jacksonleo

You will get retroactive pay from January 6 on your next paycheck (per recent email received at VA)

Here is the pay scale for 2019 though it’s about to be updated with the raise we just got which is around 1.5% depending on location, just find your location and look it up NPs are same nursing title 38 but a different position so if you go from RN to NP you would look up the grade/step you currently have in the new position and they would put you in the step/grade that would guarantee you a minimum of one step increase in pay from your previous. https://www.va.gov/ohrm/pay/ someone asked about getting to Nurse 2, it took me just around two years

I am not going to reply in detail to your post... but before giving out advice, every one should please make sure to have the right info. The National Health Service Scholarship is for doctors, dentists, nurse practitioners and you must have already been accepted and enrolled in a program... The NURSES corps scholarship program is for nurses and you must also be enrolled or accepted into a program before applying... so what about the pre-requisites? you know that stuff and all those credit hours they make you take WAY before you apply to nursing school? The Nurse corps scholarship is based on financial need and given to those with the "greatest financial need. An applicant's financial need is determined based on the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) ... which is provided on the official Student Aid Report (SAR) ... generated through the Free Application for Financial Student Aid (FAFSA)..." Read on on your own at hrsa.gov/loanscholarships/scholarships/nursing. Oh No! there is that whole FAFSA issue again rearing its ugly head. It is not about debt or no debt or the mother's right or lack thereof, it is about the young woman getting the FAFSA information so that she can have options. A Pell grant is not debt and since she has no income or little income, you betcha that she will get it which $5775 for the 2015-2016 school year.

Some of these posts are from people that have completely misunderstood the OP's situation. The OP has never stated that she expected her mother to help her financially. She simply wants what millions of other students in this country get to have which is an opportunity to finance her education whether via scholarships (which she already has one for good grades for 8K and which says a lot about what kind of student she is) or access to loans and grants via FAFSA. The truth is that she is ENTITLED to these financial opportunities just like any other student in the country is. The fact that her mother is her biggest obstacle in accessing these opportunities is unjust and terrible, and an obvious attempt to hijack her education and her future. Those of you who are talking high and mighty about your own experiences and struggles and how you made it through everything, and how it made you stronger, etc,... well, we all have stories, but that is not the point. This young woman deserves the same opportunity that millions of other students get. It is as simple as that. OP, PM me and I will help you in every way I can. My last career was as a paralegal so I can help you navigate the legal system if you decide to go the emancipation route. It is not that difficult to do. As far as the financial aid stuff, there might be other ways to do it as well. Also, as far as getting a job as a CNA or go the LVN route, please ignore that advice. To get a CNA certificate, you will need money and time that you do not have or want to invest; to go the LVN, well - sadly - LVNs don't have that many opportunities for employment as they once did. If you want a job while in school, concentrate on your studies your first semester and get excellent grades, once you finish your Fundamentals of Nursing class, you will qualify to work as a nurse tech, patient care assistant, patient care technician or whatever each hospital calls it but they are all the same job. Most hospitals will hire you in that capacity after you have your first semester out of the way. I did it. I was the first in my cohort to do it at a pediatric cancer center and because they were aware that I was a student, they were extremely flexible with my hours and shifts. I was also the first one in my cohort to get a job as an RN, even before I took the NCLEX, because I was already in the hospital system. Look at any job posting and you will see the requirements for those type of jobs and BTW, they pay well. It is also a great opportunity to be in it and see if this is the career and the environment you want to dedicate to for the next few years or decades. Here is an example of a Patient Care Technician's requirements at Orlando Health in Orlando Florida but you can search in any other hospital and look at the postings... : "current nursing student who has completed one semester of clinical rotation," or... Good luck

KATHftf, many of the comments here are a bit harsh. I also had unsupportive parents - to put it mildly. Go to the financial aid office at your school and find out if there are any options for you to claim independent on the FAFSA. Request a professional judgment review, explain your situation and the refusal of your mother to give the information. Keep asking, don't give up and talk to any one that will listen. Also, ask them, or research, grants that may be available to you. I got a grant from a local organization just because I was the only one that applied - no kidding - and all I had to do was a 500 word essay. You might also think about going to, or calling, your County's legal aid office and request assistance to file for emancipation. If you are granted emancipation, and since you are so close to being 18, the judge would probably grant it, then you do not need her information and you can be independent on the FAFSA. Then you can get enough in loans and grants to live on your own and study hard! Most importantly, don't give up... BTW, becoming a nurse was one of the best decisions I have made in my life. Keep going... you will get there. Persist, persist, persist.

I just went to the governor's website and used the contact link (I think.. it has been a while)

I work night shift although not on an ED but on the floor. The day shift nurses constantly put the blame on the nightshift because we are gone and not there to defend ourselves. This happens all the time and in all the hospitals I have ever worked in. The OP is just another casualty of this huge problem.

Congratulations. I have been an RN at the VA for almost a year now and I still like it.

I actually emailed and called the governor's office (copied the nursing board) and got a response the next day telling me that my license would be processed immediately. A week later I had it in my hand. Had I not contacted the governor's office, I would probably still be waiting.... Good luck. I did spend the money for the temp license, which turned out to be a total waste...

I just got hired at Long Beach VA. I have 1 year of acute care experience and a BSN with good academic history. I was classified as a Nurse I, Level III, Step 6. One more year of experience and get promoted to Nurse II. Took 3 months from application to official offer. I was on top of it though, getting docs done and sent right away, having references ready, etc. I am excited. I start in 2 weeks. Hope its worth it!

I just tried to speak to the evaluator assigned and they told me that the evaluators are are not answering any calls. Now, the latest update is that it will be escalated once your file has been in the system for 90 days or more... they count it when they first put it in their system and cash your check, not when you sent it in. My file was sitting around for more than two weeks before anyone entered it into the system so while I have been waiting for more than 11 weeks, in their system, it is only 8-9! Meantime, new resident in California with no job for almost three months... Great!! I should have moved to Arizona... Of course, if you are missing something, then they send you something in the mail (snail mail) so here you go again with the wait!!

i am in the same situation. I have already lost a couple of job offers because of the wait. I can't even get through to anyone. I email and call and nothing. I sent everything in early November. Hopefully someone has good suggestions..

I hope it is helpful. I sent in my application for endorsement on November 25, 2013, with any all documents requested and I am still waiting to hear anything from these people. It is about the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen. I have called three times and emailed twice and have yet to receive any information. However, the check that I sent along with the application was cashed the day after receipt. Nice one California! The most progressive State in the Union cannot get it together to get the nurses, needed to take care of the population, the license to do so in a timely manner. Ridiculous! ... and all this crazy strictness about transcripts from other states... what? I have a bachelor's and experience and passed the same NCLEX that California nurses passed so get a clue people! I will sign your petition and spread the word.

Small victory for us! I wonder how Ms. Sitarik likes getting a pay cut... While I understand that she probably has a huge bonus attached to her being asked to resign, her reputation will most likely never recover and her days as CEO of anything are over. Good bye!!! I can't believe you ever called yourself a nurse.

Well said.

Yes... I expected the BSN to be applicable to nursing and to direct patient care but instead they have us do all this leadership, research and writing APA papers while no one in my class has even been a nurse for one day. How are we supposed to know how to lead and manage a team of nurses or implement evidence based interventions when we have not even been a nurse for one day???? but I know other nurses who are now seeking their BSN after having been a nurse for a while and they say the same, that it is mostly busy silly work that does not enhance their knowledge base... I want some of what these educator-people are drinking

Well, I have a 4.0 so I guess I am doing ok...

I am starting my last semester of my BSN and I totally agree with the OP... what a waste of my time, energy and money. I have learned ZIP ZERO from this program and I get so mad every time I have to fork out all that money every semester yet I will only get paid fifty cents more per hour once I finish it. It is all busy stupid work that I will never remember once I graduate. What a bunch of poo poo... though I can write one mean APA paper and do research like you would never believe! As if I am going to be doing any of that in my new job!! I got lucky though because in this area, no one will hire without BSN and I just got my first job and just graduated with my ASN (yes, I was in one of those concurrent programs where you do both programs at the same time, so just graduated with my ASN and now just finishing it up the BSN)... One more semester and I am done with the madness... Good luck all... I think it goes back to the seasoned nurses who have moved up to management at some point in their career and now they decide that the rest of us have to have BSNs to join the workforce... it is really just another way to stick it to us or simply another subtle form of lateral violence... just saying.. :)

For those of you who say "not to lawyer up", you really should go back and read the original posts... OP really has no more choices left, she has one more opportunity to write a letter but the decision has already pretty much been made. So, let the letter MEAN something like "I have rights and I am not gonna let you take them away without a fight." By the way, many here keep saying to do it the "professional way." This is the professional way, this happens every day in this country, a professional does not sit on his/her rearend and simply let people bulldoze them.... You fight for fairness, it shows that you are a professional and may indicate what kind of patient advocate you are... If you can't fight for yourself, what kind of fight are you gonna put up for your patients when they need you???...

Well said, Janellybelly. You gotta do what you gotta do especially with a school that is being extremely unfair. I just graduated and about to start my first job!! Woo hoo!

BTW, I wanted to say that some of these comments sort of imply that the instructor is a professional that would never, ever lie or be unprofessional... but let me tell you, they are just people like you and me. As a matter of fact, in our school they just recruit whomever has a little experience as a nurse to be a clinical instructor and I have had a couple of them that I was very close to hanging from the tallest tree I could find by their toes! One in particular was so mean and evil that had one of my classmates crying the whole 10 weeks we were in clinicals as she was constantly being picked on by the witch... Long story short... after I wrote up some stuff and sent it to the right people, she no longer works there... Fight for what is right and stand up for yourself and if you cannot speak up then hire someone who will do it for you... Plenty of stories about clinical instructors on this site... here is one https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-student/i-chosen-one-798340.html

Being comfortable around courtrooms means that she has been involved in a couple of lawsuits either as a party or as a witness and if "she never backs down or always wins" that says a lot ... Anyway, people will generally say crap like that even if not true and from your story, that instructor sounds like a real winner (sarcasm). I have been in many courtrooms as I was a paralegal for 12 years and I can tell you that you would most likely never see the inside of a courtroom in a case such as this. The school simply needs to know that you are serious and will not stand for being acused of something that you did not do. They are accusing you of something really serious that can potentially ruin your career forever and never mind the money and time you have already spent. If it's your word against hers... then you HAVE TO HAVE YOUR VOICE HEARD! I am just staying that if you start to be serious and tell them that you will not stand for it and that you will seek legal advice if necessary, then they have no choice but to hear you.... Good luck.

Student 2001, I feel your pain. I have had a couple of instructors that were such **********! I had a friend during clinicals go through something similar, the instructor wrote up an incident report and I guess made up some stuff to cover her own **** (I was there and witnessed the incident, which was not even a big deal but one of the doctors threw a fit about it so the instructor had to cover her own and what she wrote was not the truth) but regardless, they took her side and put my friend on probation. It it was our last day of clinicals ever! Somehow or another the instructor threw my name in there while she wrote up the incident report and I got a call from the coordinator about the incident as if I had part of it... My reply?: "I had nothing to do with it, I was just a witness and I will not hesitate to contact my attorney should my name be mentioned again in any manner whatsoever regarding this matter... They dropped it right then and there... I told my friend to fight it but she thought that it would be best to admit to it even though it was not true, she got put on probation and got threatened with dismissal. Never, ever, ever, ever... admit to something that you did not do. Last resort, start throwing "my lawyer" around... it's three years of your life and it sounds to me like it was some stupid silly thing that got out of control and you are being accused of something really serious. BTW I forgot my watch a ton of times and I always had my cell phone with me.. sorry this is the real world

Well.. Things are going great. I have about six more weeks to go of classes, then a month break and then 9 days of practicum and DONE... I will graduate with a high GPA and I have worked most of the time so it is doable but you have to be flexible. This semester seems to be the easiest as far as the schedule but pretty intense as far as the material because now we are putting all of it together and applying it to the clinical setting and using our critical thinking skills to do so. I would not be able to tell you here what the schedule for each semester is day by day or week by week cause it would take me FOREVER but if you send me your private email, I can email you my entire calendar since the first day of the first semester! I did mine as a word doc so i would be able to be organized and plan ahead. Remember though that the schedule for each starting class is different due to different factors and I am part of the last evening program. Now they are all day programs so classes are earlier Good luck... If there is a will, there is a way....

I completely agree! The time you spend volunteering, spend it in looking for a job. Later, when you are established, you can volunteer all you want.