enter the airforce as an ob nurse or apply for Hpsp

[alawal]

Hello all,

I am a L&D nurse with a little over 1 year experience. I would like to become a CNM. I want to work for the Air force but i am wondering if I should join as a L&D nurse and get my CNM done while in already in the Air Force. or should I apply for a CNM DNP program and apply for the HPSP. What do you guys suggest?

Also my hisband is interested in applying for the air force. He is also a nurse in critical care but is applying to CRNA programs now. How does it work for base assignments when spouses join. could we be placed on different bases?

Also what is deployment like as an Air Force nurse?

Thanks i advance for all your advice!

[jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA]

It depends on how long you are comfortable waiting to become a CNM. Joining the AF first will make it take at least 2 years longer to become a CNM...and possibly 3 or 4 years depending on how competitive you are as an applicant (it requires another very competitive application). However, the benefit to doing it in the AF is that they will pay for it AND you will receive your full pay and benefits (and accrue time towards retirement).

Joint spouse assignments where both members are AF nurses is fairly easy to accommodate; there are no guarantees though. However, your deployment cycles might not line up; that could mean you would be apart for up to one year.

Deployments for AF nurses are typically 6 months long. You are vulnerable to deploy once every two years. You will typically work just about every day while deployed.