Schedule as an AF nurse

[AFFam]

Ok, so we are trying to decide whether I will go to work full-time or part-time once my husband completes NTP. I was wondering if his nursing schedule in the Air Force will be similar to his civilian schedule. Currently his schedule goes out 6 weeks which allows for us to make plans according with few changes. Sometimes he gets put on call or swaps days with someone but other than that, it's pretty straightforward. Will it be this way in the Air Force? I'm wondering because if I pick up a part time job, I hope to schedule it around the days that he is working so that we can avoid the cost of day care.

[midinphx, BSN]

Scheduling is not what I expected it to be. on many units, including mine, you work 3 days this week and 4 days or nights the next week. Then there are a few extra little meetings to go to , at their convenience, not yours. Our unit does 3 months of day shift, then 3 months of night. We got our 4 week schedule posted the week before we were on that schedule.

[AFFam]

Ugh, ok. How far in advance are you notified of the meetings?

I am looking at a variety of part time positions and work at home spots so hopefully something will fit. He has been working nights and weekends for the past 4 months so I'm use to that schedule. He is definitely going to miss getting differential though. :)

[wtbcrna, MSN, DNP, CRNA]

The bigger facility and the larger the unit you work on, if it is inpatient, the more regular your schedule tends to be in the AF IMO. Smaller facilities/units often get their schedule unadjusted on a regular basis so your days off can be quite random sometimes.

In other words if you plan on working make sure you have a backup babysitter in case your husband has to work at the last minute or even gets recalled. I don't have a babysitter excuse just doesn't work in the AF (I am not saying that to be mean just being factual). It can be difficult for spouses a lot times to hold regular jobs just for this reason.

Where is your husband going to be stationed?

[AFFam]

He is going to be stationed at Keesler.

That is one of the reason we were thinking about me staying at home until we are done having kids. Currently there aren't any jobs available in my field in the area, so we don't want to incur daycare cost if my salary isn't going to be worth it.

[wtbcrna, MSN, DNP, CRNA]

He is going to be stationed at Keesler.

That is one of the reason we were thinking about me staying at home until we are done having kids. Currently there aren't any jobs available in my field in the area, so we don't want to incur daycare cost if my salary isn't going to be worth it.

Keesler inpatient units are relatively small these days, but as long as he is working on med-surg things should be pretty regular. Has he been assigned a sponsor yet, if so you should have him contact his sponsor for more specific information.

[AFFam]

Keesler inpatient units are relatively small these days, but as long as he is working on med-surg things should be pretty regular. Has he been assigned a sponsor yet, if so you should have him contact his sponsor for more specific information.

No, he hasn't been assigned a sponsor. He commissioned on the 6th but he had to resign some paperwork last week, so I'm not sure if his recruiter has even sent his information off yet. He is going Med-Surg, so you give me hope for some sort of regularity.

Are you currently at Keesler?

[jentrump29]

I'm at Keesler right now. I'm in ICU, so our schedule changes about 6 times after the original schedule is put out due to deployment taskings, tdy's, sick calls, etc. We just had 2 civilian nurses have to take 2 weeks off because we had too many civilian hours, so of course the military nurses had to be moved around to cover. Then you have meetings, sometimes with notice, other times no notice. Then there's nurse calls, commanders calls, change of command or promotion ceremonies. The schedulers really try to keep the schedule from changing, but it's almost impossible. The only way to guarantee certain days off is to take leave.

The med/surg floors don't get tasked for deployments as frequently. I think their schedule stays more consistent than ours, but they're still required to attend meetings, nurse calls, commanders calls,... I actually talked to someone last night from the medical floor that had gotten called in for a night shift because someone called in sick. She only had enough notice to take a few hour nap before going in.

I guess the best thing to do is plan for the worst. If you work, plan to be the primary parent to pick up the kids and be home during holidays. He'll be able to help out, but his schedule will definitely be unpredictable. And when they call him to come in, he's going in. The good thing is when they're able, the commanders try to make up for those extra days worked. Unfortunately, family members of active duty make sacrifices too! I couldn't have done this without a very supportive husband!

[HNELLA]

Hey Jen,

I will be Kessler icu also! Do you like it there?

[wtbcrna, MSN, DNP, CRNA]

Jen,

I told Mrs. A to give you a hard time..... Did she rough you up yet? You know she is so mean.

[Flipper911]

sounds like a whole bunch of time spent at the facility compared to civilian nursing.

So, it is better to live really close to base even if the area is a bit seedy than far away and having to commute so much?

[jentrump29]

Ha ha Wtb!! She's been giving me a hard time for the last 6 months!!

HNELLA, we can't wait to have you!! It's not too bad here. It has it's ups and downs like any other place, but overall, I still enjoy my job. When do you get here??

Flipper, I wouldn't say you need to sacrifice a nice place to live to be close to the hospital. If you don't want to live on base, there are alot of places within 30 minutes or so. We have staff living in D'Iberville, Ocean Springs, and Gulfport. It's nice living on base, because it only takes about 5 minutes to get to work, but when you're on call or recalled, you have an hour to report.