Post-VALOR VA RNs

I am a recent graduate who received a position in critical care after completing my VALOR program on a telemetry unit. I will say that I completed a student preceptorship at the VA in the step-down unit a few months later, and worked as a student nurse technician after the VALOR program and got to know everyone in the hospital. This gave me a huge advantage when I applied for a job there. I did not really try to apply out of state. I do know that you will definitely get preference over other new graduates applying as a VALOR to other VAs, and will get a significantly higher rate of pay if hired.

Thanks nsti

I go to school in San Francisco, CA and am doing my VALOR at the step-down in Seattle, WA. I'm glad that you mentioned about the state thing because I'm super open to applying to any VA in the country that has a critical care opening and that I'm hoping my VALOR experience will give me preference. I have one more semester to go and will graduate this December. I had a year of step-down/telemetry clinicals in the San Francisco VA, and plan to do my senior nursing preceptorship in critical care at the Palo Alto VA.

I'm hoping though, that the VA that I'm doing my VALOR in will have an opening in ICU. If not, I'll look elsewhere, hence I started this thread to ask anyone else. Thanks!

Also, does your grade/step level transfer with you if you did your VALOR at one VA and decided to work for a different VA?

I don't know about any transferring as I went straight into the hospital that I worked in. I would assume so but then again with the VA you never know things slip through the cracks

What VA did you do your VALOR and senior preceptorship in if you don't mind me asking?

So I finished my VALOR summer program at one VA and got my senior preceptorship in critical care at another VA... maybe that will help me? I'll be working concurrently at the other VA intermittently to finish my VALOR until December.