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Thank you! My question wasn't regarding the requirements, I know I already have the degree and the focus area for me to qualify to sit for the exam. My question was more so about whether the exam is passable for those who don't have teaching experience. For example, those of us who have a MSN (obviously with specialization in nurse educator) or Ed.D. and decided to stay in the hospital setting, thus, not have any formal teaching experience.

Hi all, I'm interested in getting certified as a nurse educator. However, other than my practicum experience while completing my MSN, I have no formal teaching experience. I'm not really interested in teaching at a university/college. I'm essentially just waiting my turn as nurse educator jobs at my hospital seems to only come around once in a lifetime . In the meantime, I'm exploring other areas of nursing and learning a lot. I've read some of the posts regarding certification to become a nurse educator, my questions are; has anyone taken the exam without actually having experience formally teaching? If so, how did you prepare? Do you think it's a bad idea to take the exam without having teaching experience?

Alternate, I'm not sure how they would know about your article 15's, but again why not disclose especially since you were still discharged honorably? I recently tried to obtain my medical records from the military and was told the VA now has all those records, so I assume they might have my non-medical files too. Just be honest, it might save you from any future issues.

Hey Alternate, Have you done VETPRO yet? If I'm remembering correctly it asked about article 15's as well. I would suggest you fully disclose, it gives you a chance to explain all yes answers. Go ahead and explain because technically you are committing a crime when you intentionally lie on a job application, if the VA finds out that you didn't disclose they will rescind the offer and I remember reading something about a fine and/or jail time for intentionally lying. As a veteran myself, I love being able to work with and for other veterans, unfortunately I know other veterans who are now barred from being able to obtain federal jobs, this might happen when they find out you intentionally withheld information. I know someone with a felony who was hired as an RN with the VA, she simply made them aware and explained what happened and how she has grown from her bad decisions, one of her former managers also gave her a good reference regarding her change. I would honestly be scared to not fully disclose on any job application, let alone a federal one. Good luck!!!

Hey LubbockNP, How did the boarding process go for you?

LubbockNP, It's interesting how some VA require the dimensions as part of the boarding process and some don't. I've had a total of 5 tentative offers from different VA's and was asked by 3 to do this. My resume is very detailed so I used that as my bases to formulate my examples of how I met the criteria. When trying to obtain nurse III, I used a lot of the activities that surpassed unit based actions, such as quality improvement officer, safety officer, and being a part of the education committee. Also, don't be afraid to use the same example more than once, a lot of examples (i.e. action) can be used to meet different criteria. Good luck to you!!!

Congratulations! Did they say when you can expect to see the written offer?

So my team consist of the point of contact person (HR specialist) and another HR specialist who I was in contact with during the VETPRO process. I did contact someone else in HR who basically told me that they are overworked and understaffed, so they have been slow with getting out written offers. Oh well, I'll just have to keep hanging in there, I know not every VA boarding process is like this, so I won't let this discourage me.

As expected, I have not heard anything back from the HR specialist. I emailed her a few days ago and of course she hasn't responded back to me. I feel the same way as you, until its in writing I won't believe it, especially since I've worked for the VA previously. I went ahead and gave my notice to move out of my rental so I am going through the motions, but I do have a plan B just in case. I will also move forward with any other tentative offers I might receive from other VA's (I'm expecting one tentative offer from somewhere else). I hate to begin this whole process over again, but I feel as if I have no choice but to move forward or else I will be homeless and jobless; since both my current employer and rental place require at least a 30 day notice.

Has anyone dealt with an unpleasant HR personnel? It's the most frustrating hiring process I've been going through since January; my HR contact person has been nothing but inconsistent and unpleasant. Apparently, I was finally boarded 2 months after my packet was submitted to the board. I was given a final offer over the phone, I accepted and we agreed on a start date, I was told I'll have my offer in writing the next day (via email and regular mail would be sent), it's now almost a week later and once again the HR personnel has not followed through on her promise. I'm wondering if it would be appropriate to contact someone else in HR to get my offer in writing because I'm in a time crunch and expected to relocate to start working in less than 6 weeks. Without a written offer letter I cannot secure housing, and quite frankly I don't believe anything the HR personnel tells me unless it's in writing, so until I see the letter I don't believe I have the job. Any suggestions anyone?

GoalSeeker, Congratulations on getting a start date. I see from interview to start date was approximately 8 months. I'm in the process of going back into the VA system (I will post about the process once I get my final offer, in the past I added to this thread when I first went into the system). Unfortunately, after interviewing I didn't hear back for approximately 3 months; so of course I thought I didn't get the position and moved on with my life and signed a new lease. Out of the blue, I received an email with a tentative offer, I'm very happy to be heading back to the VA but I'm trying to slow down the process (ironic isn't it) since I need a few more months before my lease is up. I'm not being offered any type of incentive or relocation pay for the position so if I have to break my lease, I would have to pay to move 10 hours to the new job and pay to get out of my lease, which equals too much money. I'm curious to know what made your process take 8 months, was it due to the VA being slow? I'm really trying to buy some time, the specialist in charge of putting my packet together is working with my as much as possible to help to delay a start date until after my lease expires. I've completed VETPRO, nothing has been verified yet so I'm sure that will help and my pre-employment physical isn't until the end of the month. I know it sounds crazy that someone is trying to slow down and already slow process, lol but they completely caught me off guard offering me the position 3 months after my interview.

Hi ccayanan, I worked for the VA on a med/surg floor. There were only 2 new graduates on my floor and 1 of them was a former LPN, who transferred from in-house clinic. From my understanding they normally don't hire new graduates with no experience. However, certain VA's have a nurse residency program (there is one advertised right now for the Decatur, GA area) and do hire new nurses into the program. Even though you might not have the experience you should still apply, you might just land a job there. And just an FYI, I don't think the VA considers preference points when hiring title 38 employees (nurses).

After finishing my MSN, I started looking at positions that required a MSN; however, after speaking with my manager I was told just because I have a masters doesn't mean I should pursue other opportunities. Basically, I took this as you will forever be a med/surg nurse no matter what. I put in my resignation a few months later and currently switching my specialty area.

I know the feeling of not being happy at your job. My first job out of nursing school I only stayed for 2 months, the pay was great (76K) and it was at a prestigious hospital, but for whatever reason it was not a great fit for me. I say go with what your heart desires but make sure you are not heading for something worse.

Hey all! Thanks for those who left comments here and PMed me with programs. I went on 2 interviews and was offered a position in an OR perioperative internship program. I'm super excited and I look forward to starting in a couple of months. I will post the programs that I found through my research (and suggestions from people on this forum , thank you) in case someone stumbles upon this post in the future. Again these programs did not require you to be a new graduate nurse. 1) Moses Cone Health- NC 2) Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center-NC 3) Bon Secours (there are a few hospitals under this company, the program I found is in Richmond, VA) 4) CJW Medical Center-VA 5) Washington Hospital Center-Washington, D.C. 6) Vanderbilt Medical Center-TN 7) Florida Hospital-FL (they have a perioperative program specifically for experienced nurses from a different specialty) Good luck future OR nurses. The one thing I did note is some of the hospitals seemed to prefer if you are already licensed in that particular state, this is my reason why I narrowed my search down to mostly compact states.