Questions about a VA career?

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Specializes in Hoping to be a peds nurse..

Hi everyone,

I did not see a forum just for VA nursing so I decided to ask my question in the general topic area. I'm a nursing student about to graduate from an ADN program in the spring and I wanted know if someone could explain to me the advantages and disadvantages of working for the VA. In the city where I live the VA hospital does not have a good reputation. Does the VA hospital anywhere have a good reputation? I'm not really that worried about repauition I just wanted to know.

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Specializes in Hoping to be a peds nurse..

Thanks. Ill sift through that.

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Specializes in Critical Care.

Its great if you like the population (older men generally). Benefits are great as you are a federal employee. The downside would be that you either love the population or hate it. Also lots of bureaucracy as its is the government.

Don't get bogged down by "reputation", talk to your recruiter and find a nurse to follow and see for yourself. I think the VA system has "a bad reputation" stemming from its history, I hear that bad rep thing a lot from people (and patients). The best thing to do is make up your own mind.

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I worked 3years at a magnet VA hospital in management, therefore my views are slightly different. I loved the benefits(separate annual leave & sick leave bank), tuition reimbursement, opportunities to advance your career, legal protection(unlike the private setting; when a pt sues, he/she is suing the government as opposed to the individual nurse) and the one I worked at had a union that was a pain to deal with for those us in management.

Downside, there is a significant difference in pay for experienced nurses like myself. VA uses a pay scale based on degree and years of experience.

For example:

new ADN graduate would be Nurse 1, step 1 and there are 12 steps in each level

Experienced ADN would be Nurse 1, step would be based on years of experience.

New BSN graduate would be Nurse 2, step 1, etc

You must have a BSN to be Nurse 2 and graduate degree to be a Nurse III but it is not automatic. Nurse IV & V are based on the position(Care line Nurse Executives & Associate Director of Patient Care Services).

VA uses a care line model as opposed to nursing service. There are surgical care line, extended care line(long-term care), medical care line, mental health care line, outpatient clinics, and each care line has a nurse executive and a care line executive(which can be a nurse or a physician).

Another downside for me was dealing with union which protected employees that would have been terminated in the private sector. Let me stop because I can go on and on about this.

Overall, i would highly recommend the VA system.

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Career in VA nursing is both demanding as well as challenging. VA nurses are at the bedside and in outpatient clinics working with the entire patient care team to deliver quality care. They are also developing patient safety initiatives, conducting research to evaluate and improve care delivery, and taking on leadership roles to help guide the next generation of nurses. If you want to know more details about this career, then go through the following site.

http://www.vacareers.va.gov/

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