Air Force Reserves RN

[GaylordBSNRN]

Hello. I would like to know if anyone out there is an Air Force Reserves RN, particularly on the east coast. I have been in touch with a recruiter and have been contemplating joining the AF Reserves as a Nurse at McGuire AFB in New Jersey. I would love it if someone out there would spare a moment of their time to tell me their experience as an RN in the AF.

Thank You!!!!:)

[traceh23]

Good question, I thought about it as well.

[carolinapooh, BSN, RN]

I worked for two years on the civilian side before coming back into the Air Force as an officer (I did several years prior enlisted).

In a lot of ways the nursing is the same. I was an oncology RN at Duke and came to Wilford Hall Medical Center at Lackland AFB, TX and was picked to work on the adult bone marrow transplant unit (heme-onc is a lot different from solid tumors but I still love it!). We work one more twelve hour shift than I did at Duke (I used to work 6 shifts every two weeks and now I work 7) but I really don't notice the difference.

The major differences I see is in the patient population and what they have access to. Here everyone who needs one gets a port or a PICC (power PICCs, as well - man, it's awesome), no one worries about paying for CTs or MRIs or PETs, and no one worries about finding donors or paying for BMTs...Tricare (socialized medicine) is amazing. Also, typically your patient population is more compliant - they've either taken orders for their entire career or they were married to someone who did (and the lifestyle definitely wears off in many regards - I'm a Navy brat so I know what it's like!). The active duty folks that we see with cancer (and I've seen quite a few already) are in better shape when they come in than the average civilian, so they tend to respond better to treatment with fewer, or at least lessened, side effects.

And if you need treatment, the military moves heaven and earth to get it for you. We have a kid on our unit right now who was airlifted from his Pacific tier base to Hawaii (to Tripler Army Medical Center, the HQ for Level I care in the Pacific) and then airlifted to here in Texas once Tripler realized what was probably going on. Literally, a jet was chartered for him from Japan to Hawaii, and then he went on a C17 with a CCATT (Critical Care Air Transport Team) to here. A whole C17 was just for him. He thought that was pretty cool!

Tricare's not perfect, and I've never seen a health care system that is, but compared to what I had in the civilian world it's da*ned close.

There's more paperwork in the military (the Pentagon LOVES LOVES LOVES a paper trail, and her hospitals are no exception), more "x's" in boxes.

I love it. This is the best decision I've ever made. You have access to more training (for free!) , greater educational opportunities (most of them free!), and you can work anywhere in the world. You'll deploy, yes, but for me it's part of the job. It's what we do - global reach, global power, and global nursing, to put a play on the last mission statement of the Air Force.

"To fly, fight, and win - in air, space, and cyberspace" is our current mission statement - for us add "and support those who do".

As I said, it's what we do.

[shapely]

CarolinaPooh-I'm getting the impression that you are the AF cheerleader. I love the enthusiasm. It's part of my desire to join!!!

[carolinapooh, BSN, RN]

Funny you say that - after I typed that post I told my husband, "God, can I do some flag waving when I think about it..." :)