I've only been with the VA as a nurse since June, but I agree just about word for word with Daytonite's post. The VA that I work with does still see victim's of agent orange-particularly my floor, which specializes in posttransplant care. Many of the patients are very appreciative of their care, and many love to talk about their service history. I don't now how the pay scales work for LPN's (sorry). Where I work, LPN's are mainly working on the IV/lab draw team. There are also a few working on the acute care floors in RN-LPN teams. The pay scales are somewhat dependent on experience, but they also depend on degree-ADN vs BSN. After a year or 2 of VA experience, an ADN who started out as a new nurse in the VA would catch up to the step of the BSN. Staff nurses are usually categorized as Nurse 1. A new grad ADN would probably start at step 1 and move to step 3 in a year (I think, someone correct me if I am off the beam here), but I don't know how your LPN experience would affect this. Good luck!
