kep1014

I'm Mike from Olympia, WA

I am one of the mental health nurse selectees. I just found out this morning. I will be stationed at Travis AFB and go to COT on Oct 17th.

Hello everyone, I too have my packet submitted for the July 26th fully qualified board. Does anyone know how long after the board date they are going to notify the candidates whether or not they were selected?

oh ok thank you for the clarification. So the boards were last November and you just found out your COT date just a few weeks ago?

Is what everyone is talking about on the end of this thread have anything to do with the upcoming July/August fully qualified board selection? I have my packet completed and at the AF recruiting office right now for a fully qualified mental health position and have not heard any new news. My recruiter did say I should be patient until late July but that there was a possibility that I may hear some news before then. -Mike

Thank you again for answering my questions, you cleared up a lot of things I had running through my head. I'll send you a personal message with my e-mail and then you can forward that on to your husband. I understand if he is really busy and is unable to respond. But I just want to say thank you again for taking the time with my post. (was having trouble finding how to send a private message, here is my e-mail) [email protected] -Mike

So your husband has been in the AF for about 10 years now and he is currently on his second deployment? Because MH is a smaller specialty of AF nursing in general the chances of me being deployed for six months every two years is almost guaranteed? Another thing that I think about is how frequent moving and deployments can be a stress on a family. Currently I am 25 years old and single so the thought of being deployed or moving often is not a problem. But when the times does come 5-10 years down the road to get married am I going to be setting myself up for a divorce? (sorry, this has nothing to do with MH nursing but more the AF in general) I feel kinda stupid asking this question but since you are a military wife of mental health nurse you may be able to elaborate on it. What were the four places you guys were stationed at? Is there still possibilities to get a permanent duty station somewhere in europe or overseas in general as a MH nurse. I think it would be an awesome experience to live and work in a foreign country for a couple of years. AFIT seems like an awesome deal; get paid your normal wage while going to school and getting that paid for too. Yeah I am excited to get this last step (Chief Nurse Interview) done and have packet ready to be fully submitted. Thank you, Mike

First, thank you for getting back to me on this topic. I have submitted all the required paperwork, passed MEPS, and am scheduled for my chief nurse interview next wednesday the 23rd of February. I have not heard where I might be stationed yet, I have just submitted my top choices for CONUS and overseas duty stations. I don't think just because my MH experience is in an inpatient setting means that I will be confined to a MH inpatient setting in the AF. I am not opposed to staying within the field of mental health for my entire career, it's something that I love doing. Just knowing that if I desired to change career paths I might have some option on the direction of my career. If I decided to stay in mental health for my AF career I would most definitely try to get into a MHNP program. One of my nurse supervisors at Western State Hospital where I work completed his MHNP program at UW and says that he thoroughly enjoys being a MHNP. If you could touch on what your husbands schedule was like when he was beginning out as a mental health nurse it would be greatly appreciated. Did he mostly work 8, 10, 12 hr shifts? Does he enjoy his work? Any other pertinent information about the life of a mental health nurse would be great. I really do see the AF as the opportunity of a lifetime when it comes to career advancement, educational opportunities, a way to travel the world, and work with other professionals on a day to day basis. It's something that the civilian world cannot match. Thank you very much, Mike

Hello my name is Mike and am currently in the process of entering the AF as a qualified mental health nurse. I have been an RN for 2 years now and have had jobs in inpatient mental health and PACU nursing. My primary concern about joining the AF is that because I will be going into the Air Force as a qualified mental health nurse I will be stuck within this specialty and not have the opportunity to branch out and gain experience in other settings such as med-surg, ER, ICU, flight nursing. I love mental health nursing I just dont know if it is something I can do for 20 years (plan is to retire from AF). I just do not want to see myself getting away from the medical side of nursing and that type of patient care that goes along with it. Would I be pigeon-holed into staying in a mental health specialty or be forced to get out? Or would the AF offer opportunities based upon one's desire to broaden their nursing scope. If anyone could help me with this question it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Mike

Ok so what you are saying is that the AF can give me two identifiers upon commission; both mental health and general nursing. With both identifiers I will still be going in as a mental health nurse to fulfill their need (which MH is in greater need then general nursing) but at a later time would be able to more easily transition to something different? Is this something as easy as telling my recruiter? Would this hinder me getting into the AF in any way? Thanks, Mike

Hello my name is Mike and am currently in the process of entering the AF as a qualified mental health nurse. I have been an RN for 2 years now and have had jobs in inpatient mental health and PACU nursing. My primary concern about joining the AF is that because I will be going into the Air Force as a qualified mental health nurse I will be stuck within this specialty and not have the opportunity to branch out and gain experience in other settings such as med-surg, ER, ICU, flight nursing. I love mental health nursing I just dont know if it is something I can do for 20 years (plan is to retire from AF). I just do not want to see myself getting away from the medical side of nursing and that type of patient care that goes along with it. Would I be pigeon-holed into staying in a mental health specialty or be forced to get out? Or would the AF offer opportunities based upon one's desire to broaden their nursing scope. If anyone could help me with this question it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Mike

I am going through the same thing as laura here. I am completing the paperwork to enter the air force as a mental health nurse. Does anyone know on any of the specifics about what CONUS bases mental nurses are usually stationed at? Are their deployments more frequent than their med-surg, ICU, or ER counterparts? Is there the ability to enter the AF as a mental health nurse then change jobs to something more medical like ICU if you so desired? Some insight on this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Mike RN