Question About Working For The VA

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Specializes in ER.

I was wondering if anyone has worked for the VA as a NP before and if so were you REQUIRED to have the APN license of the state that the VA was located in. IE: if in California did you have to have a California APN license or was any APN license good?

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Generally no. To work at the VA as a nurse in any capacity, you need to be licensed in any state in the US. There may be situations where there is a need to relocate your license, but I have never heard or seen them personally. Most of the time, prescriptions and appointments are all handled in-house. And any outside support or prescription go through a broader bureaucracy that don't require you to get additional licensure.

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Specializes in Primary Care.

I am an NP for the Dept. of VA. As long as you have a valid NP license in any state, you are good to go. I do caution you however to obtain licensure in whatever state you go to work in as you will have to follow your state practice as well as federal mandates. ie. running Rx reports if your state requires it. Good luck, it is a great place to work!

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Specializes in ER.

Thanks for the information guys!

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For those of you who are working in the VA as an NP, did you work in the system as an RN? I am currently on a military leave of absence from the VA and I will return to the VA as an RN until I finish school.

I have heard that some new grad NPs end up making less money than they did as an RN.

Any thoughts or general advice about working as an NP within the VA?

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Specializes in ER.
57 minutes ago, soldierRN71 said:

For those of you who are working in the VA as an NP, did you work in the system as an RN? I am currently on a military leave of absence from the VA and I will return to the VA as an RN until I finish school.

I have heard that some new grad NPs end up making less money than they did as an RN.

Any thoughts or general advice about working as an NP within the VA?

I highly doubt that you would make less since the VA operated on NURSE levels and you can't get to a 3-5 unless you have a masters or doctorate. You can get a level 3 with a BSN but usually have to do system wide changes. Its' also impossible to move down a step, So I find it highly unlikely you would make less.

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