Calling all Air Force Nurses!

Hi and thank you for all the wonderful information thus far! I have been searching through this for days!

I am seriously considering AF nursing and have several questions and concerns...

I am an OB nurse with 3 years experience. Also am just about done with my FNP masters. Through experience in practicums, I am not terribly excited about being a nurse practitioner. I think I might have made a poor move with that one. However I DO LOVE being an OB/LD nurse!

I am 42 y/o with a supportive husband and 1 child still living at home. My fear is being taken advantage of.... I understand the military needs come first, but I do not want to be stuck working 5 12 hr shifts a week and be basically unavailable to my family. I have spoken to my healthcare recruiter and he states that it is basically like being a civillian with better benefits (however..he is not a nurse, so I really don't trust his point of view).

Also: What type of deployments to OB nurses do?

1.If it is in my contract to be an OB /LD nurse, can they bump me out of that and make me do med/surg?

2. What type of tests do you take for advancement of rank?

3. Since I have 3 years-I know I get credit for 1.5 towards rank- does that mean in 6 mo. I can advance?

4. What do you think of base housing in general?

5. Are small dogs allowed (chihuahuaa)?

6. Some of the bases Im interested in are Wright Patt, Langley, Hickam, Lackland. They all have OB units

7. Any other advice for a 42 year old looking for a change?

I would love to hear about your experiences and trials/tribulations!

Thanks!

Okay, I numbered your questions to make it a little easier for me to answer.

1. It doesn't matter what kind of nurse you come in as the chief nurse can move you around to meet demands in whatever area they like. This actually is quite rare, because in general they need experienced OB nurses more than med-surg nurses. I haven't seen a new nurse get switched to a different speciality since I have been in the AF (approx 7yrs) if that makes you feel any better.

2. There are no tests for officers for advancement in rank. It is automatic up to Captain.

3. As long as you finish your MSN then you should come in as an 1Lt at least, and possibly with your experience promote quicker to Captain. I am not really sure how it will work out coming in with advanced nursing degree and experience though. I would ask your healthcare recruiter for he/she can run it up the chain of command to find out exactly what rank you would enter as and what amount of credit towards rank you will get.

4. Base housing is different every place you live. As an officer you do not have to live on base you can just use your BAH and live off base or if you are married/have dependents you can live on base and give up your BAH. I don't know of any single officer housing in the AF for non line officers.

5. Yes, you can have pets in base housing it is usually limited to two/three pets which usually have to be dogs or cats, and fish don't count towards that number.

6. I don't think Hickam has an LD or a hospital for that matter. There will probably be an OB/women's health clinic there, but I think all the babies will be delivered at Tripler. I don't know if they have AF OB nurses at Tripler.

7. If you are thinking about joining the AF at 42 make sure you ask your recruiter about the regs of retiring in 20 yrs, because my understanding is that you have to have 20yrs time in service by the time you reach 62 (unless you are a general) to retire from the military. That is DOD wide not just AF as far as I know.

You can read some of my old posts to see the ups and downs with the AF. Overall, the AF is a nice place to work. Rarely, will you be overworked as you are in civilian sector. You will almost always have plenty of help, military members rarely call in, and the shifts are generally the same as in civilian hospitals.