us air force 2014 application

jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA · Aug 10, 2014

I hope he is still eligible based on his age. 42 should be the max age, but they should credit him 4 years towards retirement if he already served 4 years (so 46 would be tops).

He would most definitely enter as an O-3. I doubt they give any BSN/RN higher than that; I have never heard of a nurse direct commissioning as an O-4 or above. A lot of MDs enter as O-4s and O-5s when they have experience.

The critical care experience is a plus. You definitely want to encourage him to get his CCRN before applying; the Air Force loves certifications. Just so you're aware, we really aren't deploying people right now. Real trauma experience is hard to come by these days. Generally, non-deployed nurses are practicing way below the level of their civilian counterparts in my opinion. There just isn't that much going on in most MTFs. The few bases that even have ICUs are more like step-down units (with a few exceptions).

JenniferGarey · Aug 11, 2014

I am curious as to the age limit you have..as the guidelines are 48 for the nurse corp. Also have you worked at critical care in the civilian world or military before? We have both worked at large and small ICU and have seen true critically ill to acute care in an ICU.

jeckrn, BSN, RN · Aug 11, 2014

If you are not able to complete 20 years of active federal service before you are 62 a age waiver is needed. Right now any waiver is hard to come by.

jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA · Aug 11, 2014

I'm not trying to be a negative nancy here, but I am trying to taper your expectations of military healthcare to be more realistic. Some critical care nurses think they can take their skills to the next level via the military, but almost nobody is deploying right now.

I have not worked ICU on both sides of the fence, but I do have co-workers who have done so; they agree with what I just said. From my civilian and military med-surg experience, and I can safely say military hospitals have a much lower acuity per average patient. My point here is to illustrate that, unless you deploy, you will be taking care of much healthier patients...not sicker. That tends to be an unexpected disappointment for people. For some reason, people tend to think 'non-stop trauma' when they think military nursing. However, that's not the case on a typical day. People who can pass a PT test generally don't have all the co-morbidities a typical civilian has.

Even though I haven't worked a military ICU, I see the place on a regularly basis. We have the 4th or 5th biggest AF hospital in the U.S., and our ~6 bed ICU rarely has ventilated patients; rarely is the unit close to full. That's not a real ICU; its a step-unit at many large medical centers.

As Jeckrn stated, you must be able to serve 20 years on active duty before age 62 to be eligible to join without a waiver. Those who have already put in years get credit for that, and that's where I got 46 (42+4). The reserves have different requirements that are generally more accommodating.

The pay, benefits, and career advancement beat the civilian sector every time. However, you will likely be working closer to ~48hrs per week instead of the traditional 36. They aren't very flexible sometimes with family obligations, and I don't think you'd enjoy your lives very much if you both were active duty. Only 1 of you should join at most.

Camo-angel · Aug 11, 2014

Also just a note, if he does apply to join the Air Force he would be competing against other experienced and qualified nurses, not new graduates. The Air Force separate new graduate nurses applying from experienced nurses. Experienced nurses apply through the FQ route (fully qualified) and new grads apply through the NTP route. He would not be compared to new nurses, he would be compared to people who may have the same or even more experience. Not trying to be negative, just telling you the facts!!

jeckrn, BSN, RN · Aug 11, 2014

Also, in general the military wants younger members because of the nature of deployments. As we get older we have more aliments which might not be a big deal stateside but in a combat zone can be a issue. If I was on a selection board and had to choose between 2 equal nurses and one was 30 the other 40 I would choose the 30 year old just for this reason.