Yammar

SICU is where the fun is!! Your patients actually get better and move on (for the most part). MICU is where all the chronic paintings hang around forever!! I personally enjoy coming into work and seeing a different patient each day and not the same ones for months and months! Another evil of MICU are all the CIWA patients - oh they drive me crazy!! SICU - acute in and out vs MICU - chronic and never leave

I am fighting the VA currently! I have been attending a yellow ribbon school for six months - all the time waiting for reimbursement- only to hear that the program is ineligible!!! Per the VA the schools rep has avoided calls and does not respond and the program was never submitted for approval. So I keep shelling out money while waiting for this process to be completed. No a fun process!!!

I deployed with some amazing Army nurses!! I was referring to the scads of middle managers that SAMMC has an endless supply of - it gets in the way of getting anything done. I have many friends there that love the work and the nurses they work with but hate the bureaucracy that comes with the facility.

The ICUs that come to mind are Sammc (Army-yuck), Travis(drama-drama-drama), Wright-Pat, Eglin, Nellis, Kessler, Elmendorf, there may be one more stateside but no better than a step-down. Truth is most of the ICUs in the AF are not the same as you would be exposed to on the civilian side and they way they do things is so not the way it would be done on the civilian side. I don't see a real benefit of taking a larger over a smaller hospital as a first assignment as I have worked with both and the skill set is indistinguishable. You will be as good as you decide to be wherever they place you (bloom where you are planted). I have worked with excellent nurses from the wee tiny Eglin and horrible nurses from Travis. In Sammc you may see more types of patients but you deal with the Army and all the political garbage that takes place that you may not deal with at a smaller facility. Also, at Sammc you tend to deploy with every bucket (so it seems). It would also be easier for you to get a CCATT spot at a smaller base because you are competing with fewer people.

Finding the preceptor I never thought would be that hard, but then again I did not realize that NPs just do not want to precept anyone. I sent out 78 requests and received about 8 emails back declining to precept for all sorts of reasons. "My physician does not allow students", "I am in the ED and the hospital does not allow students", "We only precept students from local universities", "our practice is going through changes so it is not a good time", blah blah blah. I think the only replies that i actually believed were the ones telling me they had students already. Most people did not even bother to reply. I got concerned and actually paid for a 90 day membership to the ENP website! Save your money people it is a RIPOFF!! I sent a request to everyone and not a single response. I feel cheated by them and I hope Karma catches up to the thief's you own that site! Did have one person respond with a yes only to vanish after I wrote her back. She flaked big time!! I am thankful I finally found one!! I am freaking out that I still need to undergo this process at least two more times. However, once I am physically living in the city I will be precepting in I think my odd will increase as I network and get more involved in the local organizations.

i would have to disagree with the statement that those facilities are on par with any university medical center. You are not going to get the level of experience in the AF that you will in a larger medical center. No shame on the AF - its just the facts. Then again no medical center can match the experience of deploying.

No, not much luck at all. I had one who agreed then vanished (flaked out) so I decided to seek one in Dallas where I finally found one!! Now I have to repeat the whole process two more times.....what have I gotten myself into LOL

Anyone know of a FNP who is available to precept?? This finding your own preceptor business is not as easy as the school claimed it would be..

Our hospital had someone come in and do a 2-day review. We all signed up for the test without any study time, and all but one passed (the one had test anxiety). I think the statistics state that 70% of first-time testers pass. That is a pretty good number, and the test is broad if you have practiced for 3-4 years you should be pretty good, providing you keep up with learning on the job and take advantage of those around you who can share their wisdom! Good luck.

Seriously, COT does not push anyone physically! Pass a PT test, march a little, learn a song or two and take easy tests. It is cake!! It is like a vacation! Just one with rules that make no sense.

I think a suit is a bit much. I don't ever remember an interviewee coming in a coat and tie.

Mid, I agree with you about deployments. You really can't explain it to people who have never been. There are moments from my deployment that are burned in my brain forever. You just do not get use to seeing all these young soldiers coming through all mangled and disfigured for life and the moment you start feeling all safe here comes an IED that shakes the ground and makes you very aware where the hell you are. Deployment life is so much like groundhog day and you do the same thing day in day out and the people you are with become family. If you are lucky, you deploy with stupid-silly-funny-crazy people & if you are not you are trapped with a bunch of well...hopefully you don't meet those folks. I also get a bit of a hoot out of al these people still stressing out about COT. It seems like a 100 years ago. I know it has changed a bit since I went, but if I had to give any advice...I would tell people to get fit before you show up and have fun while you are there!! Make it fun - its worth it. Also, sometimes we work much more than 7 shifts a week! Sometimes much more! I starting to wish for a deployment so I can take a break. LOL

Times they have changed. I have yet to meet a CCATT nurse with more than a few years experience and none have had their cert. Now a days its a task they let anyone do in the ICU - we had a nurse with less than 6months experience (AF ICU experience only) tasked for CCATT. Its pretty much whoever wants to do it. And the prior comment was correct that no wings, flight pay nada, it is just a duty. Yup you go with newbie Docs also, but I see the most important player to be the RT. These days the nurses are pretty much AE nurses with fewer patients.

TJC has to always attempt to create more and more obstacles just to make their surveys appear relevant. In the old days the order would simply be for the drug and to titrate as needed for Map >60, but now there are the parameters that have been built into the system as notes to the order. We still titrate based on the need of the individual patient and in accordance with all the other titratable meds going at the time.

Rumors are everywhere. The buzz has been the ones close to retirement 15+ years are the first to be trimmed and then they take aim towards force shaping boards for the rest of us. I have had people tell me the specialties are pretty safe that with attrition and the early retirements we should not see that much blood in the water, but this is al speculation. I am just taking it all in stride. If I go tomorrow then so be it.