Members are discussing the hiring process and potential pay grades for nursing positions at the VA, with some sharing their experiences of long wait times and varying offers. Questions about salary scales, job postings, and negotiation strategies are also being raised, along with inquiries about tuition reimbursement and educational benefits for VA employees.
Need help finding Title 38 pay schedules? I stumbled across this today for anyone who needs it: Title 38 Pay Schedules
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 was offered N1, L3, G6. However, it doesn't look like they took my GPA or certification into consideration. Is it worth it to question? I have a start date finally and I don't want to hold anything up.
I don't know what your background or certifications are but unless things are directly related to RN experience , VA usually does not care. A Bachelor's or Master's in a field unrelated to healthcare mean nothing for most RN jobs. A re-evaluation of salary and boarding will definitely take more time and won't happen in just a couple days. The board has to meet to review it, if they even decide to review and consider higher salary.
pfchang said:I don't know what your background or certifications are but unless things are directly related to RN experience , VA usually does not care. A Bachelor's or Master's in a field unrelated to healthcare mean nothing for most RN jobs. A re-evaluation of salary and boarding will definitely take more time and won't happen in just a couple days. The board has to meet to review it, if they even decide to review and consider higher salary.
Thanks, doesn't seem worth it to go up one grade.
Do these pay scales refer to base pay? Or do they include night/weekend/holiday differential?
ne0ven0m said:Do these pay scales refer to base pay? Or do they include night/weekend/holiday differential?
They don't include differentials.
tabisadelta said:They don't include differentials.
Apparently I'm severely (10k per year) underpaid, lol
Guess I'll head over to the career fair at my VA next week.
night is 10% of hourly weekend is 25% and yes if u work a weekend or night on the weekend it is 35%.
Do you know any that you work with that has done or has examples that they had to submit to the VA on how to do the nine dimensions of nursing practice?
Pairofshues said:Thanks jeckrn!!I noticed you said 2nd and 3rd shift, so do the nurses in the hospital setting work 8 hour shifts or is it 12 hour shifts?
....I will be on a med/surg/tele floor at the dallas VA hospital.
Curious how you like the job and how long from start to finish did it take to get in?
When I started in Erie back in '05 it was a couple of months from start to finish. I am returning to the VA after my time on active duty (had to resign because was on AD greater than 5 years) and it took around a month and a half for the tentative offer and still waiting for the VA to schedule my physical etc.
I'm curious, did you buy back any of your active duty time and add to your VA retirement?
pfchang
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I don't know when they asked for reconsideration or if they asked for a specific salary. Reading that thread may help with that info. I would probably ask the person who made the offer how the salary was determined and let him/her know you feel it is low. Ask if it is negotiable and whether you can provide more info on your experience to ask for reconsideration of a higher salary.