VA Nurse Pay Scales

Specialties Government Nursing Q/A

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You are reading page 3 of VA Nurse Pay Scales

kathy48

32 Posts

Specializes in Psychiatric/ER/Primary Clinic/Addiction.

I was hired at at Nurse II level II with a Masters Degree and teaching experience. Also 10 years as an RN experience.

I know that a new grad RN started in the same organization at 5,000 more and doesn't have a Masters degree nor has the RN ever taught nursing. This difference Ive come to learn is something called "Locality Pay" and for the outpatient clinic at manage its supposed to be 10,000 because we follow NY state pay grade. I should be making 69,000. Not 59,000. But I. Keep getting the runaround. Other nurses said I accepted the offer too fast. They indeed, lowballed me.

bokyeongyoo

1 Post

I was on board at VA hospital today and the HR person informed my grade with the total amount I will receive but I am still confused. She said I will get paid 10% more for the pm shift and 25% more during the weekend. Are those percentages already included in my yearly income or will the differential be added up?

BJPMH

21 Posts

Specializes in Nursing student.
kristykat said:

If you know your VA's station number you can look up the pay scale in the first section or you can look up the state in the section below.

Grade 01 = Nurse I

Grade 02 = Nurse II and so on

Nurse I, Level 2 pay starts at Step 03 and Level 3 starts at Step 05.

As a new grad with a BSN, I started as a Nurse I, Level 2, Step 05.

Hope this helps!

I'm a veteran who falls under 10 point preference and will be graduating with a MSN with no experience. Would I fall under Grade 1/Nurse 1, Level 3, Step 5?

Specializes in MICU, CCU, CVICU, Medical/Surgical, Nursing Admin.

@BJPMH & @Mergirlc - 

Yes, a MSN from a Bridge Program with No RN experience would be a Nurse 1 Level 3. If there was at least 1 year experience, then probable entry to a Nurse 2.

va-npsb-education-experience.jpg.e8fdd0746f63ba28fd70c82c40fb1095.jpg

Hello there.. did you get to negotiate your pay scale?  And who decides your pay scale? Iam a new BSN grad too.. 

Specializes in ER.

I'm curious when you get promoted fron a nurse II to nurse III, do you go up to the same step?

Specializes in Care Coordination, General Surgery, Oncology.

For any promotion from one level to the next, you are placed at the steps that corresponds to just greater than the step that is 2 steps above your current step. Does that make sense?

so example is if you're a nurse II step 8 and your salary is 100,000, and step 10 is 110,000 and step 11 is 115,000, then when you go up to nurse III, you'll get placed at the step that is at least 110,000, but doesn't go over 115,000.

Maybe higher step in nurse 1 but definutely not nurse 2..

Specializes in Care Coordination, General Surgery, Oncology.

If I understand correctly, you mean Nurse 1, level 2, in which case it's likely that you would start at level 2 regardless if you have a BSN. I believe I've commented elsewhere in this thread that I was hired at a step higher than the other new grads hired at the same time as me who had the same credentials other than the fact that I had been a VALOR student. Hired at N1L2S5 vs step 4 for the other new grad nurses hired at the same time. But your mileage may vary!

Specializes in Nursing.

So for the nursing pay schedules at the VA website, my current pay falls under the 2022 pay schedule not the 2023 schedule.

In other words, I can find my salary exactly to the dollar for my paygrade (grade 4 step 7) in the 2022 tables. But the 2023 tables show a higher salary than what I am currently getting for my paygrade. The 2023 tables say they were updated 5/26/23, so would I be right in assuming that they are showing the pay schedule for next year? 

Not a big deal; I am more just curious about the discrepancy and to how exactly these pay schedules work. 

Specializes in Care Coordination, General Surgery, Oncology.

Your pay should match the current year's pay table. If the scales were just updated on 5/26/2023, it may be that pay admin is behind in updating salaries in the pay system. That has happened a few times to me over the years, more so since they centralized HR to the VISN level. You should get backpay to the date the new scale went into effect. Do you have anything in your eOPF about a pay adjustment? Usually titled "Notification of Personnel Action". It will tell you the effective date. I sometimes get the eOPF notification a few weeks in advance of when I actually see the adjustment on my paycheck.

That said, I would personally check with my direct manager or payroll specialist.

Nurse330

3 Posts

Specializes in Cardiology/Case Management.

Hello All, 

I received a call from the hiring manager of the VA in Rockford IL that she would like to direct hire me for a RN care manager position. I have 7 years of nursing experience. Most of my experience is case management/ clinic related. Do you think it would be reasonable to start at Nurse II? most of the job descriptions say BSN with 2-3 years experience will start at Nurse II which is equivalent to grade 2? 

Excel pay scale uploaded. Under Rockford thinking at least first pay scale for grade 2?

IL (18).xls

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