va nurse

Hi, I'm in VISN 15, St. Louis. I'm also a vet. and have been with the V.A. for 8-years. I wouldn't dream of going back to the civilian sector. V.A. Nurse

This comes from two very reliable resources. Both were relatively high ranking officers returning from Germany. They knew of my interest in transferring to DOD overseas and how I had not received so much as a reply. I have an MSN, am a service connected, 10-point vet, and have 13 years experience as an RN. So I was somewhat surprised. They informed me that the military "low balls" the RN's overseas because they can get away with it. They realize that as a spouse of a military member, you have no choice in being there. In addition, today's families are predominantly two income families and they realize that you need to work. They offer the lowest salary they can get away with and say "take it or leave it". The DOD should be ashamed and this should be against the law. I'm surprised that congress lets them get away with it.

You are very correct in the issues that you bring up. I too was boarded as a Nurse I. I have been here 7 years and I am now Nurse II. Completing my BSN was crucial to my getting nurse II. I have now completed my MSN. Let me tell you though; I have been beating my brains out going from an ADN to an MSN in 6-years. (I had to wait a year to start). However, the V.A. paid for all of it. As you said, it is vitally important that you find a mentor that knows the "ins and outs" of the V.A. system.

Hello Everyone! I read your post and know where you are coming from. It takes an inordinate amount of time to get on at the V.A. By the way, I work for VISN 15 in St. Louis. One thing that I've noticed is that the government has an infinite number of ways of getting around hiring vets. I am a 10-point vet due to an injury that ocurred in an explosion and I have even had a civilian nurse tell me that they shouldn't even hire 10-point vets because we might be unstable. I have had my resume in to transfer to the Army, Navy, or Air Force for over a year and even though their website shows many openings I haven't even had one reply. Hard to figure isn't it. All in all though, I enjoy working for the V.A. and would never work in a civilian hospital again.

I'm happy that I may have shown you some options. I believe that the overtime rule is mandated V.A. wide for January. You should definitely bring it up. It is amazing how similar the V.A. that you work for sounds to the one that I work for. I have run into the same sort of problems; not so much with O.T. but definitely with pre-selection of positions and promotions. EEOC should be involved in such illegal activity. I guess one of the reasons that I refuse to let them discourage me is because I'm a Vet. In fact, I'm a 10-point Vet with a 30% service connected disability. They are not going to run me off. I have worked in 4 different positions in the last 6-years. The advantage of this is that I'm getting a broader picture of how things are run and how they fit together. I'm considering moving to another city in the future. Hang in there. va nurse

Hi 4ZBirds, I'm so sorry to hear that you are having such trouble using your leave. It sounds like you happened into a poorly managed V.A. hospital unit. They are probably perpetually understaffed due to staff members leaving for the reasons you listed. They are in a viscious cycle and "can't see the forest for the trees". Before giving up on the V.A., have you considered moving to another postition at your hospital or even to a different city? At the very least, let someone know how all of you feel. Come January, if I understand correctly, the V.A. will no longer be able to use mandatory overtime. Have you heard of this? I wish you luck in finding a better position. VA Nurse

I agree with you Angel. It seems that each V.A. hospital system has its own little fiefdom. Although the professional standards board was set up to prevent this, it is being effectively circumvented by certain hospitals. Even though I'm finishing my MSN, I've been told that this still doesn't qualify me for promotion to nurse III. You have to jump through their hoops and it leaves the appearance that those that are promoted are often members of a very cozy group of co-promoters. When I have checked at other V.A. hospital I have found that they have Nurse III's in the ICU, Telemetry, and on the floor. However, this is not the case here.

I currently work for the V.A. I would be very interested to learn some more about DOD nursing from you if possible. I'm a veteran myself and an RN. I have 3 classes left for my MSN and would like to transfer to DOD in Japan or Europe. I was in the Air Force and really miss the people and the travel. Would you happen to have any information about such assignments?

I completed my BSN through the V.A. and I'm now completing my MSN. The program that I'm in is called NNEI. The pay for everything including parking. The V.A. has been great but being a vet myself I'm getting antsy to move. I'm curious about DOD Civilian nursing overseas in Japan and Europe.

V.A. Nursing can be very rewarding. As with anything, it is what you make of it. As a vet myself I find it very enjoyable working with vets and being able to help them. The V.A. has some very good benefits for nurses. For example: 200 hours of annual leave per year. You start accumulating leave from the first day. You will also accumulate 4-hours of sick leave per pay period. In my opinion the pay is very competitive. The V.A. is very education oriented and has programs for nurses to continue their education. One factor that is very important to me and I would guess to many nurses concerns maltreatment of nurses by physicians. This is not tolerated at the V.A. and you do have the backing of your managers if this occurs. Physicians and nurses are valued equally and this is likely due to the fact that it is not a corportation predominantly focused on profits in which Physicians are allowed to mistreat others because they bring in patients. Most Physicians are not like this anyway but when you do encounter one it can make ones life miserable for the staff and deadly for patients. The V.A. is adamant that Vets. be treated with the dignity that they deserve and anyone that doesn't comply will be shown the door. As many would probably agree, there always seems to be one or two people in every unit that try to make others life hell. This is especially true of nursing. It is the same at the V.A. When I first started in the ICU there were two nurses that hounded me constantly. As a career choice the V.A. has alot to offer. If you apply yourself you can advance rapidly in the system. The V.A. has 5 grades for RN's from 1-5 with 13 steps in each grade. The salary range that I am quoting is for the area that I live in. Each area pay scale differs somewhat do to locality pay. Grade 01 step 01 in this area has a base pay rate of $39,110. The top is nurse 5, step 13 which has a base pay of $131,400. When you are hired you are boarded and this is when your pay rate is determined base on your education, experience and qualifications. Generally, to start in the grade 2 level you would need to have a BSN and for the grade 3 level most have an MSN. Nurse 4's are usually executives and nurse 5's are Chief Nurses. If you work evenings or nights you will receive a 10% differential. If you work the weekend you will receive a 25% differential. If it is weekend nights or evenings you will receive both. I would guess that if you have a BSN and several years experience you would probably start somewhere around the middle of the grade 2 level. Nurse 2, step 5 base pay is $61,761 at the institution I work for. Soon we will be receiving vets returning from Iraq. To me it will be quite an honor to take care of them. The first place you should take a look at is... http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/ You will see a multitude of nursing jobs available all over the country and the world. But another suggestion that I have would be to find the institution that you are interested in and contact the nursing recruiter at that institution. If you have further questions please e-mail me and I will do my best to answer it for you.

Thank you so much for your reply! I'm currently a career federal worker and an Air Force vet. I checked with HR and it sounds like it would be fairly straight forward to transfer. Although I was in the Air Force from 1981-1986, I was not a nurse at that time. I worked on the flightline in Germany and loved it. I had such a great time and wondered if others had enjoyed DOD nursing. It sounds like you really enjoyed it. You made my day!

Hello, I am interested in transferring to the DOD overseas as an RN. I would like to transfer to Japan. I lived in Japan for 5-years as a civilian teaching in a Japanese Nursing School. My wife is also Japanese so I'm very familiar with the customs and speak and write a bit of the language. I currently work for the Veteran's Administration as an RN. At this time I'm nursing supervisor for 8-units. I will be graduating next May with an MSN in administration. I would really appreciate any information concerning such a position. For example: working conditions,housing, lifestyle,benefits, etc...