rndiver82

I live on the NW side. It's about a 30min commute, but I love where I live, so it's not a bother. The trend I've noticed is the further away from the Riverwalk you live, the more reasonable the rent. There are also some great townhouses off 410 near BAMC that are nice. Is it just going to be you, do you have dependents? What department in SAMMC? I work in the ER.

Hey just thought I could offer some assistance: I'm an ER nurse in the AF. I came in with just short of 8 years nursing experience and just ranked to Captain this month. I work with multiple CCAT nurses and am looking at going into flight nursing myself for my next assignment. There are 2 different ways to be a flight nurse in the AF: regular and critical care (CCAT). CCAT is changing to a more ICU RN base where they used to take ER nurses as well. The other "regular" type of flight nursing is more med/surge at 30,000 ft. However, you still need to have some critical care thinking because the last thing you want to have is something go bad at altitude and not know what to do. As far as tactical nursing, this is something that they are also looking a phasing out. A couple of the nurses I work with are part of a group called TACIT, which they go to the point of injury and scoop and go. However, now that the Army has a similar program, talk is of phasing out this program and just sending the PJ's that are already trained with a flight surgeon. With that being said, having advanced training will make a transition to any flight nursing position easier. Also, showing drive and initiative as an officer will come into play. Personally, I have only been AD since arriving in Oct but I'm already precepting, have gotten teaching positions for ACLS/PALS and am the assistant UOP for a current AF fundraiser. In the next few months I am getting training for charge nurse of the ER I am in and also teaching competences to the unit. So just going to work everyday isn't an option if you want to go further and get desired jobs. And AF really is the only branch that does air transport for patients. Average time from wound to stateside is 72hrs (and dropping). Good luck and if you have any other questions just ask. I LOVE being AF.

Hey there! I'm Active Duty in the Air Force. I chose my branch because I have multiple family members who have served in all branches of the military, the Air Force being the most predominant. So I'm used to the AF culture (extremely family friendly) and absolutely love my job. The AF is also the last branch to take new grad RNs who have no clinical experience. When I commissioned, the Army wouldn't even talk with me when they found out I didn't have 2yrs experience with my BSN, despite 7yrs of nursing experience, and the Navy was the same, though they only wanted 90 days BSN experience. I wouldn't change my decision to go AF for the world. I love the fact that I get the opportunity to care for veterans and the wounded warriors that pass through my ER.

Hey there, saw your post and I'm AD AF at this time. Here is what I know: 1.) If you complete an NP program outside of AFIT, unless you came into the AF as an NP, you will not be working as an NP for the AF. We have a couple of nurses who hold an NP license, they got it on their own time, and they are staff nurses because that is what they were hired for. Does it suck? Absolutely because they are not able to have the autonomy that an NP has, but remember the needs of the AF come first. 2.) As far as special pay during a repayment period: it is possible, but with budget cuts coming down, they may start limiting this to one or the other, not both. Unless you have a job with a critical shortage, then you may, but again it may not be in the future. 3.) I am at SAMMC and at this time I believe they are trying to get it to where there is a fellowship period for all specialty areas. And there is a good reason for this: training a nurse for a specialty area such as OB/ICU/ER is quite expensive and very time-consuming. For them to get a return on their investment in you, they need a few years of you in that service. This also gives that unit a stronger base of trained nurses. Plus, with so many changes in healthcare, it's really hard to see everything in a year when it involves a disease process. I've been in an ER/Trauma nurse for 8 years now and I still see things and treat illnesses I've never heard of. So it's better for both parties that the fellowship programs exist and it also makes for safer patient care which is always the ultimate goal. Hope this helps! Sorry if its not exactly what you want to hear, but remember that there are TONS of opportunity in the AF as an RN. Whatever happens, in the words of my Chief Nurse: Bloom where you are planted.

85K for nursing school?!? You're paying WAY too much there. You need to find another school. I know doctors and lawyers who didn't pay that much and they went to respectable schools. Taking on that much debt to go into the nursing field that is becoming harder to get a job as a new grad is beyond risky, boardering on the realm of stupidity. And hoping that you'll get picked up by the military so they'll pay it back with competition for these positions, you just sound like you are setting yourself up for disaster. I have 7yrs trauma nursing, multiple advanced certifications, training and I teach and I had to apply twice before being the only applicant from my area picked up. You are competing against THOUSANDS of applicants for maybe 100 total nursing positions? You need to really take a look at your financial picture (yeah, they also care about your credit report) and maybe do some more research into your options for school before you take on that much debt .

Hey Marty- I'm @ SAMMC in San Antonio, went through COT in August/September. Administratively I belong to Lackland, but since I'm ER and WH is an urgent care center, they put me at Fort Sam Houston. Lackland was my first choice and many of my COT mates got their 1st or 2nd choice. Now, that being said, there were people at COT with me who had their assignments changed WHIE AT COT, a doctor even received deployment orders while we were there, so anything can happen. But for the most part, you are pretty likely to get one of your top 3 choices (you get to list 4).

I have worked civie and am now AD AF. There is not much more I can do as military in the hospital setting. The biggest difference is going to be when I'm deployed. In the theatre we are trained to intubate, insert chest tubes, central lines, basically what we have to do to stabilize the patient. It also depends your area. I work with flight nurses who are doing tactical nursing down range where they are scooping up the casualties and doing as much as they can to stabilize the patient in a helicopter until they can get to a mash tent/field hospital for further care. That is on the nursing side. Now, medics on the military side do far more than I have ever seen on the civie side, even in the hospital setting. As long as it falls within their scope of practice on the base they are on, they have a lot of freedom and leeway. The nurse is still ultimately responsible, but it is a massive help compared to some civilian places I've worked. I think those medics who have served in the military get screwed by the civilian world and I really do not understand why because you have far more training as a military medic than you will ever get in civie paramedic programs.

Just a heads up: the Army is indeed flying their nurses now. They are doing tactical flights down range on helos'. My team leader is being deployed in this role as we speak. It's a brand new program the Army is rolling out and heads are of course butting, but he is very excited for the opportunity. It is the Army's equivalent to the TACIT program from CCAT. There is talk among my COC that if this program does well it will be expanded to match the size of the AF's.

Hey there, I'm currently active duty in the AF and the chances of you going directly to a critical care area right out of school aren't the greatest. You can always apply for it, but don't be upset if you don't get it in. You would more likely go to a Med/Surg unit to get experience and then apply to an ICU/ER/OR fellowship. Here is my advice: Apply to the nursing board and then take the spot they give you because competition to just get in is fierce. You will come in as a 2nd Lt, make 1st in 2yrs and then Cpt in another 2. They'll want you to get at least 12 mo general nursing experience before specializing. You would more than likely go through the Nurse Transition Program (NTP) in Cinncinatti, OH before going to your permanent duty station. The biggest advantage you have is that you will have a huge variety of bases to go to whereas with my area, ER, I'm getting pretty limited on where I can go because so many ERs are being closed. As far as advantages vs disadvantages. The obvious disadvantage is that it's the military and you're not going to get everything you want. But understand that and you'll be fine. The advantages: travel, education, professional development. The ability to do into cutting edge nursing care. The clientele is like none other: you are highly, HIGHLY, respected. I have been in ER 7yrs and have never felt that I've been appreciated like I have in the last 3 months in the AF. It helps the military customs and courtesies are observed and enforced but you also get to take care of some of the nicest, most generous and humble people. I get the privilege of taking care of Wounded Warriors everyday. I went from absolutely hating my job to finally loving it once I crossed into the blue. I love that I'm no longer "just a nurse", but an Officer. It's really a neat thing. I wish you luck in your journey and be prepared for it to take a long time and you'll want to pull your hair out. But just remember your end-goal and the fact that the opportunities from the AF and unmatched in civilian world. Any other questions, don't hesitate to ask!

I haven't heard of them cutting any Active Duty nurses, but Reserves and the Civilian contractors have not been so lucky. I think it also depends on what area you are in. I'm ER, and they are always looking for ER (or any critical care) nurses. I've heard other areas simply aren't recruiting as many nurses because those who are in are not leaving as fast, hence the lower recruitment numbers. It's far cheaper to keep an experienced nurse than to recruit and train a new nurse with no experience. I hate to boil it down to money, but unfortunate that's what the bottom line tends to be, military or not. With the recent developments in the Middle East and Asia, I don't think the low recruitment numbers are going to last too long.

I heard the beautiful sounds of crickets chirping.

Just a heads up from someone who also recently went through the waiting game: Just because the board has met on a certain day means the board was SCHEDULED to meet. If someone on the board got sick and couldn't make it, the board may have been rescheduled (happened to me). And once the board meets, those who are selected are sent to another department that takes the needs of the AF and the wish list of the applicants and tries to match them to the best of their abilities. This process can take another 1-2 weeks. My board met in the first week of March and I heard nothing until the end of April/May. This is unfortunately normal. I didn't even commission until August 1 for COT on Aug 26th. Just thought I'd fill you guys in on the process that may not have been fully explained. I know it wasn't for me and I was extremely frustrated at one point until my recruiters Flight Commander explained it. Good luck!

Kdazzle- When talking about the boards, you have fully qualified and best qualified. Fully qualified is for 2d Lt to Capt, best is from Major to Col. Going to Captain SHOULD be automatic for everyone, but there will always be exceptions. Any bad marks, failed PFAs, or disciplinary anything can prevent advancement. Another consideration is the needs of the AF. For example, they recently cancelled the best qualified Major boards because at this time they don't need any Majors. It sucks for those who need to make rank, but nothing they can do about it but wait and hope people retire. They will open the boards up again eventually. Luckily I already made Captain rank, and I have no reason in my file not to be promoted. I'm just waiting for the next fully qualified board, which I am told there are 3 per year with the AF. I don't know how other branches do things. Again, others make a bigger deal about this than I do because I understand that they are still building my file and just as with everything else military, it's hurry up and wait.