AFnurse3

We just bought a house in Dupont....it's an up and coming neighborhood right off base (Fort Lewis, that is). I hear that the elementary school has a really good reputation. And it's mostly Army with a few of us AF sprinkled in!

I've written myself up before. It's good just to be the one to get it out and clear the air....that way you have nothing hanging over you.

I don't see the problem with male nurses in OB. And as a nurse, I can honestly say that I'd rather work with male nurses, no matter the speciality!

Holiday pay? I wish! I'm single and away from home so I volunteer for every holiday. But then again, I'm military, and dear Uncle Sam can be a wee bit tight fisted!!!

Does anyone know if AF and Army nurses will work together at BAMC? Or since Walter Reed is closing....Army and Navy nurses at Bethesda? How are they planning on doing that?

NTP is for all new nurses. I'm not exactly sure how much experience you must have so that you are exempt from the class. I know that if you have less than a year for sure. You will stay at your permanent station for a few years. Three years if you want your next assignment to be in the US. Two years if you want to go overseas next. There is little chance of being moved before that mark comes. If you want to stay longer, there is a chance of that if you are at a large facility such as Wilford Hall and can move to a different unit for the next few years.

Hi, I'm a nurse in the AF and have been in for a bit over a year. Maybe I can answer a few questions for you. After joining you first go to COT--commissioned officer training--at Maxwell AFB in Montgomery AL. You there learn how to be an officer....dress and appearance, customs and courtesies, AF history, Leadership, ect. It is the least difficult commissioning source for the AF, but you must still work for it. You will march in flights....constantly. You must be within the weigh standards and be able to pass your fit test. After those five weeks, you will be off to NTP--nurse transition program--where you will spend three months in a clinical situation. They know that the government has said that you meet the requirements to be a nurse, but this will teach you how to be an AF nurse. It is a good learning opportunity, but at the same time it can be frustrating....you want to yell out "I'M A NURSE!!!" on occassion when you get tired of feeling like you are a student...but you will survive this three months and go on to your permanent duty station. Let me back up and say that you might have NTP at your permanent duty station if you are lucky. I had NTP at Andrews AFB and am stationed at Langley AFB. A couple of people in my group were stationed at Andrews and stayed there. One girl was stationed at Lackland AFB. It's just in what''s available. Not every AF hospitals have NTP. You won't necessarily get your first choice of bases. Mine was Lackland....Langley was at the bottom of my wish list. But you will find out which base you've been assigned to before you go to COT. You have the right to turn down the first base assigned to you. At that point, if you are unhappy with the base you are assigned to and they won't give you one that you will be willing to take, you can still decline your commission. That's a little known fact. As far as being deployed as a single mom....being a single mom has no bearing on whether or not you are deployed. Gen Jumper proclaimed that all military members are deployable. I know nurses that have volunteered to be deployed and have been told that they can't. Sorry about that. It sucks for both sides....those who want to go and those who don't. If you have any other questions, feel free ask. I hope I helped you.

I'm sorry that you've had to deal with this situation. As a nurse all of us that haven't dealt with this will at some point or another in our careers....a bad case that we can see but no one will help us deal with and prevent it from getting worse. I am just thankful that we have sites like this where we can talk an learn from others experiences....good and bad!....to hopefully improve the outcome of the situations that we must deal with. I know that as a nurse you did what you could for this patient without having the doctors, managers, and staff to back you up. If given a chance to change things....spend time caring for this patient or documenting on her....would you have changed how you spent your time? I hope not!

I was raised in a medical family; therefore, surrounded by a medical community. It was only natural that I would want a job in medicine. I first planned on becoming a doctor....a pediatric oncologist. But after working in a one-doc clinic, I discovered that I was meant to be a nurse. I wanted the patient contact that most doctors don't want to find the time to have. When I decided to go to nursing school, my dad (both of my parents are nurses and work EMS) frequently told me, "Don't be a nurse; be a school teacher." Not because he didn't think that I had the stuff for it. But because he knew all the crap that nurses have to deal with. But if being a nurse is your calling, your dream, you will take the good and the bad together and be thankful that you have the opportunity to take it!

I am a military nurse stationed in Virginia right now. My future husband is stationed at McChord AFB. I am hoping to move to Washington after we marry. If things go as planned, I'll finish up my time at McChord in the clinic, then work in a civilian hospital. I would love to do ER....I'm a trauma type of girl! Which hospitals worth working at are close by the base? And what is the usual pay? I'm thinking about working PRN and I won't need benefits.

I am a military nurse looking to moonlight in the Hamilton Roads area. I need PRN with no benefits. What kind of pay can I expect?

Wow....much different from where I am! I work a small Med Surg Unit with plenty of staff! We had 11 patients a few days ago....our norm is 2-4 patients....so this was the most we'd had since I arrived last Dec. We are fully staffed and getting 5 new nurses....2 arrived last week. It's not uncommon for us to have a 1:1 or 1:2 ratio. It's also not uncommon to have more nurses on the floor than patients! Our hospital doesn't have an ICU or even telemetry so we have a very low acuity, too. To be honest, most of the time, I feel like I am losing my skills.

I looked at the internship and was planning on going for it, but things have changed and now I am planning on getting out after my time. I love the military and am considering the reserves...possibly IMA....we'll see. But I want to work ER...a Level I Trauma Center, if I can....I don't really like ICU, but I love the adrenaline rush in the ER! Thank goodness we have ICU nurses like you, so I don't have to do it! As for a bucket, but I'm not in one....when I asked, they told me that I would have to be here for a year first!

I totally agree with you that pre-hosital treatment is totally different than regular hospital nursing, and everyone going into it needs field experience before being the paramedic in charge of the scene. But, with all due respect, even in a hospital at 0200, you can't yell "start over" and expect results!!!

My turn! I'm an Air Force nurse....next month I will have one year in!!! Right now, I work Mad/Surg, but my true love is Trauma....I am jealous to hear that a couple of friends of mine might be heading to Iraq without me....and one is a L&D nurse through and through!!! What's up with that? Letting her go and leaving me behind! I plan to get a masters in Trauma in a few years and work in a Level I Trauma Center....but probably on the civilian side. I am considering switching to the Reserves as soon as I can.