Air reserve flight nursing

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Hello! So I am looking for some updated info on air reserve flight nursing? My main question is roughly how long all of the training process takes, officer schooling, flight nursing training, and everything else? I've been back and forth considering this for about a year now and the timeline of training is a concern because I am currently in graduate school and would really only want to miss 7-9months of school. Thanks so much!!

According to my recruiter, the only reserve nursing positions eligible for a bonus are flight and mental health nurses. If that's any indicator of demand.

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Specializes in Cardiology.

But I dont have ICU/ER experience yet I can qualify for flight yes? I know I wouldnt qualify for CCAT. Hell now im wondering if I should switch to OR then go into the reserves.

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Specializes in Cardiology Nurse Practitioner.

Flight Nurses only require six months of med-surg experience.

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Specializes in Adult Critical Care.

I question your 6 months assertion. I'm AF active duty, and active duty nurses need 2 years of med surg to apply for flight school. I'm not as familiar with reserve rules, but I've generally heard they require 1 year of acute care experience.

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Specializes in Cardiology Nurse Practitioner.

This was in 2015 but that is what my recruiter told me and what I started my application on.

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Specializes in Cardiology.

Well when it comes time to actually apply I will have the 2 years experience. JR what area of nursing to do you work in for AD again?

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According to my recruiter, the only reserve nursing positions eligible for a bonus are flight and mental health nurses. If that's any indicator of demand.

I, as a flight nurse, was actually put into an overage position because they had no demand at the time I was going to commsion. I took the spot with no bonuses just because I wanted to join and didn't care about it. (Of course it would be nice, but I just really wanted to do flight nursing in the AF.)

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This is copy/pasted directly from my recruiter:

1. Reserve Officer Training School/ 5 Weeks or 12 days at Maxwell AFB AL

2. SERE Training/ 19 days at Fairchild WA

3. Water survival/3 days at Fairchild WA

4. Flight School/ 5-6 weeks at Wright Patterson AFB OH

5. Initial Flight Nurse Qualification Training/ 4 weeks at Wright-Patterson AFB OH

Any idea on how long of a gap there is between each? And do you have to complete all of these before you start your monthly weekend drills?

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The gap between schools is completely up to the availability of classes and your preference/what's best for the Air Force. Some people in my squad went back to back on all of their classes. Others said they had a couple back to back then waited a couple months for the next. To my knowledge there is no rhyme or reason.

You can go ahead and start doing your UTA weekends with your squad. I raised my right hand last August and I STILL don't have any COT dates. It has been good experience just being with the people I'll eventually fly with and learning as much as possible. I actually just did a cross country flight over the weekend as a "patient" which was a wonderful experience. It was nice to see what I'll actually be doing when all of the training is complete.

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Wow so it takes a looooong time to get in? I just started talking to a recruiter 2 weeks ago, sent him all the requested documents last week and i haven't received a reply as to what steps i need to take next. I really want to do flight nursing. He even told me they're hiring flight nurses before i even asked. Im excited but wish he would move a little faster.

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I contacted a recruiter in December and had my scroll approved by March. I should be taking my oath in Aug/Sept following a family medical thing (that they've been understanding of). All in all, not too bad considering the timelines I've seen from others.

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Wow so it takes a looooong time to get in? I just started talking to a recruiter 2 weeks ago, sent him all the requested documents last week and i haven't received a reply as to what steps i need to take next. I really want to do flight nursing. He even told me they're hiring flight nurses before i even asked. Im excited but wish he would move a little faster.

If you go to the previous page, date April 3rd, you can see my timeline. It has been pretty lengthy but there have been a few bumps along the way. My recruiter got changed 3 times from the time I first contacted someone to the time took my oath. For whatever reason they didn't have me do my flying class 3 physical until AFTER I was gained by the squad (which isn't supposed to happen.) The flight doc who did my physical wasn't happy about it and had no idea how I even got into a flying squad without it. So make sure you complete that before raising your hand. Sec clearance took a long time too, so there wasn't much I could do during UTA until that went through and I could access the computer. Now it's death by CBT and trying to learn all of the diff websites for edu, pay, travel, scheduling, etc. I'm sure you've heard the saying "Hurry up and wait," and it couldn't be more true. But just try to make the best out of it! Learn as much as you can and enjoy the experiences, even though it can be frustrating at times. :)

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