KJCnango

I work for the VA, first RN job. From day 1, I get 6 weeks vacation, 12 paid holidays and 13 sick days. I'll probably never leave :)

I do think the additional time off will make it worth it for me. I already gave up a lot of time with them in the last 2 years while going to school. They're still young and I think the additional 3 weeks might make me more content in the position.

Very true. The nice thing is that I've heard it's a fairly painless procedure to transfer within and to different facilities. So thats definitely always an option :)

Of course there are, it's just not the position I'd be going into. It may be a possibility to transfer over once I'm the system, however.

No, you're right. It definitely doesn't always mean that. But the other hospital I'm looking at offers 2 weeks vacation until you reach 10 years. The VA offers 5.5 weeks in the first year. Pension and fully vested after 5 years at the VA. No pension from private hospital. Zero dollar health insurance premium for myself and family at the VA. At least $200/pay period for less insurance coverage at the private hospital. These are pretty substantial differences, and mostly what I'm basing my lackluster designation on.

I just graduated nursing school and am currently exploring my options. I have 3 children to support and am older, so I recognize the importance of those benefits that so many take for granted (pension, 401k, health insurance, etc.) I interviewed for a position with the local VA Hospital and was given a verbal offer by the manager that upon passing the NCLEX and providing them with my license number, they would be making me an offer on their med surg floor. The benefits of working at the VA are amazing. The problem is that I've wanted to be an OR nurse since the beginning of nursing school. I'd been set on applying to an OR Academy the last 2 years. Even since giving my verbal commitment to working at the VA, I have thought every day at least once about the OR. I feel like I'd be stupid to give up the long-term benefits of the VA for the lackluster ones of a private hospital. Is it something that I can learn to love when I see the benefits, or will I always feel like I should have gone the OR route? Did you take a job that wasn't your passion and later regret it?

My biggest challenge right now is that I'm running out of student loan money. There is a lifetime max of undergraduate loans of 57K. I have a Bachelors that utilized all but 10K of that. A Bachelors that was a waste of time and money! So while I should have gone straight to a BSN program, I cant afford it at almost 26K. I dont have enough loans left to cover it. So my only option is getting my 2 year and then hoping I can get tuition reimbursement for my BSN through employer. It seems so silly that I'm going backwards, so to speak, in degrees, but it's what I have to do. I certainly cant pay out of pocket, so loans are my only option.

Thanks for the replies, everyone. It really is my dream. When I chose, at 33 with 3 kids of my own and a mortgage and bills and knowing the work ahead of me, to change careers and go to nursing school, this is what I saw myself doing. Thank you for the vote of confidence. Ive veen looking up residency programs, not that I fully understand them yet, but most of them are saying that they're only for BSNs. I'll only have my 2-year when I'm done. Is this common in any of your experience?

Hi, all. I've spent the last year taking nursing prereqs and start the program in September. This will be a second career for me, as I hold a BA in education. I'm a mom to 3 little ones and, naturally, love babies. My dream position is NICU or L&D, but when I mention it to seasoned nurses, I feel like they look at me as if I'm expecting it to be handed to me and that I should "put my time in" on a M/S floor first. I'm fine wherever I start off. I want to be an RN. But how common is it that these positions are offered to new grads? I mean, not everyone WANTS to work with babies, right? I hear many nurses say they would take adults any day of the week over babies. So, I guess what I'm asking is, do seasoned nurses see it as being cocky or undeserved when a new grad says they want to work in a specialty right off the bat? I dont want to say something during clinicals that sounds like I'm expecting to just walk into a specialty, if that's not really how it works, you know?!