Opportunities for nurses in the Air Force are vast and include every opportunity the civilian sector has to offer plus more! As a new graduate, nurses have only two choices to pick from: medical-surgical or labor and delivery. This process is so that new graduates can learn and become proficient in their skills before specializing if they want to. Once the new graduate nurse has chosen their first path in nursing, they must stick with that specialty for three years. After those three years, they have the choice to continue on in that area of practice or continue on to a different specialty which may require a fellowship. The nurse would then apply for the fellowship and wait to find out if they are chosen. Fellowships are for intensive care, emergent care and operating room nurses, as well as a few other specialties. Nurses may also choose to go back to school and become a Nurse Practitioner or a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist. Yet another opportunity for nurses is the Flight Nurse path. Nurses who want to go the Flight Nurse path would attend Flight Nurse School and SERE training. They are able to perform in overseas missions in transporting critical patients from violent, war-torn areas to areas that have hospitals for the higher level of care that they need. Nurses in the Air Force have two jobs- nurse and officer. As a new nurse, your job is to learn your skills and perfect them. As a new officer, your job is to take on the projects and positions given to you and learn leadership. As a nursing student myself, I have seen what nurses do. They comfort the anxious, protect those who are unable to speak for themselves, and above all serve their patients to the best of their abilities. I am not a nurse yet, but these are qualities that I too want to convey to my patients in the future. It is a humbling job and I for one am glad that nurses exist. As for my future in nursing and the Air Force see it as a blessing to get to serve those who fight for our freedom every day.
11