The VA Medical Center Pay

U.S.A. Mississippi

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Do any of you guys know how much the VA pay new LPN grads?? I know the benefits are really good any ideas??:rolleyes:

Can anyone tell me how much the VA pays its nurse externs in the Memphis area?

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The VA pays different wages for the same job, depending on geographical region.

Where I am, pay for ADN RNs with over one year experience ranges from $21.65 hr, to $29.00/hr.

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Anyone have any info about Atlanta VA medical center?

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HI,

Here is a site to check out. if you want to know about pay scale. its title 38, for nurses who want to work in the VA. I'm not sure how accurate it is now, but it should give you a range. Just find the position, the location and click on the table. It took me 2 hours to find this..... I don't even know how I found the time...:uhoh3:

DoD CPMS :: WAGE :: AF Title 38 Special FY 2010

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here is a site to check out. if you want to know about pay scale. its title 38, for nurses who want to work in the va. i'm not sure how accurate it is now, but it should give you a range. just find the position, the location and click on the table. it took me 2 hours to find this..... i don't even know how i found the time...:uhoh3:

dod cpms :: wage :: af title 38 special fy 2010

actually this would not be a pay scale for va nurses. the va doesn't pay its nurses on the gs scale. it is very difficult to know what you would be paid until you are hired and "boarded". a professional board will meet and determine your pay rate depending on your experience, recommendations, education, job description, etc. you will then be hired on as a nurse i, ii or iii and there are different levels and steps in each of these.

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Yes. you are totally right. aww. what a waste of time...

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I don't know who is giving out the information that I see listed above, but it's incorrect. I am a nurse in the St. Louis VA system. There is a very specific payscale for nurses, that is separate from the GS scale that is listed in the link above. Based off of the scale for the nurses here in St. Louis, it appears that each city has their own. You will not receive a reasonable understanding of the VA nurse pay by the information that was previously posted.

1.) Nurses at the VA are under a "title 38" position, which is not a GS 1, 2, 3, ect. They are paid as "Nurse 1, Nurse 2, Nurse 3 or Nurse 4. Nurses with an associates degree cannot exceed the nurse 1 pay scale. Nurses with a bachelor's degree cannot exceed the nurse 2 pay scale. Nurse 3's are reserved for those with a master's degree in nursing and nurse 4 is reserved for administrative nursing position such as "Chief Nurse".

2.) As a new bachelor's degree prepared nurse, a person would begin their practice as a nurse 1 step 3 (the steps are yearly raises or promotions, if you will). The last time I checked the paper, this allotted a pay of roughly 49K without any differential. (The night differential is paid at 10% and weekend differential is paid at 25%. If you add that up for an entire year, the person that was mentioned as saying they were paid 60K would have been correct.

3.) My starting quote is about 25/hr, plus differentials, great benefits and paid holidays, no low census days and a raise EVERY year (that is until this year lol).

And yes, it is very difficult to work at the VA as well as any federal facility because people there do not live under the fear of losing their jobs like they would in a civilian facility. Therefore, people remain longer and have a greater sense of security so attitudes can fly quite quickly....and when they do, you are forced to deal with it for years and years to come.

But, it's worth the trouble.

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I just started at the VA in South Carolina and thought I would post this pay chart. I hope it helps anyone who is looking to join. I did some other calculations earlier today, and you can make a LOT of money at the VA (and any hospital really). Just know that night shift difs (10%) start at 4pm til 8am and weekend shift difs are 25%.

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb206/solarvirga/img001.jpg

Enjoy.

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Just go on USA jobs and look what the pay is for VA nurse....And depending where the VA is your pay can be close to 90K....Depending on the bording process...Also nurses do not get paid off of the normal GS pay scale because they have a licence it is the tittle 38 pay scale.....I am an LPN pay 4 step 5 and make 40000 base at the VA as opposed to the GS5 regular pay scale that is like 12.00 and hour or something.

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I am an RN with 15 years of nursing experience and have my BSN. I have been in my current position in a hospital setting for 9 years on a cardiovascular step down unit. Besides working on the floor, I frequently serve as charge nurse, am also our unit based educator, quality leader, and CPR instructor. My references are excellent. I have applied for a job at the Cincinnati VA Medical Center on a telemetry unit and the manager wants to hire me. I have not heard from HR yet. I would like to know if anyone can tell me what hourly wage they think I may start out at based on the information I have provided. Thanks.

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With a BSN and your years of experience, it is likely you will be boarded at Nurse 2, step 5 or higher.

Nurse 2 pay scale has 12 steps. I believe the 12th pays about $95k plus.

Nurse 2/ step 5 salary is $75, 800. I do not have the nurse pay scale in front of me, but each step goes up about $1,900 so you can guestimate what higher steps would be. I do know that each VISN has a bit different pay scale based on location. In other words, a Nurse 2 step 5 may make less in one state than another.

On a side note, another post stated a masters was requires to move up to a nurse 3, which then has its 12 or so steps.

It is not required to have a masters degree to get a Nurse 3 level job. Nurses with a BSN can get an "education waiver" and move into a Nurse 3 position if it is available and the nurse is qualified. It isn't necessarily common though. That is something you can look into in the future, after working for a bit. A nurse 3 typically runs a program such as Infection Control, Risk Management, etc.:nurse:

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Thanks akrn41. I was made an offer at Nurse 2 step 4. Do you think this is lower than you expected because I started with my ADN and was working and going to school for my BSN right after I finished the two year degree? Either way, I have accepted their tentative offer and am going through the grueling process of working for the government. I think all the effort will be worth it though. Thanks for all the other useful information too!

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