experience first especially if you can get experience in the area you want to work. I didn't know what area I wanted to work in so I worked in civilian med/surg, tele, and ICU. Now I know what I am getting into when I join.

Just FYI you have to have one year completed of experience in ICU or ER basically any speciality by the time you submit your application for your boards. So if you want to go in as a clinical nurse (mainly med/surg) then start the process a few months after you start working. But if you want a different speciality you might have to wait. Clinical nurses gives you the most options with base choices and they don't deploy as much.

melm07 · Jul 12, 2018

jfratian,

I will have to look further into the the GPA scale my school uses! You bring up some good points. One of the big positives I see in joining as a FQN is that you are able to be in the specialty of your choice so I guess being assigned to a specific department for multiple assignments wouldn't be an issue for me. I am very interested in flight nursing as well. I see you mentioned that they are in demand right now?

melm07 · Jul 12, 2018

khouse05,

I have heard that the process does take awhile. I will most likely begin working in an ICU this coming October and my recruiter advised me to recontact him when I have 6 months experience. Are there multiple boards year round for FQN's?

jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA · Jul 15, 2018

I would caution that they are in high demand because flight nurses have no life from what I've seen for those on active duty. The burn out is high. You are often constantly on the go and rarely home even when not deployed. It makes a personal life quite difficult.

Last I checked, they didn't allow civilians to direct commission to active duty as a flight nurse; you had to do something else for 2 years and then go to training. They will allow ICU nurses in the reserves to start as flight nurses off the bat.

nurse2033, MSN, RN · Jul 17, 2018

I have to disagree with you fractian. I know a number of active duty flight nurses who do have lives. There are 4 active duty locations, 2 are CONUS, 1 in Japan, and 1 in Germany. The foreign locales are pretty sweet. I direct commissioned into a flight nursing job (Guard) as did virtually everyone in my squadron. Now, our OP doesn't have the experience yet to do that but after a few years experience (ED or critical care) that could be an option.

jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA · Jul 17, 2018

Perhaps 'no lives' is an embellishment, but I think it's fair to say that they do have a workload that is greater than the other specialties. They are nearly always the highest need nursing specialty, chronically in the low 70% range for manning. I think that's a telltale sign of being overworked.

Part of those numbers are the rigid flight physical. I think most of that is the operational tempo, which mandates frequent, lengthy TDYs out of town in addition to the expected deployment commitments (6 months out of every 24). It is possible that active duty flight nurses could be away from home 50% of the time or more if you add deployments and TDYs together.

I would say that this level of commitment would constitute a strain on one's personal life that prospective applicants might be averse to.