How to become flight RN?

guest769224 · Jul 22, 2015

All you need to do is get into the ICU or ER and work there 3-5 years and apply. My area can afford to be picky with their flight nurse applicants so they disqualify anyone with less than 5 years of experience in a Level 1 trauma center.

Becoming a paramedic will likely help, as I had a former coworker get a flight RN job and he credits his EMS/pre-hospital medic experience as being a big factor.

burnrn85 · Jul 22, 2015

Hello all, its been a dream of mine to become a flight nurse. I just wanted some input on how to become one, and some ways on how i should steer my career.
Here is some background on me, I'm 23 yrs old and I graduated nursing school in 2014 (BSN) and started working at major hospital (#1 ranked in my state). I'm approaching my 1yr there on a med surge unit (beggars can't be choosers when it comes to first job :/ ) and thinking on transferring to ER or ICU. During my first year out of nursing school i became an EMT-B (volunteer locally and my god i love it!), ACLS/PALS certified, and am in the process of joining ski patrol (should be active this winter).
Now I'm trying to plan out my next few moves and heres what i was thinking (i would love feedback) Transferring soon to ICU or ER ( i don't no what would be better to start with) and getting min of 1 yr experience then joining the active military (I'd rather join with critical care/ER experience so they don't force me into med surg role due to lack of experience). Then after spending some time working in ER/ICU in military getting certified in the specialty.
This is as far as I've gotten. Does anyone have any idea if i am making appropriate moves? I was also thinking of becoming paramedic at some point. (Challenging there boards after i have some ICE/ER experience under my belt and running part time).

So are you wanting to fly civilian or military? From your post, I gathered you are wanting to get experience to go AD military and ultimately transfer to a flight squadron. Which branch are you considering? It's possible that you could join now without having to do med-surg but that would all be information a health recruiter would have for you. It all depends on the needs of the military, so even if you have a year of experience with ICU/ER, they could still send you to med surg.

As far as the flight quals, the requirements for flight nursing will again be information that the recruiter would have for you. For civilian, you usually need to have 3 years of nursing experience, certification as an EMT or paramedic, and all your alphabet certifications. I encourage you to get your paramedic and to obtain as many certifications as you can (CCRN, TNCC, ABLS, NRP, PHTLS, AMLS, etc). They won't all be required, but it will make you look outstanding and can mean the difference in being selected over another candidate.

It sounds like you have a great head start and are on the right path. Good luck with everything!

fetchfelix · Jul 29, 2015

Ive been a flight RN off & on 15 years, and have worked for 8 different companies in several states. You will hear the same advice, get 3-5 years ICU experience, EMS, etc etc. I will give you the same advice I was given way back when which turned out to be perfect. Forget all that. Here's what you need to do...........figure out where you want to work, which city, state etc. If you want to stay local, contact your local flight program(s) and find out exactly what THEY want. What a lot of people dont know is that the advice you receive is very generic, but in fact its also very local. What does YOUR program of choice do. Do they do a good chunk of scene work? i.e. > 30%. If so go get some EMS experience, even if only some volunteer EMS experience. Understand many states REQUIRE Paramedics on helicopters, and some States require the RN to be a Paramedic also. But I worked for one program that did 90% IFT (inter facility), all they cared about was pure ICU experience, and pretty much heavy MICU / Cardiac ICU. That program did minimal trauma, so getting ER, EMS or trauma experience was a waste of time. Where I work now does MUCH less ICU, and does 60% EMS / scene work so here they dont care about experience with Swanns, and balloon pumps etc etc cos we just dont do that. If you want a really good well rounded experience, get cardiac / cath lab, ER and some EMS. Also crucial is to get known by the program you want to be hired at..........so get that experience IN the hospital that your flight program delivers to so you can get to know the crews. And do a ride along, make sure you actually like to fly and can stand the cramped environment.

Felix

Txnurse28 · Aug 6, 2015

Wow!!! I am so excited to find this forum. My dream job is to work as a flight nurse. I have been in LVN for 12 years but only in a LTC setting. I am finishing up RN school with a plan to graduate this December. I am hoping to find an internship or a job in an ED or ICU and gain as much expirence as possible. I am guessing that along with completing and attaining many certifications, going through an EMT program would be beneficial. Thoughts on this???? I am also looking at the EMT programs, would I start at level one then work through the different levels, then paramedic? I am no spring chicken, but finally getting in gear to be where I want to be which is emergency nursing. Any guidance would be very much appreciated!!!!í ½í¸€

fetchfelix · Aug 15, 2015

Txnurse28 - look at what I said above - getting EMT / EMS experience is VERY helpful at some programs, and none at others. If you plan on going to a program that does scene work, get EMS scene experience. Obviously being a Paramedic is best, but just riding as a volunteer with a local basic EMS unit or fire dept maybe enough. What HEMS really wants is for you to have exposure to scenes, so you know what to expect and how to stay safe, and get to work in out of hospital environment. Obviously the higher level experience (ALS/Paramedic) the better, but basic EMT might suffice too. Most flight programs want ICU experience more than EMS. So a great compromise is get a job in an ICU / CCU, and volunteer as BLS somewhere. If you have any other specific questions feel free to ask.

Felix

nrsecarole · Sep 5, 2015

You guys are my hero's in the nursing field, I've been so impressed with the flight nurses I've encountered. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for doing what you all do.