PRicanRN

ya like someone said earlier, about healthcare recruiters there is no shortage of candidates. They also don't have as high a quota to meet each month. My recruiter told me that he had reached his quota for the whole year by the time I spoke to him in may. So there definitely is no reason for them to be aggressive. They also end up with a lot of people who for some reason or another either change their mind or don't work out because of health reasons so they are kind of used to the whole waiting deal. On that note though my recruiter was awesome, he took me out to eat and spoke with my wife and I about the military and what to expect; and had everything set up for me, meeting wise. All I had to do was show up. From what I hear from my peers not everyone was so lucky. .

In the AF you could end up in LRMC/Germany but it doesn't happen often I can tell you that. Like athena 55 said that really isn't close at all. There are really no front lines anymore like in past wars ex. WWII. There are zones and even that doesn't really mean anything as even the most established bases get subjected to small arms attacks occassionally. For the most part though the hospitals are pretty safe, the military makes sure of that. As for the deployments in the AF you most likely will be around Iraq. Right now though with afghanistan picking up, in the news reports anyways, who knows. The army has a lot more CSH to deploy to.

YOu said you have 11 yrs nursing experience correct? You will come in as a cpt. as soon as you get commissioned. Have you been promised anesthesia school by the recruiter? Generally you have to serve 2 years on station before applying to an AFIT position for CRNA; unless you are doing some other sort of program. I'm trying to get the process started now myself and it is not easy.

If you are not wanting to move around then the military might not be for you. You will be moved, around every 4 years. Nurses do deploy, it all depends on what specialty. If you are planning anesthesia you will deploy more than most. Not trying to steer you away but just telling you the truth. It didn't bother me because I wanted to deploy and move around. Benefits are great and you definitely feel like a part of something bigger but there are sacrifices you must make.

why would you consider joining the AF after going through anesthesia school, you will get offered a alot more money on the outside?

Well you have your job as a nurse but you usually end up doing other things like commanders meetings and duties aside from normal things like nursing staff meetings. Every command is different but like taking leave for example; my commander dictates that we can't go out more than 3 hrs from home station without taking leave, while when I was civilian when I had a 3 day weekend if I wanted to take a flight for the weekend somewhere I could do that without any hassle. Like I said every base and commander is different though.

well I worked on the civilian side for 3 yrs for befor joining the AF, I can say I definitely enjoy military nursing more. You definitely have a lot more help. On the civilian side I really felt like I was hung out to dry no matter what was going on. I have worked in the ER the last 4 yrs(2 civiliian, 2 military) if that helps any. I mean you still have some of the same nursing issues in the military like sometimes short staffed and others but that is everywhere. I do miss having a little more freedom on my off time, but that is military life. It might help if you have any specific questions; I might be able to answer yours better.

I know you have alot of questions, I will try to answer most of your questions. You will have to pass the nclex before commissioning, and you also don't get paid until you start active duty. It usually does take awhile to process paperwork, because it goes through many hands, I started my process in Jan of 07 and the papers finalized around may, and that was pretty fast from what my recruiter told me. You should find out you station sometime after you are commissioned. Usually the cut off for selections is at the end of the fiscal year which I think is somewhere around sept or oct. but I may be off on that. Overseas assignment are pretty much a no go for a first time nurse, and I think you might have to go through the nurse transition program if you are a new nurse. I am sure somewhere there is an exception but I haven't heard of anyone getting an overseas assignment their first time out. New nurses usually end up at Lackland, travis or keesler first. COT is 4.5 wks and basic is 8 weeks so it's quite a bit different. You can go to the air force OTS website and click under the COT link you can get tons of info on the training curriculum. I hope I answered a few questions let me know if you have any others. I will have been in 2 yrs coming this August, so I am still pretty fresh.

well I can't answer all your questions, but with 12 yrs of service you will get O-1E pay with 12 yrs. of service, which is pretty good actually. at 33 I don't think you will have any problem finishing nursing school in a timely manner. The AF has age waivers for nursing, Im not too sure if the navy does; but I would assume something similar is in place. Your tattoos shouldn't pose too much of a problem as long as they can be covered up.

ya from what I have heard from friends of mine previously in the AF, the AF was not a good place to be in the early 80's. Minority wise I don't think you will have a problem with that now. So don't let that be the deciding factor. Like WTBCRNA said they give you half time towards promotion for every yr you have experience as an RN. I came in with ER experience so I was able to get assigned to ER. Also like previously stated you will deploy for much longer in the army, my RN friends in the army are still getting deployed for a yr at a time; so if it is being shortened it hasn't been yet.

well your husband is definitely true about the army going up the ranks quicker. They will reach cpt. in 36 months as opposed to the AF which will take 48 months to reach cpt. From there I don't know but I definitely see a lot younger majors in the army than I do in the AF. They deploy for a longer time than the AF does but I hear the AF is changing deployments to six months, depending on need. ICU tend deploy more as there is more of a shortage, but not necessarily NICU. Are you trying to find which one deploys the least? Straight out of nursing school though you will not get a position in one of these areas, unless you have prior experience. You will be on a med-surg floor and then after a certain amount of time you can apply to a different area.

So you are on your way to COT and then lackland? It changes so much so often but I know make sure to bring enough things to take you through the first 2-3 days as you will not be provided with anything yet and won't have a chance to pick anything up till later that week. I brought nothing but the clothes on my back because I was told it would be provided for you and I ended having to borrow things for the first few days. I felt pretty stupid. They have computers in every room there so really no need for a laptop unless you want to. If you haven't started exercising I suggest you do, its not terrible but if you are not in at least decent shape you will be more prone to some injuries as quite a few of my class were pretty sedentary before COT and ended up with injuries. Lackland is the biggest air force hospital and definitely a good place to go for experience. Are you a new nurse or have experience?

depends on where you work. For example the ER at WHMC 100% staffs the Balad ER, much of WHMC staffs balad period. ICU is deploying like crazy at WHMC right now. My friend who is an ICU nurse, just got hardtasked to deploy in the next cycle.( we both completed COT less than 6mnths ago.) If you are a new nurse I don't think it will be that quick though.

I had prior ER nursing experience before coming in thats how I was able to get to the ER. If you don't have any ER experience or ICU you have to go through a 1yr fellowship or something like that but its very intense and you learn a lot. If you are starting as a new nurse you will work on med/surg. NTP from my friends who have gone through it say its almost like nursing school again. You have lots of classes before you even start working on the floor. Its about 4 months I think, but don't quote me on that. Like stated earlier living on base will be hard to do as there is a big waiting list. Off base is pretty good, I live off base. Houses are pretty decently priced around here. You probably don't know yet but live outside of the 410 loop around san antonio if you can, you will know what Im talking about when you get here. Traffic is pretty bad around rush hour. There is lots of stuff to do around san antonio also, so thats good. If you want to know more let me know.

Im stationed here at lackland in the ER. I went through COT in august. Definitely lots of education opportunities here, always some class or training that is being offered.