FY 2014 Air Force Nursing

Specialties Government

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  1. Best shift length for RN's

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I have been following the thread for FY 2013 Air Force nursing and realize that many of the clinical nurses, including myself, were made alternates for FY 2014. The only information I have received from my recruiter is that I will find out sometime in April or May if I am selected or not. Has anyone received more detailed information about the upcoming boards? What is the likelihood of selection for us alternates?

I am also interested to hear from anyone currently serving as a clinical nurse in the Air Force who can describe the day-to-day life and current news regarding the nursing specialty. I am 28 years old, have been an acute care RN at a level I facility since 2008, served seven years in the Army National Guard, and am a family man with two children. My wife, also an RN, and I are excited that I am an "alternate" for FY 2014 because it seems likely I will be selected. We have anxieties about active duty because I have never served on active duty.

Specializes in Motherbaby/Gyn.

I honestly can't decide. I had briefly thought about it while doing my BSN but the only AF world I knew was my husband's maintainer side...very different. I worked at a civilian hospital on the Mother BabyGYN unit. Then we came to Alaska and I now work as a clinical nurse in the pediatric clinic. It's very very different. Clinical nurse is primarily telephone triage. I miss my OB and my inpatient. I've always wanted to do L&D. Here we have PNU which is both and I've talked about going to PNU when the GS job opens up this fall but I am not too pleased with the GS system. With the furlough and everything my husband really started talking to me about joining. So I talked to the recruiter just to get info. It's debatable if I can come in as FQ OB since I don't have L&D only postpartum and antenatal. If I could come in as FQ OB I would probably really consider it atleast for the 3-4 more years we are here. But I would have a better chance he tells me as FQ clinical nurse because that's what I'm doing now. I don't really want to stay in a clinic for that amount of time. I still feel like a fairly new nurse (2 years LVN and 3 years RN) where I still have so much to learn and I'm not learning it in the clinic. So I don't know what to do!! I just can't picture myself in the service but working in the clinic and seeing women just like me (and some very high ranking) definitely did change my thoughts on it. Also, now with the whole DNP in 2015 money for school would be nice. Tough decision. I do like the fact that I can see what job I would get before committing. Also, the recruiter is trying to find out if I can come to Elmendorf too because we just moved here last summer. That obviously is a deal breaker.

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Specializes in Surgical Step-down, ED, SICU.

Do we know how many FQ positions are available for Oct boards? And if anyone has heard of those possibly being delayed or canceled?

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Elmendorf is my number one choice!! How do you like the hospital?

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jcbcrane

So is that 38 FQ spots for Oct board or for the whole 2014 fiscal year

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The best advice I can give you (and I'm also prior enlisted) is to not 'sit back' and wait for your recruiter to call you. Call them - being bugged by you within reason is part of their job.

Broken bones and felonies (I lol'd a bit) aren't the only reasons people don't go to COT. Women get pregnant, people develop disqualifying conditions, things happen in people's lives.

At COT - stay on the people who work there in the personnel office. They will tell you stuff about pay and benefits like 'oh, they'll take care of that at your first base'. Uh, no, I need to be paid this month, not next month. Be professional but be persistent.

Also, when you get to your first assignment, forget everything you ever learned about the Army other than the basic altruisms, like 'hurry up and wait'. :) I'm only saying this because you will alienate a lot of people with 'well, we did it this way'. We're no longer enlisted (and you will learn that you have to learn how to not think like an NCO - strange but true), and you're now Air Force and you're in a new AFSC (what we call an MOS). (I sound like I'm making assumptions; to a point I am, but I've seen it far too many times and it will seriously tick folks off. Also, the Army is a sensitive subject right now with USAF at certain medical centers due to all this merging. As our Chief of Staff said before he retired, it's not always as smooth as one would like it to be, and both sides feel as though toes are being stepped on and concerns ignored.)

At the same time, young Airmen can learn a lot from your experiences. It will also put you in a different 'place' in their thinking. We all remember the priors who were officers, and what they made of the situation. Remember that.

First assignment - as I said, forget everything about the Army. We are completely different and in a lot of very good ways (and, IMHO as a prior, a lot of not-so-good ways).

Don't let COT infuriate you - because my guess is it will. Compared to even my basic training, it's seriously Club Fed. Use your knowledge. Remember most of your colleagues are 'straight off the street' military, just like we were in Basic. But also use your knowledge to professionally set them straight when it's warranted: several of my prior enlisted folks and myself at COT had a come to Jesus with the class about all the whining among PROFESSIONALS - 'why don't we have off base privileges' and 'the TIs are yelling at me' (hint: they don't; you get stern looks and a few well-placed remarks; I wish they COULD yell because I think it would help) and 'the flight commanders are mean' (flight commander is the instructor of your flight as you go through COT). OMG. Give me a break. We told them to go look the BOT (Basic Officer Training - the 'regular' side) folks in the face and say that - like basic trainees, they are treated like dirt for 13 weeks. Go tell our friends in Afghanistan on their second and third tours about your base privilege issues when some of them have missed their kid's first words and first steps. It's infuriating to hear some of the things these folks will cry about for five weeks. We corrected that. A lot of it.

(And to 'civilians' reading this post - you will find COT a lot different than we did. I sound harsh, but really, there's a limit to what most of us priors can and should have to take. Base liberty is not a primary concern; no one is there to tour lovely downtown Montgomery - you're there to work, to learn, and to teach others. My motto is, it's the military. It's five weeks of your life and in the grand scheme of things, it's a matter of mere seconds. You held up your hand and swore in; this is life. I went through a lot worse in BMT, and my Army/Marine buddies went through even more. Watch the BOT students if you want a taste of what it was like for us and be glad you're there for five little weeks instead of 13 of what they're going through.)

At the same time, help the ones above you. People will be put into leadership positions based solely on their rank. IMHO, the USAF does not adequately prepare these people nor do they really have the time to adequately equip them for the job. This is not the fault of those appointed - just like when we were enlisted. Reach out to them if they appear to be floundering (and they will - and it's not pretty - I felt very, very sorry for them). Be a leader, not a 'crusher'. Explain to the others what it is these people are facing, because they will be almost ostracized by the group as they are singled out. This is the military, and we know that - but they don't. (In other words, introduce them to the concept of 'voluntold'.) :)

The Nurse Corps is not the line, and that too may frustrate you at first if you were indeed line. It did me, and it still does. Being prior line is an advantage in a lot of ways, and in a lot of ways it just makes you want to set your hair on fire because it might hurt less. LOL.

If I sound harsh, I'm sorry - and I'm sure to the nonpriors I do. But this is what it's like for a prior - we all had a similar experience with similar frustrations. But we made it through.

Wow! What a wealth of information. Thank you for taking your time to write all that. I am also a prior enlisted hopeful who wishes to once again join the active duty ranks. In December ill be a year out from graduation and will contact recruiter at that time. Appreciate you guys giving so much advice.

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Specializes in Adult Critical Care.

Important Update: New Air Force policy has stopped the use of alternates to preferentially fill slots for future boards, with the exception of a few specialties.

This means that alternates from Feb 19 are not guaranteed to be selected for the next board. They will likely have to reapply for the next board on September 2nd, 2013. I was med/surg and I am in this boat.

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Specializes in Motherbaby/Gyn.

I like it but wouldn't want to live here forever. I'm from TX and I don't like 9 months of winter. This summer has been amazingly beautiful and warm. So much better than last summer where it was 50 and rained everyday! The wildlife is cool to see. We had a bear run across the grass next to our windows at work and a mama moose and her twins sit by our windows all morning one day. Lots of people love it here and never want to leave.

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Specializes in Motherbaby/Gyn.

That's the impression I got that it was for FY 2014 but I'm going to ask because I'm not sure how it works with a board in Oct and Jan.

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jfratian,

My recruiter told me in March that I would probably have to reapply in Oct and there was no guarantee of getting in automatically. I am a med/surg alternate from Feb. I just spoke with him about a wk ago and they have called up some of the alternates from Feb 19th. He doesn't know where I am on list at this time.

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Specializes in Adult Critical Care.

ffemt,

You may want to contact your recruiter ASAP. They just got an update for fiscal 2014 today.

There was an old unwritten practice of giving alternates preference the next go-around. You'll see a lot of posts earlier in this thread that mention it. Basically, alternates used to be a shoe-in. Now they have to reapply just like newbies. Some specialties are exempt, but med/surg is not.

I am alternate #3 for med/surg and I am having to reapply. However, there is still an extremely small chance of going to COT in August if someone drops. They did move the October 2013 board up a month to September 2nd.

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Specializes in Med-surg.

jfratian,

Sorry to hear you have to reapply. There still is that chance you'll go in August. ffemt said that they have called up some alternates already. If you're #3, you may be next on the list. I'm meeting with my recruiter tomorrow. Hopefully he will fill me in on some of this info. However, he did tell me that the evaluation forms have changed for this next board. Now the forms are recommendation forms?? So, I'm going to have to get all new forms filled out by my references. I have not seen the new form yet, probably tomorrow.

Any word on the number of slots for the September board??

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I am alternate # 1 and have not been called up. I applied in Oct 2012. My recruiter called me to see if I am still committed...this was 3 days ago. I said YES...I just rented my house and moved to an apartment waiting for The Call.

ffemt,

You may want to contact your recruiter ASAP. They just got an update for fiscal 2014 today.

There was an old unwritten practice of giving alternates preference the next go-around. You'll see a lot of posts earlier in this thread that mention it. Basically, alternates used to be a shoe-in. Now they have to reapply just like newbies. Some specialties are exempt, but med/surg is not.

I am alternate #3 for med/surg and I am having to reapply. However, there is still an extremely small chance of going to COT in August if someone drops. They did move the October 2013 board up a month to September 2nd.

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