?How to Get A Job With the VA?

[allamericangirl]

i love my country, as you can tell by my screen name, i am enthusiastically prone to patriotism. yesterday i completed my cna training through a well-respected vocational training institution in denver. i was a good student, and was proud to get 100% on my written final and 96% on my clinical skills. shortly i will be taking the colorado exam for certification.

i am a 58-year-old female who has just entered a career transition from a sales career to nursing. i have chosen to enter nursing through cna, to lpn, to rn or if i am lucky, and win the lottery, cna to rn. it has been by life long wish to be able to become a nurse, but early marriage, finances, a family business that needed my help, and putting my children through college demanded precedence over my personal wants, commonly known as the "mama syndrome". it is a little belated but it is now time for me.

i would be thrilled if i could get a job working in a veteran's hospital as a cna, complete my education and working years for the va. i feel that this would be a positive, helpful way to participate in support of my country and to show my appreciation to the wonderful people who have protected my rights, freedoms and great fortune to have lives the life of an all american girl.

i have a lot of questions about the possibilities and outcome of my working in the va hospital system that i hope some of you will be willing to answer for me. some of my questions may seem naive, and stupid, but i know very little about any of this so please bear with me.

• is there a mandatory retirement age? at 58, is it too late for me?
  
• in about 24 to 30 months, my husband and i will be moving to florida. if i begin working for a va facility here, can i keep my seniority, any retirement etc. and transfer to another facility within the system?
  
• where are va hospitals located in south west florida?
  
• there are a gazillion out patient facilities listed in s.w. florida? i know this is a really stupid question, but ...what are they, what is done there, etc.?
  
• will i feel out of place in a va hospital? are most employees military and non-civilian? are most of the people working for the va young? are there any old women and men working for the va?
  
• is there a web site that has any jobs listed?
  
• how do i get hired? what is the process?
  

i hope that you all will help me with as much input as you can on this.

thank you,

allamericangirl

[JEEPS2]

Who would have thought this would be that long of a process. I would almost assume with more vets coming back from Iraq that the system will be flooded and the amount of nurses to increase. I am currently working with a contract with the marine corps and we are busy my case load gets longer by the week and I am constantly referring to the VA. Thanks for the info guys.

[BadBird, BSN, RN]

You will have more success if you call the nurse managers directly or the ICU education department. They want qualified nurses and often feel frustrated that human resources holds up interviews. So, call all the units MICU, CCU, SICU, Stepdown, medical, surgical, telemetry, etc.... Good luck to all !