Thinking about Air Force nursing

I do not know about the air force but I am doing the US Navy Nurse Program. I am a junior as well going into level 2 this fall and graduating fall 2011 with a BSN. After that Ill do my 12 week OCS at Newport RI.. then do a medsurg training at the Big 3 naval hospitals (San Diego, Portsmouth, or Bethesda). I did my homework, considered airforce as well but chose the navy as my final choice. Navy has the largest healthcare facilities in the military and they are willing to help pay for your school while you are in nursing school through the Navy Nurse Candidate Program. Go talk to an Airforce Medical recruiter, not an enlisted recruiter. The paperwork is long and tedious just to let you know with all the physical exams, background checks, and interviews. Being in a military you can be deployed but in the greenzone hospital. One advice I give to you that was given to me by a navy nurse officer is get as much education and certifications as you can (flight nursing, grad school, ER, ICU). The military is more than willing to help you get through that at their own expense because you will be more marketable that way. If you want to go further in nursing, military is a great way. With the economy right now and new grads having a hard time looking for jobs, choosing the military is a guaranteed job. Make sure this is really what you want...Weigh in the pros and cons..Good luck..

The previous poster gave great advice :) I think there is a military forum on here where you can get even more responses.

Good luck! I think serving as a nurse in the armed forces is the way to go. I just did a rotation at San Diego Naval Hospital and it was the best facility I've ever been at.

So what exactly made you choose the navy over the airforce?

I would take a look at at the official air force recruiting website as most of these questions are discussed.... its always best to learn how to find this info and it will help provide a lot of additional info as well.

Scroll through the forum and lots of people have similar posts and these questions are addressed as well... and again reading the answers people have given can help provide better perspective so you can ask specific questions.

thankyou I have definently started looking through the different forums

So what exactly made you choose the navy over the airforce?

Navy 1. US Hospital Ships (Comfort and Mercy)

2. Navy Hospitals all over the world. (Navy Medical Centers)

3. Navy Nurse Candidate Program. Gives you 34000 for 2 years while in nursing school. commit 5 years service. 24k for 4 years.

4. Overall --> Further nursing experience achieved.

Im a little confused 34k for two years is that like loan payback? And your saying when you sign up you agree to give them 5 years and for 4 of those years you get 24k like bonuses or something....and do you happen to no any good recruiters or just someone I could contact to get more details? I really wanna check all my options before I make my decision

NCP you essentially get 5k up front, 5k at graduation and then 1k per month (I believe only while enrolled full time.. not 100% on that..) and using the program for 13-24 months you owe 5 years and in theory could have 10K+24K=34K in 'money' vs using it for 12 months and having 24k and you owe 4 years...

that is what I believe you and previous poster are looking at.

in my opinion the NCP is nice because you are locked in for a job and can focus on studies.... and feel assured you are set to join navy.. that is a non-monetary bonus. Then you weight whether a year additional is worth the extra money.. all depends on you and your goals .etc.

1. what are the steps in doing the nursing transition program, i know you go off and do your training and then a 10 week clinical i think? how was that?

sorta like a senior nursing leadership clinical... but you have your rn, and have more autonomy. one of the goals was to be able to manage a complex 4 pt load.

2. what is an average day like as a nurse in the air force. i know a lot of times as a civilian they say nurses are overworked and underpaid, is it the same in the air force?

haha, depends on where you'll be working. there's always places that pay more, but i think the perks of the military cover any pay concerns. we work with a bunch of civilians, and they make more money than us for the same job. and being active duty requires working as a nurse full-time plus meetings/training/extra duties that extend beyond working full-time.

3. do they have any field of nursing in the air force? i was looking toward pediatrics or neo natal

when you apply, there's the labor and delivery track, or med/surg track.

peds is part of the med/surg track. and there's only one inpatient pediatric unit in the af- at lackland. if you go to any other hospital, their med/surg floors admit peds pts, but they don't have a unit dedicated to those kids. and any new nurse can work with peds.

neonatal... i'm assuming you mean nicu. in order to work there you'd need to attend a nicu fellowship- you won't be placed in the nicu as a new nurse, it's something you apply to get the fellowship to work there.

4. do you get deplowed often?

we get put into "bands" that determine when we can deploy. for nurses, we can deploy for 6 months, and be home for 18 months... if you even get tasked that frequently. i know some experienced nurses that haven't been deployed yet... and some new nurses that get tasked for humanitarian missions that aren't a full 6 months. a big part of the mission of the military is readiness. so ask yourself if you're willing to serve that kind of commitment.

5. how does the paying off you school loans work and how many years are you required?

typically a 3yr commitment for the loan repayment and 4yrs for the bonus. there's other threads that cover that topic alone.

So in the air force do you have the sam amount of patients as if you were a civilian nurse?

NCP you essentially get 5k up front, 5k at graduation and then 1k per month (I believe only while enrolled full time.. not 100% on that..) and using the program for 13-24 months you owe 5 years and in theory could have 10K+24K=34K in 'money' vs using it for 12 months and having 24k and you owe 4 years...

that is what I believe you and previous poster are looking at.

in my opinion the NCP is nice because you are locked in for a job and can focus on studies.... and feel assured you are set to join navy.. that is a non-monetary bonus. Then you weight whether a year additional is worth the extra money.. all depends on you and your goals .etc.

That does sould good money wise...but I think my biggest concern is what your day is like more so..like hows it going to go once your in there...Do you just work in a hospital on base...what is your workload like..how long are your shifts?

1. what are the steps in doing the nursing transition program, i know you go off and do your training and then a 10 week clinical i think? how was that?

sorta like a senior nursing leadership clinical... but you have your rn, and have more autonomy. one of the goals was to be able to manage a complex 4 pt load.

2. what is an average day like as a nurse in the air force. i know a lot of times as a civilian they say nurses are overworked and underpaid, is it the same in the air force?

haha, depends on where you'll be working. there's always places that pay more, but i think the perks of the military cover any pay concerns. we work with a bunch of civilians, and they make more money than us for the same job. and being active duty requires working as a nurse full-time plus meetings/training/extra duties that extend beyond working full-time.

3. do they have any field of nursing in the air force? i was looking toward pediatrics or neo natal

when you apply, there's the labor and delivery track, or med/surg track.

peds is part of the med/surg track. and there's only one inpatient pediatric unit in the af- at lackland. if you go to any other hospital, their med/surg floors admit peds pts, but they don't have a unit dedicated to those kids. and any new nurse can work with peds.

neonatal... i'm assuming you mean nicu. in order to work there you'd need to attend a nicu fellowship- you won't be placed in the nicu as a new nurse, it's something you apply to get the fellowship to work there.

4. do you get deplowed often?

we get put into "bands" that determine when we can deploy. for nurses, we can deploy for 6 months, and be home for 18 months... if you even get tasked that frequently. i know some experienced nurses that haven't been deployed yet... and some new nurses that get tasked for humanitarian missions that aren't a full 6 months. a big part of the mission of the military is readiness. so ask yourself if you're willing to serve that kind of commitment.

5. how does the paying off you school loans work and how many years are you required?

typically a 3yr commitment for the loan repayment and 4yrs for the bonus. there's other threads that cover that topic alone.

so i have also heard that as an officer you get more say so in where you want to be stationed? because coming in after graduation i would be an officer. and also i was wondering (i dont know if you know this answer) but going into the airforce for example i would be an officer and say my spouse joined with me but would be a enlistee is that okay and do they keep you together