VA/Govt Nurse Satisfaction

[Ellen Bobinski]

I would like to hear from VA nurses or US govt nurses. Do you like your jobs, pay and benefits? Two of my friends worked for the VA Dallas hospital and they reported the med surg/ ICU staffing was dangerous! Is that the case in your facility? Is your retirement based on the FERES system? (ie part Social Security, part 401K type matching, and small retirement supplement? How is your OWN health care;it looks like stingy HMO care, unless you pay extra? Full retirement after 20 years? Would be interesting in hearing the pluses and gripes/frustrations before I consider VA/govt hospital based work.

------------------

E. Bobinski

[vanursmanager]

I am truly disappointed to hear your experience was so bad; I came to VA 11/2 years ago from the private sector; our facility has a vision of excellence we are working hard to achieve...we have acquired new talent from outside the VA to balance the longer-tenured staff and keep them from getting stale. I hope you will not allow one experience to sour you on an opportunity to work with the population most deserving of excellent care: our nation's heroes, the veterans.

[vanursmanager]

Please don't give up: things can look and be :)better. Ask your manager to assign you a mentor to learn from; you have a tremendous opportunity to help our nation's veterans, and the resources are there to help you. Look on your intranet at the education portal for your facility - there are many trainings available to assist you as you grow in your career.

[vanursmanager]

I work for the Dallas VA and love it - we have a great nurse executive who is very supportive of nursing and patient-centered care; we are also on a Magnet journey. Benefits are as good or better than my private sector past...and nurses are limited only by their attitude, intelligence and ambition at our facility. We serve the best population in the world and I am happy every day I go to work.

[westinqun]

Any info about the Va in houston, tx? Reading these post are scaring me abit. I understand red tape is synonymous with the government. But I am worried about nurse to patient ratio. Any info about the houston facility would be appreciated.

Thanks

[jeckrn, BSN, RN]

For the most part the nurse patient ratio at VA hospitals is good. But it varies from VA to VA. One nice thing about working for the VA is that there is no call offs for low patient census.

[bestallaround, ADN, CNA, LPN, RN]

]I worked as an LPN for 5years before going to work at the VA. I took a pay cut to take a job as a GS-6. Of course, the benefits are great, compared to where I had come from. I was also shocked by the lazy workers, the incompetence, the call outs, the short staffing, the high turn over, etc. It's true you have to jump through hoops to get a promotion. Many nurses with many degrees and certifications under their belt, but poor quality care, poor attitude. I have heard that our VA is well staffed, but I realized that they have more nurses in administrative and office positions, walking around in heels and white lab coats, than they do actually doing hands-on direct patient care. I also have a problem with alot of the physicians. We have some docs that just can't seem to follow protocol. They don't seem to understand when we say "hey, you have to put in the order, we are not allowed to take verbal orders" or "you have to come look at this patient" . They do not work with the nursing staff as a team.

]I don't recommend the VA to any LPN fresh out of school. They pretty much treat you like a nursing assistant and if you don't have any experience they will start you at poverty pay. Go somewhere where you can get some good experience and perfect your skills cause the VA has restrictions on what they allow LPNs to do.

[bestallaround, ADN, CNA, LPN, RN]

Let me add, that I do love my job. I'm there for the vets. I don't let the rough stuff bother me. I have been there 5 years now, and will probably stay a while. They have great benefits, there is job security, and when I decide to go back to school, they have education opportunities. If you can stay focused on your work, wipe your hands at the end of the shift, it's a good place to work. I wish the VA could find a way to keep all the good workers, instead of chasing them off.

[79Tango]

The Houston VA MedSurg floor has 6:1 patient ratio.

[Scooby-Dooby-Doo]

i suppose it depends on which va facility and what region of the country. i've read some horrible and sad stories on this site about the va as well as some satisfying stories.

i am a current student nurse in my bsn school and all my clinicals are held at the san francisco va (except maternity and pediatrics, obviously) until graduation. it's a new pilot program with my school and the sf va. i also volunteer weekly as a student at another va, the va palo alto, which is supposedly the best in the nation or so i was told. i really like the facility at the va palo alto and the environment was great. didn't hear many bad things from families and guests. there is, however; competition for nurses to get a job is tough. i've also heard many wonderful things from the san francisco va from my clinical coordinator; they're trying to seek hiring from my clinical group hence all my clinicals are there. maybe the va centers in the san francisco bay area are probably one of the best to go for, though i could be wrong, and i suppose most vets are satisfied with the care here in palo alto, it definitely shows on their faces and among their interactions with the staff when they ambulate or take walks. i'm not sure how it's like for other vas among the other parts of the country, but as mentioned first, i suppose it depends on which va facility and region you are in.

before my family and i moved to the san francisco bay area, my mother had a job as a nurse at the va in houston, texas. i volunteered there in high school, and i was also satisfied with the va. my mom was paid less there compared to what she gets paid in the va at palo alto now, but she was after the benefits.

i can definitely agree with some of the posts above, the processes of some are just horrible. things go by so slow but it's a government-ran facility. when i volunteered at the va in palo alto under nursing administration, there were mounds of paper works that needed to be done and not many workers doing them. you do deal with a whole lot of beaurocracy. some people who are qualified to do bedside work would rather be doing admin work, while others just work to pay for bills. but i guess one can not easily rid of laziness in the environment while there are those, too, who need admin changes, not changes in admin itself.

overall, my experiences with the va have been positive ones, and i hope they remain positive too. i would recommend nurses to the va palo alto and san francisco.