waiting, Air Force Nurse Corps

gerrib83 · May 5, 2010

Thanks, I know what you are saying but it is frustrating to have your life and that of your families up in the air. I have many years experience as a nurse and also working with the veteran population. I was told by my recruiter that to be "considered" an experience nurse in the eyes of the Air Force the nurse only has to have been a practicing RN for greater than six months. I was dumbfounded. We still have some new grads with preceptors, never mind the developing of assessment skills and critical thinking.

Its just a awaiting game now till I hear something from my recruiter.

Wac44 · May 5, 2010

gerrib83,

I got my acceptance letter April 19 from the Jan 2010 board. Results were very delayed. So I doubt that you would here back from the last board yet. Also, if you met the age requirement when your package was submitted I don't believe they will disqualify you based on age. Hang in there. The wait is maddening! I have Aug COT.

AnnyRN · May 5, 2010

I'm a little confused as to how these boards work. My app just went into the May 3 boards and my recruiter told me they only have them quarterly. On the forums, it seems like they've been having them every month. How does that work? Anyone with any insight?

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · May 5, 2010

Thanks, I know what you are saying but it is frustrating to have your life and that of your families up in the air. I have many years experience as a nurse and also working with the veteran population. I was told by my recruiter that to be "considered" an experience nurse in the eyes of the Air Force the nurse only has to have been a practicing RN for greater than six months. I was dumbfounded. We still have some new grads with preceptors, never mind the developing of assessment skills and critical thinking.
Its just a awaiting game now till I hear something from my recruiter.

You're not considered experienced, you're considered "qualified" and do not have to attend the AF version of qualification training, known as the Nurse Transition Program, or NTP.

CAREBEAR* · May 5, 2010

Hey there I am new to this site. I have been waiting for result since novemer 2009 and started the process in Jan. 2009. It has been a long frustrating wait!! My recruiter told me many deadline dates and the last one was april 26th at the latest. Obviously it has come and gone like all the other dates. He says I at least wont be leaving for COT until Jan 2011. I dont really care when I leave this is just one thing I really want and want to know that I have been accepted. I was an alternate from the nov board and my ap with 30 others got missed for feb board because they were left in texas (so my recruiter says.) It all seems like a huge mess!! Results have to be coming soon. I bug my recruiter often but I feel they have to know something even the littlest update makes me hopeful. I just feel the day will never come. ANyone else in my situation?? My recruiter also says he has someone not leaving for COT til March 2011. He also told me that the lady in charge of it all left last friday for a family emergency. I have been a RN for almost a year now and was a LPN 3 years prior to that why are new grads being selected who havent passed their boards or even graduated before people who have?

gerrib83 · May 5, 2010

I got a age waiver put in my package as an insurnace policy for this very reason; was my suggestion. I did not want it to be kicked back if I had my birthday before the board reviewed my package. Thus I know I am fine on this issue.

I do agree that the results and letters do not have a defined pattern for informing the canidates they have been selected. My recruiter wife was in the March board and she got her results 5 weeks later. Other stories I have read it takes months.

midinphx, BSN · May 5, 2010

Well, Carebear, I think you are the winner of the longest wait. I thought I had that title. Great work with the perseverence; it will pay off.

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · May 6, 2010

I think some of this stuff the recruiters are telling people is a lot of garbage - pardon me for saying so, but this is the military - things don't come to a screeching halt because someone retires or someone goes on leave or someone has an emergency. There's not one person solely responsible for any of this stuff - either AFPC is telling tales (which I doubt) or the recruiters are trying to buy themselves time.

Here's the first rule of the Air Force: no one is irreplaceable. I've seen three different stories on this board regarding what may or may not be going on in AFPC. So far, the one person in charge is either on emergency leave, has put in to retire, or is just on leave. They can't all be true.

If someone's put in for retirement (which you don't do thirty days out - it takes a few months to process that; you don't retire on a whim), they're still working. If they've gone on terminal leave, SOMEONE'S doing their job already and has taken over their responsibilities. If they're about to get transferred, they've had orders or have known this was coming for a while, and someone's already taking over for them. If someone's on emergency leave, the party doesn't just stop while they're gone.

I know there's nothing you can do about anything you're being told. I was fed multiple lines by my recruiter, and what used to tick her off is I KNEW they were lines. I asked for details, stuff in writing, dates, times, places - none of which she could provide, because while the gist of what she'd say was probably true, the specifics were slightly off focus.

I'm ranting here because it's unfair, and I have no idea what any of us can do about it. I think it's bogus and I just wanted the frustrated folks on here to know they're not alone in the experience. Wish there was something constructive I could do.

You'll learn quick that many times the military doesn't like to say they don't know the answer. What they're still not learning is that sometimes that's the right answer - tell me you don't know once in a while. You'll see it even more once you're commissioned - even as an LT I'm already seeing some smoke being blown up my backside by airmen who won't say, "Ma'am, I'm sorry, but I'm not sure" or "I'm sorry, ma'am, I don't know" when it's completely appropriate to do so. And they're taught that way as airmen - when I was enlisted we were told verbatim that you're never to say "I don't know" to a superior. It gets ingrained in you, and then you always do it. And it frustrates everyone else who's not familiar with this "rule".

So that's part of what I believe is going on here.

CAREBEAR* · May 6, 2010

Its just crazy!!! I keep telling my recruiter that and he says u will get in... the AF has gotten over 400 apps for nursing this year and they are overwhelmed (I understand that but my life has been on hold for the past year and a half waiting for the AF to come through because thats what I really want to do!) I asked if I should apply for another branch of the military and he said no we will get you in. He also told me that none of the branches were accepting anymore aps until further notice. I read a few people who are planning on their app going into a may board but I don't think they are accepting anymore at this time. My recruiter doesn't understand my frustration but I do have a family and It would be nice to know where we are going even if were not leaving til next year. Its hard when your family continues to ask what is going on and you have no answers for them. I just wish we could get answers!

gerrib83 · May 6, 2010

Carebear I hear you and boy it sounds exactly like me. The FRUSTRATION is crazy. I have 2 daughters at home, one in college the other 6th grade. My husband is USN retired and continues to work for the government and here I am, I feel as though I am drangling in the wind. I want to do this but this wait for many is giving them a bad taste for the AF. My husband was a recruiter for his last 4 (crappy job but we stayed at the same base) and he is appalled at the "customer service" that I and others have been recieving. Funny thing is today I got a survey in the mail regarding my satisfaction on the AF recruiting. I am keeping this and the one I got several months ago, I plan to fill them out once I have a base and letter in hand. I will be honest and fair in filling them out, just the facts that I know.

Has anyone called other recruiters to see if there is different stories? I have a call out to a friend of my son's who is a recruiter in another part of the country. Maybe he can give me some insight.

CAREBEAR* · May 6, 2010

I would love to talk to another recruiter to hear what hey have to say. My recruiter is from chicago and I know there are few nursing recruiters in this area. I really feel that my app was late for the november board and didnt get in on it but there is no way I will ever know that for sure. I just feel it hadnt been looked at because I just got it back a few months ago to fix some errors. It just really makes you wonder what is going on? Like carolina said there is no way everything can come to a hault because of one person being gone or whatever the case is.

gerrib83 · May 6, 2010

I had to fix errors too. I also had to resign some paperwork, my recruiter called and left a message that he was fed ex'ing a package to my house. So I drove to Boston and waited for him to come back from PT, got the paperwork squared away. Another problem I will be having soon is my recruiter has orders and leaving in a month so I am being handed over to another one. I don't know how this will effect me. I met the guy a E6 and seems knowledgable. I also had my husband there at the time so he met him too and my husband grilled the guy about recruiting.

Have you tried to speak to your recruiters boss? I know in the Navy they are called the ranks or zone supervisor. If you have been waiting this long you need to get to the bottom of the problem. As I stated in a earlier post I know of a female who was in the March board and she is going to COT in May.

Oh and the Navy is still looking for nurses, as an FYI. I'm too old for them and not a real fan of the summer whites.