cisneroj

I am in South Florida. There are lots of Drug detox's and treatment facilities that pay so much more then LTC. I started out making $17.50 at a none profit. Now I am making $23 - $26 depending on where I want to work. I have some LPN friends that are making $28 working at a detox over night. LTC is not the only way to go, and they pay less for more work.

I just got my start date for the VA and I picked Sept 6. The HR rep that I was speaking with said they do orientation every two weeks and some people pick days as far as 45 days to start. Just let your current DON know that you will give them 30 days, its ok the VA understands. Now from my tentative offer to my firm offer it was about two months give or take.

I see it everyday since I work at a Drug detox. The system has a problem I have some patients who have been to detox and treatment over 40 times and these kids are in their 20s. Yes some have long term pain, but that number is very few. Some of my patients will AMA after a few days and go out and OD go to the ER, then back to us for treatment and yes they will AMA again. And yes the pain scale is so funny, everyone is an 8 or 10. And they always have anxiety, I am like Mr patient you are still in bed just waking up, but he says he is so anxious. As long as they have insurance to pay these kids will not stop, there needs to be a cap for how many times they can go to treatment. If it has not worked after 4 times something needs to change. It is hard seeing these 18 year old kids doing this to their bodies.

People are always talking about MW increase and like I said before its easy to increase your worth, GET AN EDUCATION. I was dirt poor, I was in the struggle but I said no more and I went to school and became an LPN and I am still in school for my BSN. Why should a company be forced to pay more money to a minimal non skilled worker???????

you are not suppose to work for minimum wage your whole life, those jobs are not for raising a family. Minimal skills = minimal wage. If the people at fast food restaurants want more money they should go to school and learn a trade, then they will get more money. I should know, a little over 3 years ago I was making $9 an hour doing security and I was struggling to survive. I then made a decision to start school for LPN and finished and past the NCLEX. Now I make more money then I ever have and I did not have to wait for the government to force my employer to give me more money. Some people are lazy and dont want to go to school to earn more money, they want government handouts. I do not agree with increasing the MW, if people want more money go to school and get an education

I have to say night shift sucks. I have done 5 eight hour days and 12 hour days and the 12s are much better. But I never complain about work, since I got my license I have always had more then one job. Sometimes I would work 20 hour days got home sleep and do it all again. You dont have to work in LTC, try drug and alcohol detox it pays so much more and its easier. I know some LPNs who work at 2-3 different detoxs and they make 60-70k a year, 1 full time and 2 PRN. So search for a detox in your area and apply, its a different kind of nursing, but worth the money

Try different places for work. I am in Florida and it was hard finding my first job without experience. But I looked up drug and alcohol detox or rehab they hire LPNs and some will hire new grads. I have been working at detoxes for two years now, and the pay is so much more then LTC. Just google drug detox in your area and start calling, maybe start at a government funded one to get experience then they all will hire you. I have some friends who work at another detox making $27 an hour as an LPN and its over night. Just keep looking

I am a Veteran and an LPN and I just got a Firm job offer at a VAMC in another state. The whole process took around 3-4 months, I applied everywhere and had 2 interviews and both of them offered me a job. I saw some positions in Seattle Wa that said they will take non citizens if no qualified citizen applies, so maybe hit those up first. And on your resume you make on USA JOBS sell yourself when talking about your jobs and skills this is how they pick your salary. And apply to any position even CLC, because once your in your in, and you can always apply for another position internally when one comes up. Veterans preference does not help you get the job, it does help you get the interview if you are qualified they have to interview you per an HR rep. And if you can take extra courses on the weekends to help out with your resume.

Money pays the bills. I know many Nurses that would work 2 full time jobs and a PRN job on the side just to save to buy a house. And they were LPN's making over $80k a year. Yea working 7 days a week 12 hour shifts is hard, I did it for a little while for the MONEY. I am in school right now getting my BSN, I am not doing it to get paid the same as I do now as an LPN.

My old employer tried that with me. I gave them a print out of the LAW and said OK I will clock out and sit in my car for 30 minutes while I eat. They came back and said I did not have to clock out to eat.

You do this thing called Vetpro, that were you put all your nursing employment and the VA will verify that employment and call all your references and send them stuff in the mail to send back. You will also have to write down all your addresses and do finger prints. The hardest part is the wait. I hope I hear back soon, I think my background check is what I am waiting for. The HR already sent my paperwork to the director to sign off my salary.

yea I found out you could accept more then one tentative offer after I called the HR department from another VAMC. The HR rep told me you can start the process for many jobs but they should be in different VAMC. For me I applied to many in different states. HR told me each VAMC has their own board that determines your salary so all the final offers could have different pay and you just pick the one that you want.

Well as an LPN in South Florida its Detox or LTC. So I have been working in detox for 2 years now. At first I did it for the pay, detox pays much more then long term care, right now I get $24 an hour. The patients are demanding and always seek more medications. And yes you will see the same face more then once. Its hard when you see a 19 year old female who became a prostitute because she needed to get high. I got burnt out with detox a long time ago, I use to feel like the patients really don't care what you say. One patient I had has been to 47 different detox facilities and his insurance keeps paying. I hated going to work and I applied to so many LTC jobs and went on interviews and even took other jobs. There was one patient at the detox who thanked me, and she told me I am the only nurse that she ever had in a detox that sat down and just talked to her, she said I made her think about her future more then the therapist did. She had tears in her eyes when she said that I helped her. Its been 8 months and she still has not come back. Now I like coming to work, I know I cant save everyone, But if I can help just one person change their lives that one person could change the world.

I just finished the hiring process with the Columbia SC VAMC. I am just waiting for the final offer and I hope it comes soon. I went there two weeks ago to get the finger prints completed with the physical. The whole process so far has taken around 3 months.

I am not an employee yet. I have completed two interviews for two different VAMC. And I was given a tentative offer for both of them. One facility called me the HR department and then sent me the offer, the other just sent me an email with the offer. I accepted both of them to see who gives me the best final offer. I have completed all the paper work and back ground check, I am just waiting for the offers. I think the whole process so far took 3 months and that's from the interview.