I am considering going to work as an RN for the VA, in particular for the VA hospital in Madison Wisconsin. I have some questions I can't find answers and the nurse recruiter for that hospital won't be available for several weeks.

Do VA nurses work 12 hour shifts and/or must nurses work 40 hours a week? Can VA nurses work 3, 12 hours shifts in a row each week as I do now? Can you transfer from one VA hospital to another and keep your same pay rate and seniority? Do the years I spent in army infantry apply to retirement or anything else with the VA? I understand how the VA retirement system works but how about health insurance? Roughly how much would I have to pay for health insurance for a family of four?

If any of you can answer some or all of these questions I would really appreciate it.

Thanks in advance.

I am a veteran and I work as a nurse for the V.A. As with any federal job if you served time in the military you have to buy that time back in order to count it towards retirement.

Each V.A. is different when it comes to 12 or 8 hour shifts or whether or not 3 12's can be considered full time. The V.A. I work with has both 12 and 8 hour shifts. Over-time is working over 80 hours in a 2 week period and not over 40 in a week period (does that make sense?) ....each V.A. is different.

I bought my time back. They take your total gross pay for the number of years you were on active duty and come up with a percentage. I think mine was about $1900. They just take a little out of my check per pay day.

If you are retired military there is a whole other policy. It wouldn't be worth it for a retired military person to buy back their time. My husband is retired from the Navy and works for the government. I just did 5 years.

You can transfer from one V.A. to another and keep your current pay grade.

Thanks Exnavygirl!