Eric1233

The VA position I was considering applying to states the annual pay is approx 62k - 99k/yr. I obtained the info from the USAJobs website. It says all pay is commensurate with education / experience. Questions? Does the Board decide your starting salary? I assumes Nurse I Step I Grade I starts at $62k/yr. Are these Grades and Steps posted somewhere? Any chance they match or exceed your current base salary? I was in the military and would love to work with veterans. I currently make over 90k per year, so might be difficult to go with the VA if the starting pay is significantly lower than what I am currently making. I wanted to find out before I take the time to complete the application process.

I figured as much, thank you for the heads up. I have not spoken to any of the companies in my area. There are quite a few jobs openings listed for acute and chronic (granted for full time). If there are any RN who did start out PT or Per Diem, please respond. I would like to hear about your experiences.

I agree, maybe I can get a part time position perhaps? The problem is the training!! Most companies will not want to spend much on training for a per diem nurse. I want to work about 1-2 shifts per week, maybe more. I work full time as an Nurse Educator in a correctional facility M-F 7am-3pm. I have always been interested in dialysis. The prison I work at has a 25 bed dialysis unit. I might try to get some training there, but they only use registry. There is talk of making it availble to state employees. Any other ideas would be welcomed. I could just go back to tele or step down nursing, but thought dialysis would be interesting and specialized. Thanks for the reply.

I have zero experience in dialysis, but was wondering is it possible to start out as an RN in acute or chronic dialysis on a per diem basis. If so, which would be the better choice acute or chronic.

Competition is heavy in California corrections. Never thought that would be the case, but with better working conditions and higher salaries anything is possible. I recommend you come to impress. Many facilities are interviewing 30-40 nurses for 1 or 2 positions.

Medications that do not pose a threat/danger/safety issue to the inmate or other inmates should be given KOP. Only meds such as psych meds, narcs, HIV, TB meds should be given nurse administered. I suggest you ask the administrator what their justification is for not giving the medications to the inmates. It would be interesting to find out why??? If you want justification/rational on this topic you could look at http://www.ncchc.org/about/index.html. They write the national standards for correctional healthcare.

l plan on joining regardless of any additional incentive. I'm just not in some crazy hurry to get in. I can wait a couple of months for 10-50k in bonus or loan repayment. I was in the Navy for 5 years and signed up for an additional 6 years in the reserve, but only did about six months of active drilling. I wasn't an RN, and all I did on drill weekends was sit around. Now I'm looking to get back into the military. I'm thinking the AF because I'm married with 4 kids and they have limits on there deployment lengths. That is the only reason, because I really rather go back into the Navy. I was just hoping somebody might have some insight on whether waiting is a good idea?????

AF recruiter told me zero bonus incentive for AF reserves. They are only offering an incentive for critical care or flight nurse. Anyone think this is somtihing that will change with new fiscal year in Oct. He told me nothing would change till 2010, but he has a quota to meet. I would hate to get the ball rolling an find out that I missed out on 10-50k. If there are any AF reservist actively drilling, especially in Ca. I would love to to hear from you. This is a great web site I don't post much, but have been a member for a long time.

I was upset when I heard my ICU was going to required me to go to med-surg for 6 months. Now, that it is all over and I'm in ICU, I can see how valuable it was. You get the basics down in med-surg, that way when you go to ICU it is not totally overwhelming. If you have been a LVN in a hospital for 7 years you will have no problem. For me a brand new nurse with not much prior experience med-surg was a good thing.

I was upset when I heard my ICU was going to required me to go to med-surg for 6 months. Now, that it is all over and I'm in ICU, I can see how valuable it was. You get the basics down in med-surg, that way when you go to ICU it is not totally overwhelming. If you have been a LVN in a hospital for 7 years you will have no problem. For me a brand new nurse with not much prior experience med-surg was a good thing.