Joining as a nurse officer

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Specializes in Neuro, ER.

Im a nurse that has been working for awhile and I have my BSN. I want to join the air force reserves as a flight nurse. I would love to talk to anyone who has gone through the process or is going through now. How long does the process take? I've passed meps and now I'm scheduled for an interview Monday. Then I guess it's officer training school. How long does that take? My recruiter says two weeks but that seems awful short for a newbie. What should I expect. How fit do I have to be? My recruiter says not to worry about it... But I do! Any info-heads up would be appreciated. Thanks

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Specializes in ER, ICU.

You will probably go through COT which is 5 weeks. You will then need flight nursing school (4 weeks), SERE (5 days), water survival (2 days), and AECOT (5 days). Then your flight internship, which can be done in 3-8 weeks. This all took me about 9 months to complete. I went through the longer SERE (19 days) which was just changed for flight nurses to a shorter course. The AF fitness standards are easily searchable. It took them 14 months from the time I applied to get me commissioned so be patient. But its a great experience and a great job, good luck.

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Specializes in Neuro, ER.

Thanks! I appreciate you letting me know

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Specializes in Neuro, ER.

Also wondering... I have some "dings" on my credit report that I reported to my recruiter. He has not said anything about it but I recently read that the air force is a stickler for good credit. Is this something I should be worried about? One of them has not been cleared up due to tough finances. Will this be a problem? Should I try to find a way to get this taken care of right away or is it not as big of a deal as I read. I plan of taking care of this unpaid debt with my sign on bonus but If it affects me getting in I want to know now versus later.

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Specializes in ER, ICU.

That's a recruiter question, sorry I can't answer. It is competitive right now. You want to maximize your fitness, nursing experience, lack of arrests and so on. Don't ever say you plan to solve your financial problems with a sign-on bonus though, it just doesn't sound good even if pragmatic. The AF is most concerned with your nursing experience and your personal qualities to be a stand up person. Good luck.

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Specializes in EMT, ER, Homehealth, OR.

Anything that is in you past which could effect your ability to recieve a security clearance can decrease your chances to get picked up. Bad credit is an area which can affect a security clearance.

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