momathoner09

I finished in 2023. I was offered a job early on and have been working there since 8/23. That being said 8/25 is when my probationary period is over so I'm crawling to that finish line with all these RIFs right now. The VA isn't what it was even a few years ago. I have a feeling it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better. I'll leave it at that. I don't really know if I would recommend taking a job here right now with all the uncertainty to be honest. If you are in the residency, best to take that experience and use it to apply on the outside. It's still a valuable experience. All of the people in my group got jobs and are all still working there as of now. There's already been a push to do more with less and I already work 10-12 hour days plus at least one day of the weekend 6-8 hours every week. I mostly cover all of my sick time and leave time which the exception of maybe 7 days/year. The money is good but I would be happy, I think, making less and having less stress and really working less hours. It's always something. I have yet to learn, I guess, is that just being a NP or being a NP in primary care at the VA? Because this is all I know. Besides school and I even did school rotations here. My plan was to have my career here. It's all I wanted to do. But I'm burnt out and it's not even been 2 full years yet (plus residency so 3 I guess) plus everywhere online and IRL hates us. The VA sucks and we don't do anything right. It's unnerving and I have a pretty thick skin but it's just a lot to take..especially on daily minimal sleep.

I think the ultimate goal for everyone is to employ the residents. It really sucks if that doesn't work out because it is wasted time all around for all involved. I will say I have noticed they have employed more RNs recently into NP positions. So they are VA RNs without NP experience getting hired in the departments they are working in. They have been NPs awhile but working as RNs. Do I think that's necessarily fair? Not exactly. At the very least we should have been allowed to interview for that position along side them. But it is what it is. I know that I've gotten as far as I have from networking from my brick and mortar grad school. Mind you I am still waiting on a formal salary offer and am supposed to start the end of August. It's just the way it is with the federal govt though. .If that's going to bother you, than this isn't the place for you. Out of 9 of us, 4 have jobs to my knowledge. We are starting our last month!

Ready to be finished! That is for sure. I am finally able to work in my "real" job which officially starts the end of August. The other 2 people in my program were offered jobs as well. So in that sense it was worth it. There's no other way to get into the system without experience. But some of my time, truly, has been wasted. Some people just don't want to teach. I found this more in the speciality rotations which I had to do in a row. It's fine....but we are constantly either called students or thrown into seeing patients in specialty areas with no time to prepare or know what we are doing. It's 2 extremes. It's very exhausting. I like to be prepared. But having my nursing experience to draw from has allowed me to "wing it,” when I need to. Working with Veterans allows me be honest and say I have no idea what I'm doing at times and for us all to get through it with no hard feelings. I don't feel like you can do that with other patient populations. Of course we figure it out and I get them what they need but I just hate that feeling. I need to be better at time management. I allow them to ramble too much. But it's geriatrics. Some of them have no one. I can't help it. Plus I am a sucker for some good war stories.

I just finished the 6 month mark yesterday! So glad to be done with all of the required rotations. I was offered a job within the VA a few months ago. So far only 2 of us out of 9 (PCP, MH, and Geri) have jobs. The other person worked at this VA before as a nurse. This was always what I wanted to do and why I went back to NP school. I did 4 rotations at the VA in school. I have been networking and working towards this goal for some time. People say there is such a learning curve to working with Veterans and working for the govt. But being married to a Vet for 15 years and life as a military spouse none of this is new to me. It's very familiar and I think that has been to my advantage. I'm used to the hurry up and wait and rules making no sense. Some people have lost their minds over little changes. I'm like chill out it's not that big of a deal. You have to be flexible.

You didn't ask me but I think I can answer this. Yes I think if you are willing to relocate you can absolutely find a job. I wanted something very specific and wasn't willing to relocate because we've already moved a million times with the military. But if I was younger I would have. As far as substituting, it would depend on the requirements from the OAA. You need a certain number of hours of patient care to complete the program. For me, that means in geriatrics. But after our required 6 month rotations, we have more freedom within the specialty rotations. Pay grade depends on years of nursing experience and your CV. A federal resume, from what I've been told, should not be the traditional 2 pages and made to look pretty. Mine is 4 pages right now. You want every thing on there because it affects your pay. Pay grade will vary person to person.

Perioperative Optimization of Senior Health and Caring for Older Adults and Caregivers with Dementia. Posh looks at surgical optimization from a medical standpoint of chronic condition. We also asses risk of delirium and sometimes (often) recommend delaying surgery. Coach is very social work driven. We work a lot with the caregivers connecting them with resources that they need to care for their loved one at home who has dementia.

I interviewed last month. Everything moved pretty fast. Received a formal tentative (pending completion of the residency) job offer last week. There is one other person in our group out of 9 total that has a job. It is possible but you have to network, get on USA jobs, and work on your PBI interview skills.

I understand what you are saying that it is in no way perfect. I didn’t go to the VA for a “cushy” job though. I wanted to give back and I wanted to work with Veterans. My husband is 100%sc with 3 combat deployments. He’s been through hell and I’ve been by his side for 15 years. I don’t know exactly what they have gone though- you are right. But I know what their family members have. And I know a small amount from my husband but I would never claim to fully grasp what he or any other MM has been through. As corny as it sounds, I want to help. I don’t want to be one more person mindlessly thanking them for their service.

That’s your opinion but not fact. All I’ve seen is providers going above and beyond for Veterans and caregivers. We have financial freedom to order labs, imaging, consults, etc. When compared to the private sector, that is way less red tape. Yes it is socialized medicine so that comes with barriers but if anything the ability to consult all specialties and disciplines (OT, PT, speech, pharm, etc) under one roof is unmatched.

I started in the fall and am halfway through my second rotation. We rotate every 2 months for the first 6 months. The second 6 months we have specialty rotations (not quite sure how this is going to work honestly). Anyway at first it was a lot but I think I’ve found a rhythm. It’s as much or as little as you want to get out of it. I have really tried to do what I can an utilize all the resources that we have available. For our residency we are in lot of different clinics throughout the week. So right now I am in CLC, POSH, COACH, and Geri Pact clinic. For Geri pact we have a panel and we are the PCP. That for me has been the most work beyond that clinic appointment. Lots of f/us, consults, med refills, med changes, etc. But I feel like I have learned the most from that rotation.

Did you come here just to leave a snarky comment ?

So I interviewed mid May Received a verbal very informal offer from the director 3 days later Then I heard nothing from HR months The director was in communication with myself and other residents though Completed E-quip background check end of July Received a tentative offer pending that background on August 10th Sept 2 received and accepted formal offer Start date is September 12 Definitely cutting it way close. I live in the area though so it was not a inconvenience to me. Although I did not seek other employment so if this didn’t work out, then I would have been back to job searching and all my classmates have job offers or have started working at this point. It would be very difficult, I think, to move out of state for these positions.

I am starting a VHA residency next month as well. Extremely long process.

I guess I wish I knew more about the APEA predictor exam before taking/using it as a tool. I still think that if you have no experience with it then it isn't the best tool/study guide out there if you are *only* using the predictor exams.

I agree about the predictor exam- that was stupid to take it right before! My issue with this whole process is that our instructors/school gave us zero input or advice. And this is a reputable brick and mortar school. I understand that they don’t *have* to hold our hands but a little direction would have been nice.

Yesterday, I passed the AANP exam! While this is all still fresh in my head, I wanted to write it out in case it might help someone out. I spent (wasted!) a lot of money and some things worked while others didn't. This will be long as this was a journey... I was originally scheduled for the exam on 6/26 (Monday) at 9am. I wound up taking it 7/9 (Saturday) at 2pm. Time of day matters. I am a morning person so I thought 9am would be fine but I didn't anticipate the panic attack I would have the night before and get about 2 hours of sleep. I decided that I was not taking the exam early that morning. I emailed the testing place at like 4 am. They do say that you have to reschedule 48 hours before and it is MUCH easier but if you find yourself in a situation like me you can be a no show and it doesn't count against you (besides the cost). It was a lot of back and forth with the APNA getting my account reset. It took about 4 days total. I say this because if you have to change your mind last minute IT IS OKAY. The day before the exam the first time I studied all day (big mistake!) and failed those predictor exams. I was freaking out! Then that night like I said I didn't sleep and had so much anxiety. The day before for the time I took the exam for real I did study until 3 pm, took a cycle class, then watched Ms. Marvel my son. I went to bed at 10, got up at 7. Walked the dogs and reviewed just a few more things. I left my house at 1230 (exam was only 30 min away but I didn't want to be late). Got to the testing site and reviewed a little more from 1-130. Finally, just went inside because I had to go to the bathroom. They let me start the exam early. I finished with 50 minutes to spare. When I saw that green "Pass" on the screen I didn't believe it! The exam was hard. It was not easy. There were some questions that I for sure knew and some that I had absolutely no idea. Then a lot of them I could narrow down to 2 answers. I kept telling myself that this exam was "you vs you.” The only person standing in my way was myself. I am an older student (41) and so for most of you this will be overkill. I mean it was for me towards the end ha. But my biggest piece of advice is that you have to do what works for YOU. You can't get caught up in what other people are doing. I also didn't tell anyone besides my husband and son that I was taking it. Last time too many people knew and the well meaning "good luck" texts wound me up even more. I'll go through all the things I used and what worked and didn't. FitzgeraldPros: live review was very thorough I would advise doing the live review *before* you graduate or very soon after to get a jump start Cons there was a lot of "hidden" info and things you had to print a lot of things were repetitive the Premier Plus package was overkill- I didn't use half of the items that I purchased and it was repetitive I do have friends that passed only using the spiral book and the live review but I felt like there were holes in the information The last month of studying I really focused on Liek and moved away from Fitzgerald LiekPros Like I have read before and have had people tell me- Liek is bible I read the actual book, the online lessons, and did all the practice questions from each section probably 2-3x each per section I did the comprehensive 150 question exams 2x each The clinical pearls and exam tips were very helpful If I had to retake it or give advice, I would say spend a few days going through each section and use those exam tips/pearls like an exam blueprint I copy and pasted them from the website into a word document I believe if you can only afford or want to use one resource, then you will pass with Liek alone The dashboard helps keep you on track with days left to study, goals for the day, and you can access it on your phone and it syncs online Cons The questions were "easier" than Fitzgerald and SM Some of them repeated There were some errors related to updated guidelines An instructor told me to buy the book while I was in school to practice questions when I did poorly on an exam I used it for one course but then not again but the online membership expires in 6 months so I had to purchase that AGAIN and I was not happy about that Scores Average scores on exams: 87% Average score on practice: 84% I felt good about these scores but a lot of the questions I had memorized after awhile so I didn't know how true of a prediction they were Sarah MichellePros At this point you may be wondering why did this girl use so many reviews? Good question- I don't know! Keep reading- it's going to get worse ha I purchased the question bank only for this She has a nice portal that organizes questions by systems and saves all your attempts on quizzes/practice exams Cons No mobile app You have to take the quizzes all in one sitting and her questions were wordy It said you could "save" the quiz but I never could return to it Scores The day before the exam I took her comprehensive exam and got a 86% When I took the other one (there are 2) I got a 70% a few weeks before PSI practice exams6/24: 81% 6/25: 69% I don't think these were worth it (they were $50 each!). I thought I read you could take them again but you cannot. I don't know how I did so much better on one vs the other. APEA predictor examsDO NOT TAKE THESE EXAMS If that's the only thing you take away from this post than do not take these! I took one the day before my originally scheduled test date and it REALLY messed me up. I may or may have not been ready but taking these exams mentally told me I was going to fail. Every question is like the hardest question you will see on boards. Every.single.one. They say <60% is unlikely to pass, 65-69% at risk to fail, and >70% high likelihood to pass. I just call BS on the whole thing. One star. Do not recommend. 6/26: 61% 6/26: 72% ( I believe I looked some answers up for this time but I had no idea what I was reading!) 6/29: 59% 7/5:63% Timeline- how all this played out over the last 2 months. They recommend 4-6 weeks of studying. I think it really all depends on how MUCH you will be studying. I had some family obligations that got in my way so for me it wound up being 8 weeks but I would have felt comfortable in 6 weeks personally. May 6- graduation May 8-14: originally, I was supposed to take the Fitzgerald live zoom class this week. But I had a job interview for a job that I really wanted so I rescheduled the class so that I could focus on interview prep. It was worth it because I did get the job. May 15-21: I started to go through the Fitzgerald content. I had purchased the "Premier Plus AGNP Review Package.” It was a lot of information and I didn't quite know where to start but I didn't want to let another week go by without starting to study (Since I couldn't reschedule until the following week). I started listening to the "Audio program,” which is basically Dr. Fitzgerald reading you through every module. It was good but very long winded and not time efficient. And there was no way to speed her up. May 22-28: Fitzgerald live review I had on 5/24-5/25. The reason I say to take this as soon as you can is because this is basically your week. It is SO much information. You need some time to take it, regroup and get back into it. May 29-June 4: Fitzgerald/started Liek June 5-June 11: Fitzgerald/Like/purchased SM on the advice of fellow students taking the exam sooner than me June 12-June 18: vacation with the in laws. Yeah this messed me up. I tried to study there but didn't get nearly what I would have gotten done at home June 19-25: studied Like, did SM questions June 26-July 2:July 26 was my original exam date. I no showed and had to reschedule but I locked myself in my room to study. It was at this point that I really took it back to basics and started making flashcards to get some of the info into my head. July 5-11: took the exam on Saturday (7/9) at 2pm

I got in! I’m in shock.

I was just offered a job in the cath lab of a busy teaching hospital. My experience is in step down and pre op (open heart and vascular) in a smaller but busy hospital. I start in about a month but was wondering if there is anything I should review or look over that would help me. I have never recovered patients so I know all that will be new. I shadowed for a few hours and it seemed similar to pre op in some ways with patient flow. Any input would be helpful- thank you!

I don't have any actual "in OR" experience and would feel more comfortable being trained as if I know nothing. I know that I know more from a surgical standpoint than a floor nurse but I still have a lot to learn. That's why I was considering the program.

Anyone in or completed this program recently? Just interested in general thoughts about it? If you like it or not? Pros/Cons? I would like to work more in the Raleigh area vs Durham but it seems their new OR programs are strictly for new grads. Thanks!

I am not in the OR but can comment on the scheduling since you mentioned that. The biggest thing I have noticed is the scheduling can vary so much. Add ons and cancellations have us making changes all day. Full time does try to stick to there 4, 10 hour days but they do ask for volunteers a lot to stay (this may be due to we are a smaller hospital with not a large staff). I also would clarify exactly how much call there is. The pace is very much hurry up and wait. If you are the one picking up your child from daycare, make sure to clarify that you have to leave by a certain time latest. I dealt with some issues of having to leave by 545 to pick up my son and sometimes not having the last patient go back until 630 even though we technically close at 5. I can walk into to a full page schedule of 8 patients and then it all go to crap if an emergency comes in or we have a bring back. So it's just really hard to predict.

You can re take courses. Look at the required courses and take them over to raise your grade. I did this and applied and applied before I was finally accepted to a diploma program. Good luck to you!

Wow that's early! I kind of don't want my current job to know I'm leaving that soon. Thanks!

I will be job searching again next year due to a move and am wondering where I can go with my current experience. I love pre op but there doesn't seem to be many jobs available in that area. I really like being part of the OR team and that aspect of nursing vs floor nursing. Plus, I have little experience in floor nursing so even if I wanted to, that would be like starting over as well. Right now I have in mind PACU, OR, and possibly cath lab? Again, I am not sure how hard it will be to get any of these jobs with 3 years (when I apply) pre-op experience. I have worked mainly in hearts but also floated to our main OR. Any ideas or guidance? TIA.

When did everyone apply to start in July? Also does anyone know if they take only new grads for the OR program or can you have some nursing experience? Thanks!