What to do while in Air Force, education wise

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Hello all!

So, I recently got accepted into the Air Force as a critical care RN. I was told about the scholarship option of going into the service as a full time student and repaying the service later as by how many years one was in school. I opted out of that option because I would like to experience the military life and working as a military RN. Now, I am starting to consider pursing an MSN while in. I am very interested in becoming a CRNA, however, one cannot work full time in the service and go to CRNA school. I am not interested in healthcare administration. So my question is, what MSN should I pursue while I'm in? Education? NP? I very much want to work and complete a MSN.

Sincerely,

Undecided but Excited RN Nerd

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Specializes in Adult Critical Care.

There is a program where you can go back to school after at 2 years at your 1st base: AFIT. They offer a DNP/CRNA program. You could be an ICU nurse for 2-4 years, and then go back to school on the AF's dime and still collect your full RN salary. It is very competitive.

Tuition assistance, which is $4500/yr of basically free money, is something everybody gets. The only MSNs you can really do part time in the military are informatics, leadership/management, or education in my opinion. All the other ones (CNS, NP, CRNA, CNM) require clinical rotations.

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Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.
Tuition assistance, which is $4500/yr of basically free money, is something everybody gets. The only MSNs you can really do part time in the military are informatics, leadership/management, or education in my opinion. All the other ones (CNS, NP, CRNA, CNM) require clinical rotations.

Is there still a one-year wait before you can access TA? I seem to remember that being a thing before I ETS'd.

But yes, OP, I would recommend a non-clinical MSN while on active duty. I finished an MSN in Nursing Informatics just after I got out. Not only was the tuition assistance helpful, the tuition the school charged me as an active duty nurse (Army) was incredibly inexpensive! Definitely look for a military-friendly school. Mine even deferred my annual student fee while I was was deployed to Afghanistan. Good for you for looking ahead at this type of thing!

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Specializes in Adult Critical Care.

There isn't a DOD mandated or Air Force mandated 1-year waiting rule. Individual supervisors (and I'm sure all other manner of random paper-pushers) could probably turn down your TA request for a reason like that. I started using mine about 6 months after getting to my first base.

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How many years do you have to serve as a CRNA after schooling? 4?

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Specializes in Adult Critical Care.

The program rules change from time to time. It's been a while since I've looked at the program.

It's a 3 year DNP program. It's either 4 (number of years of school plus 1) or 6 years (double number of years of school). Sorry, but I'm not 100% sure which.

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That's fine. Thanks!

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Specializes in U.S. Army Reserve 1LT 66S - ICU.

I know this post is about a year old, but I am in a similar position. I'm curious to what school and route you decided to take RN2365? I've been in the Army Reserve for about a year and a half and the CG just approved my release to go active (4 years as a ICU nurse). I'm very excited, my ultimate goal is to become a CRNA. In the meantime, I wanted to get an MSN that can be obtained while on active duty. What online military-friendly schools do you guys recommend? Thank you again for all the information

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Call for candidates was recently released and letters of intent were due yesterday. If you can, login to Mypers and look up the information. It will give you an idea of time owed etc., once you meet your time on station. If I remember correctly, it was 7 years time owed for a 3 year program. I would definitely recommend applying to AFIT. You may have so many other responsibilites, that you may not have time to be a student and with AFIT, you are a full time student.

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