About Air Ambulance Nurses

Air ambulance nurses are critical to the survival of accident victims and persons with known disease or illness. They must simultaneously function as an emergency, critical, and intensive care nurse. They must be highly skilled, trained and experienced in order to meet the needs of their patients that vary widely in the type and scope of care needed.

Types

• Air ambulance nurses can work in the military or they can be civilians. Those that work in the military can do so as active duty officers or as reservists. These skills are beneficial in that they carry over into the civilian arena. Some civilian air ambulance nurses fly with patients with known medical conditions. Others respond to emergency situations or disasters such as the scene of a car accident or an act of nature such as a tornado, earthquake, or flood. Air ambulance nurses are employed by hospitals or companies that employ emergency and disaster response crews.

Warning

• Anyone considering a career as a flight nurse on an air ambulance should be aware that it may take time to secure this position due to a low turnover rate. The job can be thrilling and fulfilling through helping others, but it is also a demanding, hectic, and stressful job. Any candidate for this position should consider the potential physical, mental, and emotional effects of a job in emergency medicine before taking the job.

Considerations

• The educational requirements include a degree in nursing but vary widely depending on who the air ambulance nurse is employed by. One thing that is necessary in all cases is some prior experience and training in emergency medicine and/or critical care.

Function

• Some duties that a flight ambulance nurse might perform include:

  Going to sites of natural disasters and various types of accidents.
  Administering emergency medical care en route to a medical facility.
  Teaching or training others in disaster response and emergency preparedness.
  Staying up-to-date with continuing education to stay abreast of the latest and most effective emergency medical procedures and treatments.

Benefits

• The benefits of being an air ambulance nurse include the satisfaction of playing a key role in what happens to the victims of the worst accidents and disasters that occur. There is a satisfaction in knowing that a stranger's life was saved because of the care they received in an air ambulance. For the person that would rather not have a mundane or predictable job, being an air ambulance nurse would bring an excitement to them that can only be experienced through emergency medicine. These internal benefits can be numerous and significant but so can the pay and demand that comes with a career in nursing. In 2008, the median salary for an air ambulance nurse was nearly $65,000.