Hi everyone, I am an ICU RN in a liver transplant unit at USC with 1.5 years of critical care experience and half a year on a neuro DOU floor. I reached out to an air force reserve recruiter asking about flight nursing opportunities and according to him there is a shortage of flight nurses in the Air Force.
I sent him my resume and I am waiting on him to let me know if the CNO at March Air Force Base in California would like to pick me up for commission.
Are there any current flight nurses in the air force reserves that can share their experiences? I'd like to know what to expect in terms of the timeline between contacting recruiter and commissioning. Also, how long is COT, flight school, survival training, and approximately how much time do you serve per month? Is it possible to keep a full time position at a hospital?
That's awesome! I know you only have to have 6 months of nursing to start the application process but by the time you commissioned, you'll have about a year. The process is so long probably due to your flight physical which is more in-depth compared to MEPS. I've heard it take about a year to commission.
Flight nursing has a lot more benefits than CCATT but if you are looking for that experience, I would definitely go for it.
what sort of benefits are you talking about? Are you all done with your training and already got your wings vona86? How many days have you been commiting per month and is the pay competitive with your full time civilian job? Any interesting experiences yet?
CCATT don't have wings so they don't have to abide by flying rules such as crew rest (basically everything the pilot goes by flight nurses go by). Plus more money because you fly! It's substantial.
You get your wings when you graduate flight school and I'm on PROG (the 120 days of flying) now but after I'm done, you can fly as much as you want just make sure to do the minimum.
Wow you are just telling me just the best things haha! Is PROG a consecutive 120 days at your home base? Also, I'm looking into the VA since I live next to one in Long Beach California. My job at USC is amazing though and I can't imagine not being at a teaching hospital.
Yes but if you live close enough, you'll go home every night unless you fly to somewhere. The VA I work at is a teaching but working for the government has its benefits such as automatically getting military leave (up to 240 hours)
Flight nursing is very important to the overall AF mission. Some people really like the mission planning, managing people and plane safety thing.
However, I think the clinical aspect to flight nursing in the military is pretty disappointing. Flight nursing is pretty much akin to being a flight attendant. It's nothing like civilian air transport. CCATT has your ICU-level patients. I personally would trade in the crew rest, wings, and the couple hundred bucks in flight pay to have actually sick patients. The CCATT clinical training is very brutal and harsh; many people don't pass. I think many people would agree that CCATT RTs, RNs, and docs are the sharpest clinicians in the Air Force.
Both are both providing the ultimate care for our wounded warriors. It depends on what each individual is looking for to serve. $45,000 bonus is nice but maybe it could be a possibility to switch to one or the other after a while.
You gain days off (it's like having a full time job) and it's 0730 to 1600 Monday through Friday unless you fly. We can take days off unless there is a flight
You will be busy at COT so you will talk to your family at night when the day is done and you can't use your car until maybe the 3rd or 4th week. Every other training, you can do whatever you want.
Devo19, BSN, MSN, APRN
171 Posts
That's awesome! I know you only have to have 6 months of nursing to start the application process but by the time you commissioned, you'll have about a year. The process is so long probably due to your flight physical which is more in-depth compared to MEPS. I've heard it take about a year to commission.
Flight nursing has a lot more benefits than CCATT but if you are looking for that experience, I would definitely go for it.