- Flight nurse
A Flight Nurse is a
Registered Nurse who provides comprehensive prehospital and emergency or criticalnursing care to all types of patients during aeromedical evacuation orrescue operations aboard helicopter and propeller aircraft orjet aircraft .Role and Duties of a Flight Nurse
The Flight Nurse performs as a member of an aeromedical evacuation crew on helicopters and airplanes - providing for inflight management and nursing care for all types of patients. Other responsibilities include planning and preparing for aeromedical evacuation missions and preparing a patient care plan to facilitate patient care, comfort and safety.
Flight Nurses evaluate individual patient's inflight needs and request appropriate medications, supplies and equipment, providing continuing nursing care from origination to the destination facility. They act as liaisons between medical and operational aircrews and support personnel in order to promote patient comfort and to expedite the mission, and also initiate emergency treatment in the absence of a physician during inflight medical emergencies.
Training
Flight Nurses are generally Registered Nurse who also possess Emergency Medical Technician-Emergency Medical Techniciantraining and some degree of on-the-job experience in
prehospital care , anEmergency Department (ED) or an Intensive Care Unit. Some bridge programs allow Nurses to take an accelerated course for EMT-Paramedic that helps them attain this qualification in less than one year. Some flight nurses have prior military training and experience, and some have various combinations of the above. Some Paramedics are alsoLicensed Vocational Nurses , but in many states they are generally not considered flight nurses since LVNs can only work as nurses under the supervision of an RN or a physician and cannot legally delegate authority over paramedics.Civilian Flight Nurses
Civilian Flight Nurses work for
hospitals , Federal, State, and Local governments, privatemedical evacuation firms, fire departments, and other agencies.Aircraft and Equipment
Flight Nurses can work aboard either helicopters or airplanes.
Military Flight Nurses
The military flight Nurse performs as a member of the aeromedical evacuation
crew , and functions as the senior medical member of the aeromedical evacuation team on Continental United States (CONUS), intra-theater and inter-theater flights - providing for inflight management and nursing care for all types of patients. Other responsibilities include planing and preparing for aeromedical evacuation missions and preparing a patient positioning plan to facilitatepatient care ,comfort andsafety .Flight Nurses evaluate individual patient's inflight needs and request appropriate
medications , supplies and equipment, providing continuing nursing care from originating to destination facility. They act as liaison between medical and operationalaircrews and support personnel in order to promote patient comfort and to expedite the mission, and also initiate emergency treatment in the absence of aphysician for inflightmedical emergencies . [cite web |url=http://www.afrotc.com/careers/jobsearch/category/nurse/46FX.htm |title=Flight Nurse |author=US Air Force ROTC |accessdate=2008-06-05 ]References
See also
*
Aerospace Medical Association
*Navy Flight Nurse Badge External resources
* [http://www.astna.org/ Air & Surface Transport Nurses Association]
* [http://www.flightweb.com/ Flightweb]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.