va nursing

[goodnurseguy]

I am in the hiring process at the va. I will be coming from private sector. Does anyone know of any notable differences between the two as far as floor nursing is concerned. I'm hoping there is a difference in pay. Everybody raves about the benefits. Any insight about this would be appreciated

[lidleanjel]

I love working for the VA hospital. My aspect may be a little different because I went from OR in private sector to ICU at the VA.

First I want to say my orientation at the VA hospital was very beneficial. I had class time then 16 weeks orientation. The people I now work with are great, but not every one is perfect. I have worked on the med-surg floor a couple of times and I think they have a pretty good nurse to patient ratio. The most I have seen is 5:1. In the icu it is 2:1.

When it comes to benefits, they are really good. You get numerous options to choose from for health care and dental, so u figure out what is best for you. The retirement plan is known to be one of the best which is thrift savings plan. When you start this you will need to go and change where you money goes otherwise it will only be placed in bonds.

Pay all depends on the location which you work and then is based on experience and educational level. The higher the education level the higher the pay. I will say it is slightly harder for annual review paperwork and you probably will not get yearly raises. But for me the pay is much better, plus not getting called of for low census is awesome.

Like I said I love my job and I love working with veterans, especially since I work my dream job and my husband was in the US Marine Corps. The job for me is very fulfilling. You will have very sick and stubborn patients, but once you break their shells they are wonderful people to work for. Veterans do have these common problems including copd, major heart problems, anxiety, chronic pain, PTSD, and substance abuse. I personally think these patients are more non- compliant and stubborn at times then civilians, but they have been taught from day one in boot camp they are weak if sick.

So now that u have heard the benefits... The one thing I am not fond of is the charting system. I will say I miss epic, but it does get easier then the first couple of overwhelming day of using it. The way we chart is just kind of old school. The other thing that can be difficult to get use to is that VA hospitals are teaching hospitals so you work with residents. From first year residents to fifth year residents, and they rotate frequently so you will find it somewhat challenging at times.

Just my opinion but it is the best place to work in my opinion.