I remember vividly my first day of nursing school. Sitting in the classroom listening to the professor speak about her love for nursing and how she just knows we will all love it too. (I did for a little while, then I didn’t).

My 3rd clinical in nursing school was med/surg and I absolutely hated it. Luckily my lab instructor was the coolest nurse I had ever met. She was a flight nurse, and I could listen to her talk about it for an entire hour (longer if she would have let me). She would talk about these amazing scene flights she had been on where she responded to multi vehicle accidents, landing on major highways with traffic stopped both ways. I wanted that. I wanted to be just like her. I knew by my 3rd semester in nursing school that I WAS going to be a flight nurse. And I wouldn’t shut up about it.

I became a PCT in the emergency department while I was in nursing school and my love for emergency medicine and critical care began. Blood draws, splinting, vital signs, CPR and codes, I loved it all. I knew for a fact that was the direction for me after graduation. I had no desire to be a floor nurse (no offense, you guys are mvp’s), considered L&D for a second (quickly decided against that) and even interviewed for the ICU, but I loved the hustle and bustle of the ER.

2017 I was able to land my first big girl nursing job in my hometown, just 5 minutes down the road. An ER that was in the process of expanding, doubling in size actually. I was placed with a preceptor who was previously a flight nurse for the same base I work at currently, and holy cow did I learn so much from her. No nonsense, to the point, matter of fact, and one hell of a nurse. She put me in situations that slung me completely out of my comfort zone, but she wasn’t going to let me fail. She taught me invaluable lessons and molded me into the nurse I am today.

I loved being a nurse in the ER so much, then Covid happened. It was January 2020, we had heard rumors of a new virus and had no idea what to expect. I was newly pregnant with my first child and had no idea how to handle this new scary sickness. Our ED manager made an announcement there were confirmed cases near us and handed us all an N95 that we reused for the next 3 months. May 2020 I left for maternity leave and didn’t return until September 2020. I was hopeful it would be a little better than when I left but not to my surprise, it was the same. Busy, critical, and chaotic. I hated it. It was not the same ER nursing that I had loved when I first started. It was just…different. At this point I had 3 years of ER nursing experience. I needed something new.

There was a new flight base that was started at our hospital, so I applied. And I royally sucked. I took their critical care exam twice before I passed, and I completely bombed their scenario portion of the interview. I was devastated. I felt completely incompetent. Now I had to wait to leave the ER and I hated it there. With flight nursing, most agencies require 3-5 years of ER or ICU experience. I refused to work in the ICU, so it looked like I was going to have to tough it out.

April 2021 I find out I’m pregnant with my second child. Still working in the ER and still dreading going in every shift. At this point, I start looking elsewhere for other job opportunities. I just needed out of the ER. I was burnt out. October comes around and I notice there is an open flight nurse position at a base an hour away. I apply, but I’m pregnant? Should I honestly leave my job right now with my baby coming in 2 months? Yes let’s do it. When I tell you, I was shocked when I got the call for an interview.

The day comes for this interview and I am NERVOUS. I show up and walk to the meeting room. Open the door and there is already someone in there interviewing. Whoops. Bad first impression. My turn comes and I make my way into the room and there sat 3 people in front of me. I was relieved to see a familiar face. The program director interviewing me was the instructor for every ACLS class I’ve taken. We start making small talk and I tell him the nurse who precepted me worked for him to! Surely he would know that I’m not a screw ball. She trained me. He trained her. It could work! The interview goes well and I finally decide to tell them I’m expecting in 2 short months. I explain my reasoning for wasting their time. I tell them I wanted them to know my name, remember my face, I had to talk to them and let them get to know me. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity even if it was horrible timing. At this point, I knew it wouldn’t be a good idea to quit my current job. I would have to wait.

I have my daughter in December 2021 and go out on maternity leave. I dreaded going back the entire time I was out. That was all I could think about. I knew in my heart I could not go back to the ER. At this point, my logic was this-I did not want to work in the ICU, I did not want to go back to the ER, but I needed critical care experience, so flight nursing was my only option. Or I would quit nursing. The end of December, there was another position open at the same base I applied at! I was shocked. I applied that same day, again. The phone interview was shortly after. I actually felt confident. Finally. The waiting period felt like a month. I got a phone call one afternoon in mid January. “Hi Maggie, we wanted to let you know we are going to offer you the position of flight nurse”. When I tell you, I could have cried. My career dream was finally coming true. Of course, I accepted it before he even got it all out of his mouth. Yes, when do I start.

Now to tell my husband! I am finally going to have my dream job! I know he is going to be so happy and excited for me! Except he wasn’t. When I told him I would have to work 24 hour shifts, while he had to stay home with our toddler and infant (whom was breast fed to make matters worse), he was not a fan of the idea whatsoever, (t took 6 months of flying for him to finally be ok with the schedule change). I tried everything I could to prepare our family for this. I tried to sleep trained my 3 month old, made sure she would take bottles, etc. Thankfully she was such a good baby, it made the transition a little easier.

February 14, 2022 I am set for New Employee Orientation (NEO for short). Many people flew in from all over the country. Luckily, I lived about 90 minutes from headquarters and was able to drive the 5 days instead of staying over night. The first 2 days were death by power point. I can’t keep everything straight, information overload, I’ve never even touched a helicopter. They are talking about aircraft accidents, injuries from tail rotors, do I honestly want to do this? Day 3 we had our night vision goggle flight. My first time in a helicopter. Yes, I do want to do this. It was incredible. Day 4 and 5 were a blur after that, with basic terminology and aircraft knowledge that I knew I wouldn’t remember.

Once NEO was complete, I was ready for base orientation. Here is where my learning REALLY started. Our Base Clinical Lead and Base Pilot Supervisor were a huge heap of knowledge. And I was absolutely clueless. I felt completely overwhelmed and in over my head. I didn’t even know how to open the door or buckle in. I am proficient at this now after lots of practice luckily. The whole time, we were preparing for my first meeting with our educator. Regional Intensive 1. There, they tested my knowledge more in depth and really got to see what I knew and what I struggled with. We had 2 more of these during the 6 month orientation period I had.

March 18th was my first day of flight status. I was FINALLY a real flight nurse! But I felt so incompetent. I remember my first patient flight like it was yesterday. Tones drop. I feel like I’m going to puke. Interfacility transfer from the hospital across the parking lot. Great, no time to mentally prepare. ICU transfer, 3 drips, intubated, and arterial line. Um, what? I don’t know ICU stuff!? But I do know how to take care of intubated patients of sedation. Easy enough. So I thought. My medic partner and I make our way down to the ICU from the helipad and I have no idea where to even begin. But he does, and he begins by telling me we forgot our portable oxygen tank and he has to go back out to the aircraft to get it. So I stand there, like a big ole idiot trying to pretend like I’m not completely stupid. We spend the next hour trying to package the patient and get back down to the aircraft. Flight goes smoothly, thank God, because I would have had no idea what to do if something would have gone wrong. After dropping off the patient to the receiving ICU, my partner and I are standing on the rooftop helipad overlooking St Louis, and I finally get to take it all in. This right here is exactly what my soul needed.