LPNs working for VA

[Emmaburn]

I have a lot of respect for those who serve in the military so I am considering looking for a VA job when I graduate LPN school this summer . I plan on moving and like that I can pretty much work in any state with a. VA job. Plus I hear there are good benefits ? Is this a good career choice? Why is there such a demand and need for nurses for the VA ? Does anyone have any LPN experience with the VA and can share what it's been like ? What can I expect to make starting out ? Is it really rewarding working with the vets?

[LVNbayarea]

Hi! I am an LPN in a VA hospital in North Carolina. I may be able to answer a few of your questions.

First things first, nearly all VAs are different from one another (culture, P&P, services offered, etc) so I can only speak for my VA. I would say it's rewarding to work with a population who's served in the military but I can't speak for all nurses nor can I speak for how you will feel. The benefits are pretty decent for LPNs (better for RNs due to their union) and the fact that they start immediately vs. some standard time like 90 days-6 months is definitely a nice perk. Some of the benefits include: no call-offs for low census, fairly lucrative OT offerings, better staffing (especially if you've worked in a LTC/SNF). I would venture to say that working at the VA has been the best nursing job I've ever had. Because I don't know your educational background or aspirations I can't speak to if it's a good career move or not for you, but for me it definitely was. I plan on pursuing my BSN in the near future and my particular VA offers a full merit-based scholarship for its employees after two years of service. I also moved from California with a relatively limited scope of practice to a state with a scope of practice so broad the only real difference between RN and LPN is paperwork and administrative so I greatly enhanced my skill set. Pay at the VA is the subject of a bit of contention around here on allnurses. I make about the average of the going rate for LPNs for my area but that's not to say there's a standard "LPN rate" across the board for all locations. It depends on where you live and your experience. If you're curious about LPN pay for your area, you can look it up on vacareers.gov. I hope that was helpful in answering some of your questions.