Finally a Positive Note in my Career

Sounds like a dream, enjoy it!!! Our military deserve the best!!

I'm glad everything is going so well for you!

I do have to say though, I think I am an extremely good tech, and as for the ones you "Ahem........worked with", I'm sorry you had a bad experience but we are not all like that and it was very insulting to read this post.

Kelly

If I had said you were all like that, I would certainly apologize for you being "very offended." If I had said "you" were like that, then I'd even understand why you are very offended. The fact is, I had an even lower opinion of the particular techs I worked with when I was a tech and working with them. Not all techs and CNAs are that way. I have also worked with some who were very dedicated to patient care and had solid work ethics as well, albeit those are quite rare, but I'm sure you are one of them.

Now, surely you would agree that you have worked with some people who shouldn't be in the medical field, and not just techs but nurses, too. The point I'm making is that the Air Force techs are highly trained and have military discipline on top of it. And I am very impressed by that.

Congrats on the job...sounds awesome. How'd you find it?

If you're in an AF hospital and you think your techs are great now, just wait 'til you meet an IDMT:D!

Congrats on the job...sounds awesome. How'd you find it?

If you're in an AF hospital and you think your techs are great now, just wait 'til you meet an IDMT:D!

I did meet one when I was on Diego Garcia (a small British island in the Indian Ocean) during Desert Storm (1990). I had cramps from something, and she gave me a liter of NS and some loperamide.

For others who may not know: IDMT = Independent Medical Technician.

It's amazing the difference between what the state allows and what the Federal system allows.

civil service is great, right? i don't know why everyone doesn't jump at it.

It's amazing the difference between what the state allows and what the Federal system allows.

Ya...I was a med tech 94-97 and an IDMT '98-'05...I miss it sometimes. Nothing like doing an I&D in the middle of the jungle in with about 100 villagers watching your every move! Or teaching an 80 year woman with a mouth full of betel nut how to brush her teeth. Or working a trauma in a tent in the desert. Ahhhh...good times.

Unfortunately, the only military facilities nearby are just clinics :barf01:. Everybody who knows me knows I would be bored to death there. I would LOVE a critical care job in a military hospital. I Almost took one at the VA but didn't want to commute an hour each way. Anyway, just planning for my future and would like tips on how you found the job.

Congrats again!

Ya...I was a med tech 94-97 and an IDMT '98-'05...I miss it sometimes. Nothing like doing an I&D in the middle of the jungle in with about 100 villagers watching your every move! Or teaching an 80 year woman with a mouth full of betel nut how to brush her teeth. Or working a trauma in a tent in the desert. Ahhhh...good times.

Unfortunately, the only military facilities nearby are just clinics :barf01:. Everybody who knows me knows I would be bored to death there. I would LOVE a critical care job in a military hospital. I Almost took one at the VA but didn't want to commute an hour each way. Anyway, just planning for my future and would like tips on how you found the job.

Congrats again!

I didn't really find the job. The base has always been here, I just looked up the contractor on the internet and contacted them. They had an opening in the ICU.

Tell me, did being an IDMT count when you got out? Did you go to nursing school in or out of the military?

Tell me, did being an IDMT count when you got out? Did you go to nursing school in or out of the military?

A warning to all but the OP...this is off topic! (sorry this is so long!)

I did my nursing degree after I separated. I had tried for PA school while AD but deployments kept getting in the way. The funny thing was, once I made up my mind to separate and do nursing, my commander came to ME and offered to recommend me for the AECP/nursing. This was 1 week before my separation date. By that time, I was so beaten down by constant deployments (and suspicious of the timing) that I had to graciously decline her offer.

My IDMT ed. helped in a lot of ways. When I separated, it only took 1 semester to finish the pre-reqs for my BSN program (I had 2 AS degrees ((thank you distance learning)) when I separated). I had a head start in school...didn't have to study as much as my classmates but found clinicals frustrating (wanted to do more).

My experience helped my get into the ICU as a new grad and my starting pay was higher. I brought my OJT recs with my CFETP to the adminstrator and once she saw what I was capable of, she raised my starting RN salary to that of an LPN-RN with 7 years experience.

Parts of my first year as an RN were still very tough. I'd never done inpatient critical care so I had to kind of reframe the way I think. I was used to doing more focused assessments on pts. Now (as you know), I have to assess EVERYTHING. I still have trouble wrapping my brain around how many things are wrong with my patients. In the AF, when a guy came in with an ingrown toenail, that was it...it's just an ingrown toenail...numb it up and cut it out. But now, that ingrown toenail is a result of poor circulation from poorly managed DM which has wreaked havoc on the circulatory system so now their kidneys are failing and they've had an MI so now they're hemodynamically unstable and blah blah blah.

Thanks for asking...you can tell I love to talk about my experiences. And thanks for the tip on how you found your job. I hope I find something similar someday.