student nurse interested in career with the VA hospital

Specialties Government

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Hello, I am currently in nursing and would like to get my feet wet with the VA hospital. Do they hire CNA's or allow civilians to do volunteer work in their facility's? Will i be eligible for hire as a new grad or will i have to have some experience before i apply with them? Any information you can assist me with would be very helpful. Thank You.

Szccdw , I work for the VA in NC and they have ongoing job posting for CNA's . Also will hire new grads.

Where are you located ?

I am also in NC. I am in the GBO area though. I am a lot closer to the Durham facility. How would I go about finding out about these CNA positions and the hiring process for a new grad?

Specializes in Corrections, Psych, Med-Surg.

Look in your telephone book for the nearest VA facility and call them up (volunteer or HR or nurse recruiter).

You can also check out the web site: http://www.vacareers.com and follow the appropriate links.

hey, sjoe

thx for this site,

it is very informational........

the logo.......

is true,

"Caring for those who served"

have been lookin' in that direction myself..........

micro and out :+

Originally posted by szccdw

Hello, I am currently in nursing and would like to get my feet wet with the VA hospital. Do they hire CNA's or allow civilians to do volunteer work in their facility's? Will i be eligible for hire as a new grad or will i have to have some experience before i apply with them? Any information you can assist me with would be very helpful. Thank You.

Our facility has a "Nurse Tech." program, you can get hired while still in school and get valuable experience in the field you want to work in. I don't know if other VAs have this or not, but it's certainly worth looking into.

Specializes in Float Pool, ICU/CCU, Med/Surg, Onc, Tele.

The VA near me has not only the "Student Nurse Tech" positions in which the student gets an hourly wage, but also a program called "VALOR" in which I believe the student nurse does not get an hourly wage but gets their tuition paid at nursing school. I believe the student is supposed to work 20 hours a week but I am not 100% clear on that. I do know you cannot be involved in both the SNT and VALOR program at the same time. Definitely call your local VA and speak to the nurse recruiter or nursing department secretary. The sooner the better!

Specializes in Everything except surgery.

I did a contract at the VA in Seattle, and they had a program even for high school students to work there on weekends, and on week days during the summer. We had one student who graduated from high school and was immediately bought on full time, and they planned to work around his school hours for nursing school.

All the staff were very supportive of him. They took him under their wings so to speak, and he is a very lucky young man. By the time he finishes getting his degree he will have an immense amount of actual hands on experience. The VA and the veterans there also lucked out as he will be an excellent nurse!:cool:

Originally posted by esselmulen

Our facility has a "Nurse Tech." program, you can get hired while still in school and get valuable experience in the field you want to work in. I don't know if other VAs have this or not, but it's certainly worth looking into.

I also live in the Northeast Ohio area, Cleveland to be exact and heard about the "Nurse Tech" program at the VA hospital, which I plan to go and talk to some one tomarrow. I just graduated from nursing school in December and plan to take the NCLEX in may and would like to start some where in the mean time while I am studying. You can write me back privately if you dont mind, my email addy is [email protected]. I would appreciate any info you can give me about there. Thanks a lot

Veronica

Specializes in oncology, hospice.

The VA is a good employer as with any government agency. Good luck!

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