VA nurse job with Other Than Honorable Discharge

[jlambirt]

I got an OTH discharge from the Navy after 4.5 years for possession of steroids and attempting to obstruct justice. 60 days in the brig was also part of the deal. That ended in September 2016. I've been a Psych RN on overnights since then and was quickly promoted to House Charge/Supervisor within 6 months.

I'm moving to another state next summer and would love to apply at the VA. They have psych openings, but I'm wondering if the OTH excludes me from consideration. On the other hand, there's never a lot of competition for acute psych jobs.

Anybody have any experience with this?

[Bryan0774]

On 4/27/2019 at 10:29 PM, DirtyVA said:

Did you ever get your answer jlambirt? A big factor in all of this is the year of the offense (Art, 15/32/Etc.) and the year you were discharged. If you are still around let me know and I can fill you in.

Hi DirtyVA,

No I haven’t. It was in 2018 from the Air National Guard. I wasn’t UCMJ’d nor receive an article 15. Any insight is appreciated. Thanks

[DirtyVA]

On 12/18/2018 at 6:05 PM, jlambirt said:

For whatever reason, the military and VA seem to constantly put out contradictory policy statements. In my brief search I found this poster showing status definitions. It states, anything above "other than dishonorable discharge" qualifies you as a protected veteran.

https://www.dol.gov/ofccp/posters/Infographics/files/ProtectedVet-2016-11x17_ENGESQA508c.pdf

A Protected Veteran is not the same thing as Veterans preference for hiring, or eligibility for disability benefits, or being eligible for the level of security clearance as per the background check for a staff nurse/low level RN manager in the VA (VHA Hospital) system...What are you looking for? What is your ultimate goal?

[DirtyVA]

Are you saying you joined the Air Guard after you got the boot from the Navy? Did you get the boot from the Navy for the roids in 2016, then went Air Guard? What was your Navy job? What was your AG job? Were you enlisted or commissioned? Was NCIS involved or was it handled at the command level and you signed admissions and waivers wit ha deal of no prosecute/jail (no Art. 32/Captains mast)? These things are very important, it changes a lot of things. What is your goal? Benefits? Job preference? What????

-Dirty

On 4/29/2019 at 7:11 AM, Bryan0774 said:

Hi DirtyVA,

No I haven’t. It was in 2018 from the Air National Guard. I wasn’t UCMJ’d nor receive an article 15. Any insight is appreciated. Thanks

[jlambirt]

I took a psych RN job at a hospital affiliated with an Ivy League school. Hourly pay is on the low end, but shift differentials and incentive pay bring it up to a agreeable level.

The local VA only has openings for a psych home health program. You get 10-15 patients and deal with medical, psych, social work, prescriptions, transport, and insurance. Anyway, I emailed HR about being disqualified with an OTH. I got a generic answer, "the position is open to all U.S. Citizens." Thanks.

I setup a job alert for inpatient positions. The pay was $67,000-112,000. Using the pay grade descriptions in the posting, I'd be in the middle which is great.