Pre employment physical for VA hospital

Nurses Career Support

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I have a physical coming up for the VA hospital. From the way the gentleman who scheduled me spoke, it will be a very long day. Does anyone know what the physical consists of. He also mentioned blood work. I can stick others but hate being stuck. What kind of blood tests are they going to do? It also made me nervous because he says not to quit my job until after i complete the physical. Not that I was going to leave one job without another anyway. Any details about the government VA hospital pre employment physical would be greatly appreciated. Thanks;)

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Maybe to late...

The physical should be nothing but what you should have been getting @ your MD during your annual check up. VS, BP, History, perineal check, Mobility and balance check, weight, height etc...Nothing New. After that you should go get your blood drawn for full panel, and go to a lab to have your urine check. All should take you about a day or most of it. Good thing about all they will give you all your result if/when requested and if hired you could get a free annual check up/blood draw for free. The HR should get back to you within couple days offering you the job upon result of your physical. If all cultures are negatives, you should be fine, and moving toward the next step.

Good luck!

PS:Coming from LTC/Hospital/Agency, I can tell you that I found my HOME, the VA.

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I have been working for the VA for almost 6yrs now. The pre employment physical was nothing to worry about. The lab work is just the basic stuff and the urine sample is of course for a drug screen. Just make sure you let them know if you are taking any medications that might show a false positive for a drug classification that you may not be taking. I used to be one Mysoline and Dilantin, I had a DAU done and was told I was positive for barbituates, I found out the Dilantin and Mysoline interact in the system to produce a false-positive reading for phenobarbitol. Don't let the physical scare you, working for the VA is the best job I have ever had.

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I have a very shy bladder and was wondering if you are observed while providing the urine specimen?

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No. They will squirt some blue dye in the toilet and stand outside the stall while you collect the specimen.

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Thank you for the quick reply. So they stand outside the stall door inside the bathroom listening to you go or do they leave the bathroom? I'm not trying anything fishy, I was in the military and don't like the idea of them being in there with me.

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With me they did, but the bathroom was huge with lots of stalls. I think they are mainly standing there for that reason and to make sure you dont flush. If there were only one stall I doubt that the lab tech would have stood right there because it would be obvious if it were me flushing. Plus they check the temp and let you label everything right then. They are big on making sure both your eyes remain on the specimen until its put in the box and ready to be shipped to lab. You'll be fine!!!

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Specializes in gero., peds., maternity rotations.

Off topic a little but I have a few ?'s about the VA. I have an interview with them coming up. What was the interview process like? The position Im up for is in one of the clinics not the hospital. I have a couple months exp. with the VA from my clinical rotations do you guys think this is helpful? Maybe an advantage? Or could they careless? The nurses, doctors and general staff were all nice, humble and helpful while we were there. They took the time to actually makes us feel like real staff and never frowned at us or passed up an opportunity to teach us what they knew. Im nervous b/c it is the VA, I really want this job, I loved doing my clinicals at the VA. The exp was like no other. Do you have any interview tips? Any and every suggestions or scenerio's from your exp at your interview for them would be very helpful and appreciated:redpinkhe!

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It is 7/6/2015 and I would like to know the new policy for drug testing in the VA hospitals. Do they do hair strands , urine samples, or blood draws?

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Specializes in 8 years Telemetry/Med Surg, 5 years Stepdown/PCU.

They do blood draws

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Can someone be denied employment due to PTSD?

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For all of you that are going through the process now this is how it went for me this month.

!. reported to occupational medicine where I handed in the stack of papers that I filled out. From there they directed me to get my urine screen.

I locked up all of my belongings and patted myself down to show that my pockets are empty. They put the blue pill in the toilet and had me wash my hands in front of them. Then we came out and he showed me that he turned off all of the water in the restroom. Sent me back in to give a sample. Once I handed it to him, he turned the water back on and I could go back in and wash my hands. Following that, they sent me back to occupational medicine where I had my physical. Physical consisted of eye exam which tested near and far sight, stereo vision and I believe peripheral vision. Height and weight were done along with blood pressure. Following that, I went in to see the doctor. While in there we did the basic neuro exam, heart and lungs and chatted about my health. And then I was sent to the lab to get blood work. They drew 10 tubes of blood. YES, 10 tubes. Following the lab I went and was fingerprinted. My appointment was at 10 and I was honestly out of there by noon. Everything was very well organized. Now, I just sit and wait for my final offer. I was told that my VetPro was done and my e-qip was turned. HR was waiting for my VetPro and then was sending my package to the boards to complete the process.

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