iToniai

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.

Southernkitten, Thank you and good luck to you. So far, I've found 4 programs that are for non new graduates. I will begin applying tomorrow. Thanks again.

Hi all, I'm an experienced med/surg nurse who wants to switch specialty area. Since nursing school I knew I absolutely wanted to be in the OR, however, I took the advice of my former professors and other nurses who told me to get med/surg experience first. Now, I have 5 years of experience and it seems to be working against me. All of the OR programs I've found, thus far, are only willing to consider new graduates only, how ironic is that? I'm willing to move anywhere within the U.S.A. in order to get this training. Does anyone know of any hospitals who are willing to train an experienced med/surg nurse to become an OR nurse? I'm still searching but I know a lot of people visit these forums and might have a few suggestions. Thank you.

Hey! Don't work there, but I turned down a job there early this year because I had already accepted a position somewhere else. I was also out of state, I applied online for a med/surg floor, I believed it took me less than 2 weeks to hear back. I was interviewed the following week, but they were very slow with offering me the position it took almost 1 month from interview to job offer. As a RN with about 4 years experience, I was offered $27.00/hr (give a few cents), and around $4.00/hr for night differential. The interview process included a computer based calculation test (some of the questions were about what medications would you expect a patient to be on based on his/her diagnosis), interview with the HR personnel, and interview with your potential manager. I was interviewed by 2 different managers, at the same time. Then you have to take a nicotine screening test, you have to do this whether or not you get the job, I believe it's part of the interview process. Also, the managers will setup a time that you will come in to "shadow" for a few hours, it's also another interview but with the clinical coordinator(s) and some of the senior nurses (I had 2 clinical coordinator and 1 senior RN interview me). Overall, not a bad process since I believe this was a way to wean out people who weren't the right fit, but somewhere between the manager and HR, someone didn't call me on time. By the way, since I came out of state they allowed me to do the formal interview and nicotine screening during the same day and the shadowing later on that night.

Hey GAMommy! Congratulations. I'm not a new nurse. However, I am interested in the OR program and did apply, was contacted but haven't setup an interview date yet. How was the interview process for you? Also, I'm curious to know about salary, ballpark figure if you have that information. I've visited Piedmont prior and did like the feel of the hospital. Thanks.

As an experienced nurse, my annual base pay at Sentara was $39,200 (that's barely $22.00/hr); I made almost the same amount when I was a medical records clerk before nursing school. In a safe/nice neighborhood don't expect a 1br apartment to be any less than 1K/month (not including utilities). It was embarrassing considering I was a BSN prepared nurse with experience. The shift differential is now $4.00/hour and NOT the $8.00 it was a few years back. It's a disgrace what nurses are making in the Hampton Roads area. Sentara spent so much money on their new hospital (SPA), now they can't pay nurses for our work. In that area, working for the federal government will bring you more money than the private sector so go that route, if you can.

86toronado, From my understanding, the hiring manager isn't given potential candidates list until after the closing date of the job. I had a few interviews before eventually securing my position and I'm sure I was never contacted until after the closing date for those positions. The timeframe varied, I was contacted a few days after the closing date to as far out as 1 month.

nursetaminator this is a good question. one of my previous hospital did close after i left; i inputted the data and in the comment section i stated that. they were able to verify my employment there (not sure how but they listed it as verified). also, when i did vetpro it did not say how far back to go, it stated to list all employment relevant to my field (so i only listed my nursing jobs). i did have breaks in my employment, which as stated by others, vetpro will prompt you to fix those gaps. inputting my previous address and the dates i lived there fixed that error.

See below

Hey all, This thread has been great, now that I'm finish with my process; I'll just add to this thread for others. My process has been similar but with some differences. I applied in January, the job closed in February. I was contacted about 2 weeks after the job closed by the hiring manager, she scheduled a phone interview for the next day. After the phone interview, she asked if I can come in for a face to face about a week and a half later. At the face to face, I was interviewed by 4 staff members, they asked the typical PBI type questions. A few days later, I was asked for references. I gave 4 references, all included email and physical addresses. My references were contacted via email (these references were very slow with getting back in contact with the manager, so I believe this slowed down my process). About 3 weeks later, I was given a tentative offer, I was asked to do my physical and fingerprint ASAP, so I wound up doing these the same week of my tentative offer. I did my physical and fingerprinting the same day (at the VA I will be working for); that same day I received the link to vetpro, I was told I had 48 hours to get it done. Honestly, the vetpro process was not as difficult as I thought it would be. They were very specific about which tabs I should skip and the ones to fill out. It took me about 1 hour (if that) to input the data. The main thing with vetpro from my experience is having your information ready (i.e. reference list and past work experience). One day after inputting the data, my references were contacted via email (the reference form was completely different from the one given by the hiring manager during the first reference check). I submitted 8 references and within 3 days, 4 of my references had email or faxed back the reference form. I knew this by checking vetpro, I was able to log back in a check the status of references submittal, education and work verficication. A week after submitting my vetpro, I contacted the person managing my file to let her know I made an error in one of my entries, she told me that they already know and the dates were corrected. She also informed me that my file was submitted to the board. I received my final offer about 4 business day after, via email (still awaiting snail mail confirmation). I will begin working in May (I choose my start date). After receiving my final offer, the HR person told me I'll have to do equip, which is an online background investigation before my start date. Overall, the process took about 3 months, from applying to getting a final offer. My advice is get your references in order, have at least one former/current manager if possible. Make sure your references are checking email, as my VA used email to send my reference form and let them know to respond back in a timely manner. Also, if you can do a face to face interview. I had a few phone interviews prior and I just don't think I did as well as when I did my face to face. I'm so excited to start with the VA, I have a few friends who work for some of the other VA's and most have only pleasant things to say about working for the VA.

Glad someone else's experience have been different. Just like you can post your good experience, I can post my bad experience. I posted my experience on what the army has been like, I have the right to do that. I'm not going to sugar-coat anything. If I had to do it again, I would definitely stay in the civilian world. Patient care and management is not the same in the military from my view point. So people like myself who thought things were going to be greener on this side, it's not, so just think about it. Again, I could care less about your assessment, your military which equals typical to judge and try to cast stones. I'm working on my MSN so let that burn you up some more. I've had around 3 head nurses since joining, 2 was lost to ETSing. The last nurse commander call was about the retention level of nurses in the army. They can't figure out why after the initial commitment, many nurses are leaving. Think these nurses are getting out of the army because they don't like nursing? Maybe since your so judgmental, maybe you should get out of nursing. Again, your just upset because I dared to say anything negative about you all beloved army. I'm sure I can go pull up old post on you all that keep following me around the forums, but quite frankly I have a life and I really can't be bothered. Like I said in one of my previous post, people aren't allowed to share their bad experiences about the military on this forum because you have people like (insert your name here) who will spend the whole day to find old posts or create a flame war over someone's experience. Many people like myself stop posting here after getting in the military, because we know if you aren't saying how great life is in the military then (insert your name here) will make sure to try and tell you that it's because you don't like nursing. Thanks for the PM's!!!