New Nurse Training Launched

The Air Force and University Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio, are launching a new training program this month to provide newly graduated registered nurses with the advanced clinical training and experience they need to become Air Force Nurse Corps officers and be prepared for deployment. University Hospital is the first civilian hospital to partner with the Air Force in this initiative, called the nurse transition program, which offers 11-weeks of instruction, including both teaching and clinical components. “I can’t begin to underscore the value of this program,” said Brig. Gen. Richard Hersack, command surgeon of Air Force Materiel Command, headquartered at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. He said the Air Force does not have enough clinical opportunities at its own medical facilities to meet training needs, so partnering with civilian trauma hospitals is critical. Lee Ann Liska, executive director of UH-Cincinnati, praised the new program, which extends the long-term relationship the hospital has had with the Air Force, and added that it’s “also very important for us to have the opportunity to give back to our service men and women for all they give us in terms of freedom every day.” UH-Cincinnati also participates in the Air Force’s center for sustainment of trauma and readiness skills program. (Cincinnati report by Mike Frangipane)