Nurse Outlook for AF

[AFhopeful22]

Has anyone heard if the AF is still in critical need of nurses or are they meeting their quotas? Any idea of needs for the future, say 2 or 3 years down the road? I know with the economy in a bind, many are looking towards the military for relief but I wonder how many will do their 4 years and go back to civilian life.

I will be graduating nursing school in 2012 and am afraid I won't have a spot in the Nurse Corps. Any insights?

[just_cause, BSN, RN]

every year 'manpower' is re-evaluated... new quotas are needed to be met annually.. Yes every year the AF (and other branches) have new manpower requirements that are annual goals....

so understand the requirements, stay physically fit, on the good side of the law, and the general timing of how long a packet takes to make and submit and when the new fiscal year starts... and submit your application.

v/r

[AFhopeful22]

Okay, so my question should be: Any idea on what the manpower requirements are for nurses in the AF? When do these numbers come out?

[kkcrank]

The AF is getting a lot more applicants than they need. I think that is why for the next fiscal year, they are offering either repayment of loans or bonuses. I think they accepted between 70-120 nurses this year. They are converting the base I was supposed to go to (Andrews) into a clinic, so I'm off to Lackland. My nurse liaison assured me that if I didn't accept that assignment, there would be plenty of nurses that would, haha.

[AFhopeful22]

The AF is getting a lot more applicants than they need. I think that is why for the next fiscal year, they are offering either repayment of loans or bonuses. I think they accepted between 70-120 nurses this year. They are converting the base I was supposed to go to (Andrews) into a clinic, so I'm off to Lackland. My nurse liaison assured me that if I didn't accept that assignment, there would be plenty of nurses that would, haha.

Great information!! I didn't realize they only accept 70-120 nurses. I wonder how many apply....

This kind of worries me if I'm trying to commission right out of nursing school. Looks like I"ll have to get a few years of experience first in order to beef up my application. Any other ideas for increasing my chances of commission??

[kkcrank]

Leadership activities, GPA, and your interview are all pretty big components. Those would be the things I would work on. Get involved in your student nurse association or something. I was involved in a social fraternity, a medical fraternity, a couple of boards on my nursing school, and a minority association. My GPA was about a 3.4, but I did pre-med and worked full-time as well. I know the that during my interview, the nurse had a copy of my essays that I had to write and asked me questions about them, so actually think about your essays when you write them.

If you are serious about joining, I would definitely start the application process about a year before you want to be commissioned, so 2011. You shouldn't need experience if you have a BSN and are going in under the NTP program. Just show them why they should want you!!