IronMaiden

32 hrs week on a Stepdown/Tele unit.

In my experience, the majority of VA patients have some degree of psych history or substance abuse hx and no matter which unit you work on, dealing with patients' psych issues will be a part of your job. I work on a tele/stepdown unit and there is no shortage of issues that arise on any given shift. I don't imagine that dealing with Veteran psych patients is all that much different from dealing with non-Veteran psych patients. You either like psych nursing, or you don't.

I love working at the VA. The pt's are approx. 90% male (a very good thing, in my book) and mostly older, although in the coming years I know that we'll be seeing increasing numbers of younger guys r/t the Iraq war. I work on a cardiac floor - many of the patients are semi-frequent fliers (the CHF-ers, COPD-ers) so I get to know them and develop a relationship with them over multiple hospital stays; I love this aspect of my job. I've never worked in the ER so I can't speak authoritatively, but I do know that my facility doesn't handle trauma, etc, so the types of pt's one sees there is more limited than in a "regular" hospital. Some might find that boring...

This may have been a policy in the past, but it is not true these days. Perhaps some employees who have worked for the VA for DECADES may have been hired under those provisions.... The benefits are very good, but they're not that good!!

I was hired at a VA as a new grad (with a BSN). I interviewed in October and began working at the end of February. The paperwork and background checks prior to hiring are cumbersome (this is the GOVERNMENT, remember...), but the wait was worth it. I've been very happy with my position and I love the patient population. Good luck!