Air Force nurses serve in diverse positions at military medical treatment facilities throughout the country and around the world. They could be stationed anywhere from a large, multi-service hospital like Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, or at a small family clinic like Eielson Medical Clinic at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska.
As a family health clinic nurse, Air Force 1st Lt. Katelyn Schoneweis, a clinical nurse at Eielson, part of the 354th Healthcare Operations Squadron, explained how most of her focus is on dependents and retirees, but she also functions as a pediatric nurse due to the clinic's small size.
"My main focus is on the family health side, family members of active-duty and a lot of kids," said Schoneweis. "But with our clinic being so small, we help each other out often. So, I do see a good number of active-duty patients as well."
She added that being at an installation like Eielson allows her to see a wider array of patients than she might see at a larger facility, and that it's a good place to learn.
"That's kind of the cool thing about this clinic – with it being so small, we see a little bit of everything, from newborn babies to retirees," said Schoneweis. "It's good place to be for a newer nurse like me."
Schoneweis' only other duty station was Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, where she worked in the inpatient medical/surgical unit for two years.
"This is a whole different realm in every aspect – moving from Las Vegas to Fairbanks, Alaska, my job, the environment. Everything here is completely different," she said.
In general, nursing provides the opportunity to branch out into areas that you may not have considered upon embarking on a career in medicine, she noted.
"Being a nurse, you can do so much in so many different positions, especially in the military because you're constantly moving," said Schoneweis. "It's been a great experience for me so far."
She compares her current position and her last one is to a civilian nurse going from working at a large hospital to a small family practice.
"I would think we do things pretty much the same, except that we're dealing with the military and dependents," she said.
The difference, she noted, is that service members, both patients and providers, are constantly moving, but that MHS GENESIS, the Military Health System's new, electronic health record, has helped immensely with the tracking of patients' medical histories.
"It's kind of a constant battle and one of the challenges we face in military health care. You don't have a set primary care provider. You have a provider for maybe three or four years and then start over somewhere else," said Schoneweis. "That's why we're so thankful for MHS GENESIS. It helps us keep much better track of our patients' medical history, past bases they've been at and gives us the ability to see their up-to-date health records."