coconutzz

Rain-man, While I have not left for training yet (I leave for COT in a little over a week!) I have been married to a service member while working as a civilian nurse and we have 2 kids. I cannot speak for the experience of being the service member during a deployment, but as the family left behind it can be very difficult. If your spouse stays at home, things like child care will be much easier. I worked and went to school during the 3 deployments my spouse has been on. I found that my instructors at school were more understanding (as much as they could be in nursing school) but it is often difficult for my work to understand that as the sole parent, I am the only one here for every sick day/doctor's appointment/early dismissal/inservice day. I had to find a lot of additional childcare, which required a lot more money allocated for that. Sometimes I had family/friends to help, but they cannot stop what they are doing for months at a time to accommodate all our needs. I had many back up plans. BONUS: I have more refined planning and organization skills:) Also, my spouse never received more than 3 weeks notice for a deployment. We keep back up plans in place even when a deployment is not imminent because it seems like his come out of no where for us. I also found there was a significant amount of stress when we moved about finding a job. Because I am a nurse, I had to pay for licensure and sometimes found it difficult to find openings in the area of nursing I have experience in. Finding a place to live and lining that up with the kind of school we want our kids to attend has also been another challenge. Sometimes the distance is too great between our current location and our next assignment to allow for a house hunting visit. This can make moving a bit intimidating! I am not saying all these negatives to dissuade you from service, but there are a lot of difficulties that come with this lifestyle and planning ahead and acknowledging the challenges can make you better prepared. We enjoy what we have and want to keep this going, else I wouldn't have applied to go in myself:) As other people have stated, you are nowhere near the age cutoff for active duty. But I think sometimes it helps to hear just how much planning and accommodating is required.

There is a difference between once you are in and when you are applying. Going in, you cannot breastfeed during basic (COT, OTS, or basic). After you get in is another story. This is how it was explained to me as I was applying and hit my own roadblock.

CarolinaFNP, Before you go to the board or leave for COT (it is different depending on how you apply), you need a qualifying physical. Each MEPS might have a different interpretation of the qualifying and disqualifying conditions, but they showed me the documentation that stated that pregnancy and breastfeeding are disqualifying for a MEPS physical. Because both enlisted and officers go through MEPS, and basic training does not accommodate pumping, they do not allow lactation. I was told COT also does not accommodate pumping, but I may be wrong. I would ask your recruiter to contact someone about this because it took A LOT of doctors and phone calls to get this corrected, even after months of no longer breastfeeding. It was very stressful! You can contact me by pm once you get enough posts if you have questions:)

CarolinaFNP, I just want to give you some information after reading your comment. I am leaving for COT in January (selected at the October 2013 board). I was unable to apply for the Spring 2013 board due to my MEPS physical. I do not know when you have to be evaluated at MEPS when applying for a NP position, but I was physically disqualified for breastfeeding. I was told I needed to let my milk ducts dry up for 6 weeks before I could come back and be evaluated. I was very upset by this news and chose to apply for the next board, after I knew I would be done breastfeeding. It was very frustrating because I was allowed to go to MEPS 6 months postpartum only to be disqualified for breastfeeding. I explained to them that for my application, I had to have a qualified physical before going to the board. I would not even leave for COT until a few months later. But the criteria they evaluate you on specifically states that you cannot have a qualified physical while breastfeeding. If you have more questions, you can pm me. I just read you statement and wanted to share my experience, hopefully giving you a heads up;)

aminoacid9, What nursing specialty are you? I am also going to COT in January and Nellis. I am OR

I'll be joining you all in January and then heading to Nellis AFB in Las Vegas! Super excited!

I found out I was selected for an OR nurse position! I am so excited, it is still sinking in! Congrats to everyone who was selected! I don't know where or when I am going yet, can't wait to find out!

I have a large chest tattoo that is easily seen if I am wearing a shirt that does not sit close to my neck. I have not had any issues at either job I have worked. The first job had a tattoo policy that they had to be covered, but they were pretty relaxed about it. I was asked to cover up once, but I didn't and it was never brought up again (it turned out to be another coworker who I didn't have a particularly good relationship with trying to get me in trouble). Other than that one time, I have never had it be a problem. I don't want to stop getting tattoos so I just try and keep them in places that I can cover them for interviews.

Would TNCC be helpful to critical care nursing? I had heard it was based on assessing a patient when they first arrive to the hospital, but if you are likely to see trauma patients in your ICU, would TNCC be helpful? Are there any other courses that may be also be helpful for critical care?

are there many hospitals out there that have RNs who circulate and scrub? And I don't mean scrub once a month but consistently scrub? I am interested in RNFA but I work at a hospital where most scrubbing is done by techs. Thanks!

Hi! I am currently pregnant and now have more information thanks to my recruiter so I'll share:) You can be pregnant anytime except for MEPS and COT. If you have to get/renew your physical and are pregnant, you have to wait for 3 consecutive periods before it can be done (I would like to know how that is verified). Other than that, no big deal. Last I heard the new fiscal year boards are in October 2012. I will be applying for the January 2013 board because I need to renew my physical after I have my baby. I'm an Operating Room Nurse, but my recruiter explained that if you apply as a specialty, you can also include that you would be willing to go Med-Surg if that would get you in. He had several applicants recently who tried to apply for a specialty but instead accepted a Med-Surg slot so they wouldn't be rejected completely from the Air Force. I hope things work out this time, but I also feel it is too early to get excited (for me at least) about how many applicants I'll be up against. Last time I applied, it was for NTP, it was something like 25 out of 150 were chosen. Are you applying for NTP or as a Fully Qualified?

I work in the OR but I can definitely empathize with you. When I was in nursing school, before I got to see OR nursing, I was like "oh ****, I'm paying to go to school for job I don't even like!" I found med-surg to be overwhelming and I always felt like I was forgetting something, and then I worried I would forget something critical. Plus, I thought it was really difficult because you worked so hard and rarely saw the benefits of your labor. But then I saw OR nursing and realized I found a job a could be happy with. So if you feel you could be happy in pre-op, go for it! Nothing is worse than dreading your job, especially on your time off!

While I was a volunteer, not a nurse, at the time, I was a patient hand holder during elective abortions. I am also pro-choice, so, now that I am an OR nurse, I have no problem with this particular scenario. The best way to look at it is to remember that you are there to support a patient through a hard time and ensure that their procedure is safe for them. When you take yourself out of the picture, it is much easier to focus on the patient's needs.

I figure I'll share my GPA because that was something I was wondering too when I applied to NTP. My nursing GPA was 3.8 and my GPA from my first degree was 3.4. I was never given an exact answer as to what the criteria were but it was alluded to that it had to do with graduation date. The boards I applied to were one month before my graduation. People who graduated the semester before already had their RN license and seemed to have a better shot at being selected.

No, I wasn't selected. I was told that there were so many applicants that some people's applications were not even looked over. They just used arbitrary criteria to decrease the number of applications they actually had to review. That meant that when I asked for feedback on why I wasn't selected, I was told they didn't actually make any notes on my packet or give me a reason why I wasn't selected, just too many applicants. I was told to get one year of experience and try again, so that is what I am doing. I was really disappointed when I wasn't selected. My advice would be to apply, but also have a palatable back up plan if you don't get in on your first, or subsequent, attempts.

When I applied to the NTP board in May 2011, I was told that 150 people applied and 25 were selected.

DocOc, you asked if an OR nurse does a head to toe assessment earlier. When I started in the OR I wondered why they didn't either. The reason is that an OR nurse performs a focused assessment. The OR nurse is concerned about positioning, metal in the body, NPO status, allergies, possibly labs depending on the type of surgery the patient will have, SCDs/TEDs, any lines in place, if the patient is to be admitted or discharged postop, need for blood (along with appropriate samples taken to expedite getting blood), etc. It's like when you were in nursing school. If you had a test on the diseases of the lungs, you didn't go home and study labor and delivery. You focused on what you needed to know and used your ability to gather pertinent information and even some past experiences (maybe your own weakness or mistakes you made before) to prepare for the task at hand. While it is nice to know as much as possible, it is best to know the information that will most likely affect your patient during surgery. When you mention patient advocate, you are right, anyone could be one. I have worked will OR RNs who make me embarrassed to share the same title and have worked with ORAs and STs who I can't learn enough from not only because of their skill but their ability to work as a team, allowing their experience to lend itself to ensuring that the surgery at hand is the best it can be. The same can be said for surgeons/doctors though. Each individual decides who they are going to be and how they are going to perform, their title does not do that for them. Having an RN in the room, I believe, is to ensure that another trained person is there to catch mistakes, to critically think when a situation occurs, and has the licensure needed to perform certain tasks. Mistakes and events occurred routinely enough to make an RN in the room required for surgery.

Quick question, I am currently gaining my one years experience to apply for the Air Force next October. I understand that I cannot be pregnant at COT, but are there other times I shouldn't be pregnant? I am only asking because I have a year until the boards I am applying for and longer than that until I would leave for COT if accepted. I just don't want to forever put off my other life plans while waiting for the opportunity to join the military. This process has been so long for me and is looking even longer now, I would hate to put off other things in my life without realizing I did not have to do so. Any information would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

I wish you the best of luck in applying. It takes awhile to get everything together for your packet, I hope you are able to complete it in time for January. I don't have any idea how your chances look for being picked up but know that there is a lot of waiting and sometimes while you're waiting things change. You being a military spouse does not have much to do with you being selected (or so explained to me by my recruiter because my husband is AD AF). It is neither good nor bad. Just know that if you are AF and he is Army there is a good chance you will not be stationed together. I do recommend that you try to stay positive and make a good alternate plan incase you're not accepted. Good luck! Let us know how the process goes for you and if you are accepted!

I did my practicum for my BSN in the OR and hoped to get a position there after graduation. It didn't work out because they wanted to hire someone with 2 years experience. I was told to apply at a particular hospital (by someone who knew my disappointment) and got an interview for a surgery position. When I went to an interview, they informed me that they were doing a perioperative class and hiring 12 people at once to train. My advice is to keep applying and keep asking people what they know. I had no idea I had stumbled on this great opportunity and I love it! It is treated as an actual class and we are learning the theory as well as the skills we will use to be successful OR nurses. While I am sure that the people who suggested getting certifications/experience saw it work for others, I seriously think that the timing has to be right. By constantly talking and applying for jobs, you increase the chance that you will hit on an opportunity you may have not found otherwise. Good luck! I would be so unhappy if I had to work any other kind of nursing first before I could have a chance at the OR, it really is the only kind of nursing I like:)

I don't think they would push your packet over the edge but I do think having those certifications are worth the money now to add to your packet/resume as a whole. It shows that you are driven to get certified on your own, with your own money. Also, you have the time to do it now. If you wait until after you have a job/commission, you may have to take off days from work to do it. Plus, sitting through those classes is like an extra few lectures to help you study for NCLEX and exit exams. They review some important information.

Hi! I have an interview coming up with Oschner in New Orleans in the Operating Room Department. I am a new graduate and this is my first interview as a nurse. I have looked through some of the other posts on this topic for questions that may come up during the interview which I have found very helpful for me to review. I have a few more questions. As a new nurse, what should I expect from the interview? I have no nursing experience so I do not expect any specific questions related to how I personally cared for patients in the past. Will they ask me questions about jobs I previously held? How much of my personal life will be brought up? How much should I be willing to share? Should I bring a copy of my resume with me? More than one copy? Should I be prepared to leave a thank you card/mail a thank you card? I have seen this mentioned quite a lot through internet searches. Is it standard practice for every hospital to hold multiple interviews? By that I mean, first round interviews, then call backs for second round interviews? I appreciate any insight! Thank you all so much!

Thank you for replying. What are the specialties required?

I was wondering if the Air Force is in need of OR nurses. I was not picked up for NTP this last board. When I told my recruiter I had done my practicum in the OR, he said to get 6 months experience in the OR and reapply. Is there a shortage of OR nurses in the Air Force? Also, will it be hard to be picked up after being a non-select? My recruiter said I didn't have anything wrong with my package, just that there were so few positions open. I'm wondering if this will hurt my chances later. Thank you!

Hi! I was told we should hear within 2 weeks and that our recruiters will contact us directly to let us know. I hate all the waiting. I am nervous and excited at the same time! Good luck everyone, I hope we get the news we want to hear!