Jen1234

Pro- Honestly it was a great program in itself. You get to work on Every unit and truly find what you like. Most private hospitals your hired directly into a unit and you don't get to try out other units. The benefits are amazing. You get a pension after 25years at the VA (if you have previous federal work the time may be less). The pay is great. They have a union. I am honestly proud to say I work at the VA. Our veterans are awesome and they truly appreciate the help (most of the time). I truly love my unit. My boss is amazing and goes the extra mile. I can get virtually any training I want, with in reason. I truly love my job. I would do the program over again if I had to go back. VA gives AL (or called pto in private sector) and SL (sick leave) as two different banks of time, which coming from private sector is virtual unheard of these days. Lots of amazing benefits (to many to list). with good also comes not so great. Con- PBNR program at least in Dallas, the program was Very unorganized. huge lack of communication. The people that run I think tried their best but one of them was horrible. But for the most part tried their best. At the end I got the unit I wanted but there was a 6 WEEK delay in HR. Again this could just be Dallas HR but 6 weeks of no pay check and then they cashed out all out AL(which is called PTO for the rest of the world) to help pay us for the 6 weeks of no pay. Thankfully I have a two income house hold but IDK how single people would be able to do it. The culture at the VA (again could just be Dallas VA) takes some getting used to. Again this could all be Dallas thing but that's my experience.

And trust me, we all went into it completely blind! Literally, Blind! Communication is one thing they know they need to work on and they are trying to fix that. But there is a saying at the VA……. You have to ask Joseph, to ask Mary, to ask Jesus, to ask G-d to get things done…….. it sounds crazy (I know I keep saying this) but you eventually get the information you need. Make sure to ask all questions (even when they make you feel dumb for asking it) because if you don’t ask you will never know.

So, you aren’t “guaranteed” a job but you are if that makes sense. They invest a lot into the PBNR residents. Lots of time, money, effort, etc. everyone in my cohort got the unit they wanted. But if you don’t get your 1st choice you should be able to get one of you top 3 units. At the VA you fire yourself. So if you don’t get a job offer at the end that is 100% on the resident. I only know of a few residents that didn’t get a job after and again I won’t go into detail but I can promise you they did that to themselves and out of the past 6 or 7 cohorts there were only two that happened too. Getting a job afterward, isn’t hard. You will have ICU, Mental health, OR, med surg, etc experience. You literally get experience on all floors. So it should be easy to get a job in the private sector afterwards. PBNR really does give you so much experience. You have to be open to learning at every unit (even if you know you don’t want that unit). But it’s a lot to learn but you will learn way more than traditional residency programs.

Hi! So I’m almost done with PBNR. It is a very good program, nothing like it anywhere else. Think of it as if your an MD going through residency. You get to see it all! Every dept and learn what you like and don’t like. I didn’t learn my pay till day one….. which was very annoying but you will be pleasantly surprised. The VA pays very well compared to other major hospitals (honesty one of the top paying ones). The VA is a completely different world in the health care world. The attitudes and lack of respect from some can get you down….. once you learn to move past that (which took me months) you will be happy. The pay, benefits, it’s all there. It’s a lot to learn but no contracts at the end so you can leave and not worry about paying anything back. It is a hurry up and wait situation. Again, if you can look past that, you will be happy there. Just go into it knowing nothing is very organized, expect wait times, expect everything to be very very slow…. I know this sounds crazy (trust me I do) but the VA is a whole different world…. But I honestly love my job. I wouldn’t trade it for the world!

So it's easier to give you the timeline January- Applied March- called to set up interview April- Interviewed June- Told I was hired July- Processed paperwork August-got my firm offer from HR, start in a few weeks. It's a long process. It is not fast at all. It's a lot of hurry up and wait. Although it will be worth it in the end

Thank you for your reply. It just takes so long for this firm offer. I thought it would take a long time, but this is forever (it feels like).

For the VA Residency PBNR, anyone know how long it takes to get the firm offer? I submitted paper work 2 weeks ago. They gave us a start date but no official "firm offer". Anyone know how long it takes for HR to get back with you?

So the VA gave me a tentative job offer. I filled out all my paper work and now just waiting for my "Official Firm Offer". Its been 2 weeks since I filled out my paper work. About how long should it take? The person in charge on my tentative offer says I start next month but not another word was said to me. Should I be worried?

They currently have my packet. Since I’m a new nurse, they gave us a start date but no other details. By any chance are you in the PBNR program for new hires?

I’m in the process right now. How long does it take for the official offer? I sent in paper work last week and were supposed to start next month but I still don’t have my firm offer from HR. So I am selected and told I have a job but nothing else. How long does it take?

Hi! How long did it take for the hiring process? I am trying to find out how long it takes for a firm offer. I am nervous because I do not have one yet and I turned down other forms job offers.