VA nurses, need your insight!

[chickadee1993]

Hi everyone!

I was looking to get some opinions :) I am currently a new grad who will be working for the VA next month. I was in the VALOR program with 7 others, and we are all currently waiting to be placed.

Heres my dilemma - Im 21 years old, and was offered positions in critical care areas (CICU & multi-system ICU) in the private-sector hospitals in my city, where they do the 3 12's a week. Being so young, working on a specialty floor 3 days a week seems like the dream right now!

At the VA, I will be in the community living center (LTC) facility until the med/surg unit opens (whenever the new hospital opens... who knows, hopefully end of the year :/). We have to work on the med/surg for at least a year before being able to advance, and the VA does 5 8's a week, which does not appeal to me at all.

My question is for nurses who have worked in the private sector and for the VA. Am I making the right decision to stay with the VA on a unit that won't be as challenging (med/surg vs ICU), on a schedule I'm not thrilled about?

**** I guess what I really would like opinions on is - Is working for the VA really THAT much better than private-sector hospitals (as I've heard...?).

[beanrn1202]

I absolutely agree. Get your critical care experience and come back to the VA. LTC is not challenging enough for new grads who want critical care.

[ProgressiveThinking, MSN, CRNA]

I was in the same boat as you a few years back. I was offered an ED position at a trauma center and a tele/sdu position at a VA. I went to the VA since the benefits are better and yada yada yada. Big mistake. When you're young you should work to learn, not earn. Money and promotions follow experience. The skills I would have learned in the ED could have been transferred anywhere which would have ultimately made me more marketable in the long run. The VA has a limited pt population and a questionable reputation, so if you ever decide to leave, your skills may be questioned.

I started out at the VA but ended up leaving my full-time position because there wasn't any room for movement. I was there full-time for 3 years. I wanted to get into critical care, but I got the same spiel every time: "We want experience, our training isn't great, etc." This is despite multiple references vouching for me. I always volunteered to float to the ICU/ED, so I already knew everyone, but still couldn't get in. Anyways, nobody without ICU experience has gotten into the ICU since 2011. I left to a regional trauma center ICU and have gotten excellent experience. I'm really glad I did it. In my interview they questioned my VA experience by asking if it was equal to a civilian hospital. I was honest and said probably not, but I did have some registry experience at other hospitals which I think is what got me in.

Anyways, you're young, and we have a lot of nurses who get their experience and leave for a multitude of different positions. They are able to do so because they have experience that is viewed as "elite." VA experience will not be viewed that way by future employers. Don't limit yourself while you're young. I sure wish I didn't. You can ALWAYS go back to the VA and you have a long career ahead of you.

I still work at the VA per diem, and now that I have outside critical care experience they keep telling me to apply to ICU or ED. I am thoroughly enjoying my other place of employment though, and didn't realize how much bureaucracy and politics were at our particular VA until I left. Sure, that type of stuff exists at other places, but it is magnified and on a whole different level at the VA.