joepro7

Hey guys, This may be a niche question, haven't been able to find a lot of travel cath lab topics on the site. I am currently a cath lab nurse, coming up on 3 years of experience, 3 years ER prior. My wife (hospice nurse) are thinking of traveling full time, specifically traveling full time in an RV. I was wondering if anyone here has done this before. My main concern is being on call and being at a location in the RV that either does not have cell phone service or having a hard time finding a place to stay within 30 minutes of the hospital. Has anyone had a cath lab assignment where they didn't take call? (Sounds like the unicorn assignment to me, so I would be surprised if such a thing existed). We have not had much experience with travelers in our lab, so not a lot or resources to ask. Lastly, do you get paid more to have a RCIS certification? I have been wanting to do this regardless but wondering if there were any monetary benefits to it. No one in my lab has RCIS but our hospital does not reimburse you to take the test nor pay you anymore.

No, not a deal breaker if we can't work together. We just enjoyed working together and wanted to do it again. However, our top priority is to hit the road, work, and try something we have always talked about! Thank you very much for you info!

Hi Everyone! Wife and I are thinking about traveling (she is also an RN). She has 12+years experience in ER and last 2 years have been hospice. I have 3 years in ER and last 2 have been cath lab. Our preference is to work together in the same department for assignments, we have heard and seen other couples do this. My question is about our recent experience. We have talked to a couple recruiters so far and both have said that we need to have 6 months to 1 year recent ER experience to work in ER. Can anybody verify that is true? I just find it hard to believe that an agency or hospital would pick a 1 year experienced RN with recent time in an ER over an RN who has 12+ years with less than recent experience. Are there any other options that you would know of other than our current experience (cath lab, hospice) or past experience (ER) that we could do such as a TELE or PCU/Med-surg assignment without actual prior experience. We have both taken care of inpatients, just not officially employed by those floors. Thank you guys!

That’s what I have heard also. Goodluck everyone!

Thank you for the input Bratapfel! I have heard the same thing from several people now about being treated like a child on a med-surg floor and appreciate the honesty. For several reasons, I have chosen to attempt to go in as clinical (med-surg). My recruiter, who I feel has been very upfront and on top of things, said I could try and push for ER if I really wanted to but I honestly did not want to get stuck in the ER. Not that I'm complaining at all if I worked in an ER, i just wanted to try something different and also I felt med-surg gave me the most options such as eventually going back to ER, or going ICU, or taking an administrative route. My number one goal is just to get in and be an airman. The CRNA goal is very up in the air for me, it is just something to work towards if I don't find another path I would enjoy more after I am in the AF.

Awesome, thank you!

Just heard back from my recruiter. She said there are 3 spots left for clinical, along with whatever applicants they will take as alternates in case there are candidates who change their mind or anything like that. I feel I have a pretty good packet, especially for clinical nurse, so wish me good luck! MasalaC, where did you do your interview if you don't mind me asking? My recruiter did give me some tips and also sent me a sheet which basically seemed like a sheet for the interviewer, i.e. what questions to ask applicants. Which sounds along the lines of what you said, AF mission, deployment mission, etc. Without trying to sound like I'm trying to get an easy answer from you, what did you say in regards to what the AF role in national defense is, deployment mission, what makes AF diff from other branches. I've done a lot of research and just feel I don't have a solid answer to any of those questions so any input would be greatly appreciated.

I'm going in as clinical nurse. I have an ER background but not in a "trauma" designated ER. My recruiter said I could pursue ER code if I wanted to, but regardless if I was eligible for ER or not, I did not want to do it. I went to MEPS this past week. Everything went well. They definitely treated me a little different throughout the process, in a good way, because of being an officer candidate (I was the only one there out of about 20 people who wasn't going enlisted). Got through everything just fine but at the end, a doctor told me I was disqualified for "insomnia". I've been taking ambien as needed for 4 years, started when I was working 3 different shifts in one week in the ER. I told them I can stop taking it immediately, but didn't matter, i was DQ'd. Recruiter was pretty confident that I will get a waiver, I'm just really hoping I get it before January boards. Anyone do their interview with a Chief Nurse yet? I'm doing mine in a few weeks. Thanks to everyone for the responses!

Hi Everyone, I wanted to start a discussion board for anyone applying for the January 2020 Air Force Nurse Corps boards as I've seen a few people do this in the past and some good info has been in those discussions. Good luck to everyone in advanced!

Thank you guys for the feedback. I've heard of a course for ER/ICU training. Where is this offered at? I'm actually leaning towards going into ICU, despite my ER background. As of right now, my eventual goal would be to go to CRNA school but I'm open to any other doors the Air Force may open for me. Like i said, I'm trying to not make myself shy away from med-surg. I want to be an Officer/Airman first so whatever I have to do to be that, I'll do. I just want to make sure I know all my options and have as much knowledge as I can before the time may come to commit.

Hello Everyone, I am in the process of putting together my packet for the selection board to become a RN in the Air Force- hopefully ready for January deadline, if not, then later in the year. I have 3 years ER experience (my hospital currently does not have a trauma designation), and will be 2 years cardiac cath lab experience by the time my packet would be up for review. I have a few initial questions. 1) I understand my ER experience basically does not count towards ER experience since I work at a rural non-trauma designated hospital but does count towards overall nursing experience. Does this basically entail that my only initial option in the Air Force is for a clinical nurse position (Med-Surg RN) 2) When i mentioned cath lab to my recruiter, she said there might be something there. From the research I have done, I have not heard of cath lab positions in the Air Force. Any input? 3) Is there anything I can do in the next 6-12 months other than get a new job to give me a chance to be commissioned into a specialty nursing position? (ex. CEN, CCRN, ect.) 4) Can someone explain an "accession bonus"? 5) As of right now, my goal would be to get back to a critical care position, ICU, Trauma ER, Flight, etc. I am not totally shooting down the med-surg option because honestly, I probably could use the experience because I have never had a true inpatient position (ER and cath lab as I mentioned). So what are your experiences or what have you heard as being a clinical med surg nurse in the Air Force? 6) My number one goal would be to advance as an officer in the Air Force, more than advance my career as a nurse, if that makes any sense. Basically, do i have to become an advanced practice nurse (CRNA, FNP, etc.) in order to rank up to say at least Major? 7) Lastly for now, i'm confused as to which base I could possible be stationed at since its my understanding that not all AF bases have hospitals. Which ones would be options and what are your opinions of best/worst AF bases to work at as a nurse/medical personnel. Thank you in advance to everyone for your time.

We are educated Doctors, obviously we are too smart to know how to put a foley in.

Hi everyone, I've been trying to get as much information as I can lately about joining the military as a nurse. I already posted a thread about becoming an army nurse but was informed by my peers and also a healthcare professional recruiter that 2 years of experience are required to be commissioned in the army at this time (I am a new grad), so my sights have turned to the air force and navy for the time being. My question now though is how is work life as an ER nurse in the military. I apologize if I sound ignorant but I'm confused on this issue. From the sounds of it, most hospitals (not all) in the military do not have a high patient acuity. And it is to my understanding that military hospitals only serve people in the military and their families (which are all fairly healthy) so it sounds like to me there would not be a lot of "action" in a military hospital ER. I recently chose an ER job over a CVICU job and I am starting to worry that might of hurt my chances to being commissioned in any of the branches because ICU nurses seem to be the most sought after specialty but the ER is really my calling (as far as I know now, I'm young and have a lot of experiences ahead of me). Any info on this or military nursing in general would be greatly appreciated and utilized.

Thank you for the input! I do have my BSN and my gpa was just over 3.5. I am leaning towards army right now because I have two Lt. Colonels in the family who served for 40 years and they are really pushing me that route. I don't live in NC right now but Fort Bragg was my first choice because i plan on moving to NC anyway but i realize the needs of the army trump all personal wants and needs. I have been told by my family members who were in the army (one of which was a nurse) how competitive it is to join the army as a nurse and be commissioned especially at this time but is the 2 years experience a hard, set criteria? Also i don't know if would help but i plan on getting my CEN (certified emergency nurse) as soon as possible.

Hi everyone, I've been thinking about becoming an army nurse since I graduated in May. I just passed my NCLEX and am about to start working in an ED in July. In 6 months I plan on moving to a different state or join the army so I want to gather as much information as I can and weigh my options. I know I could have my questions answered by a recruiter but I would like to hear it from my fellow nurses first and before i get serious about it and contact a recruiter. My questions are: how long is the initial commitment (i'm lead to believe its 3 years); i understand its not a matter of if but when i get deployed but while I'm not deployed overseas, is there a chance I could be stationed where i want such as Fort Bragg; is there only one time a year that the army commissions nurses ( i heard the board meets every november); is there a good chance that the army will pay for graduate school and where i want to go to school; how long is officer training. They are many more things i don't fully understand so any input on the topic would be appreciated! Thank you guys!