VA offering me RN 1 but I have BSN??

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Hi all.  Forgive me as I type this on my phone.  My salary offer for the VA came back and I was offered RN 1, level 3, step 9.

I have my BSN, a MA in cultural anthropology, worked in rhe administration side of public health prior to be a nurse, have been a RN for 3 years, precepted nurses, been a charge RN, and been engaged in several other leadership projects as a nurse and throughout my career.  Does what they are offering me seen right? I'm rather disappointed.  Any help on how to negotiate would be appreciated.  I feel I should be a level 2 with my BSN and then a few steps in due to my prior experience and leadership activities.  Thoughts? 

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Specializes in USPHS RN in Correction.

Pretty much everyone comes in as a Nurse 1, I’ve rarely seen anybody come in as a Nurse 2 or Nurse 3. Those two rates are dependent on what you are doing within the VA and are based on your current practice. The very simplified version is that for a Nurse 2 you need to do a job and have an impact on the unit or department level, and for a Nurse 3 you need to do a job and have an impact on the department or institution level.

Now, as you have noticed Nurse 1 does have three different levels which are based on entry degree for the most part: Nurse 1-1 would be a new grad with an ADN, Nurse 1-2 would be a new grad with a BSN, and Nurse 1-3 would be a new grad with an MSN. 
Coming in as a Nurse 1-3 Step 9 seems like they have you just about every piece of credit that they could have given you, so depending on the actual job you would be doing it seems pretty fair to me.

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Specializes in Cardiology.

I know two people who came in as a nurse 2. It is possible. You can appeal. Check your resume. Have you been detailed enough? If not, go back and add details. Did your projects include research? If they did go into detail. The VA wants long resumes. They will not assume. Did you do anything else while being a RN?

VA will always lowball. The good news is they are supposedly going away from these boards.

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Specializes in OR.

Fight for the Nurse 2!  You meet the qualifications for it and should get it!  Push back and negotiate. It is absurdly difficult to make the jump from Nurse 1 to Nurse 2 (and then to Nurse 3.....oh boy).  

I personally know THREE nurses that I work with directly who were low-balled with the Nurse 1. Thankfully they had been advised not to accept it and were then appropriately granted the Nurse 2.  

Good luck!

 

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Specializes in OR.

Tried edit my post to add but couldn't....

ETA - a previous replier had an excellent point to review your resume. Make sure you have been extremely detailed in laying out everything you have done. Google examples of VA resumes. This is what had happened to one of the 3 nurses I mentioned. He had applied following the 1-page resume rule. Added to the resume to be explicit in skills and experiences and was then given the Nurse 2.   Tip - if it is listed in the job description, make sure you have a line addressing it in your resume.  Good luck!

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10 hours ago, furryhat said:

Fight for the Nurse 2!  You meet the qualifications for it and should get it!  Push back and negotiate. It is absurdly difficult to make the jump from Nurse 1 to Nurse 2 (and then to Nurse 3.....oh boy).  

I personally know THREE nurses that I work with directly who were low-balled with the Nurse 1. Thankfully they had been advised not to accept it and were then appropriately granted the Nurse 2.  

Good luck!

 

Thank you! I did fight it and was granted Nurse 2, step 3.  I would have liked to have seen the step a bit higher but I'll take it.  So unfortunate they lowball nurses.  

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Specializes in Cardiology.
1 hour ago, MajesticDancer said:

Thank you! I did fight it and was granted Nurse 2, step 3.  I would have liked to have seen the step a bit higher but I'll take it.  So unfortunate they lowball nurses.  

Unfortunately that's every hospital.

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Specializes in MedSurg.

Hey everyone, I have gotten to the part of the VA hiring process where I must redo my resume for the Nursing Board to determine my salary. I have watched multiple videos and have read tons of documents to try to get what they want to see on this resume. but I am still having a lot of trouble on how exactly to word this. If anyone has an example of a resume I could use or any other advice that would be GREATLY appreciated.  I’m also having a hard time with some of the measurable actions, as in statics (exact numbers).

Please email me at [email protected]

I would appreciate any assistance I can get with this very important project.  

 

Thank YOU....

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Specializes in Trauma Med Surg.

Hello all, I am a new BSN nurse with an intent to apply to the VA after I gain two years of experience. This plus the fact that I signed a two year contract with my current employer for a sign on bonus. I am retired from the Air Force with 23 years of service, but nothing with a medical background. My understanding was that I would automatically be given Nurse 2 with a BSN and two years of experience. Is this not true? If not, what would you recommend so that I could be given Nurse 2? I am currently working trauma med surg.

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I just turned down a job with the August, GA VA because they would not budge on the salary.  I became an RN with a BSN in 2001 and got my MSN in 2011.  They offered me Nurse 2 step 8.  I asked for reconsideration since I've been an RN for 20 years, have had my MSN for 10 years and am a Certified Case Manager and Certified Occupational Health Nurse but they wouldn't change the offer.  It must be a regional thing because I have friends in California and Texas that were offered Nurse 2 step 12 with only a BSN. 

This whole process took 6 months from interview to final offer.  It seems like such a waste of money and so backwards the way they do things.   I'm assuming they must have plenty of nurses to choose from and they'd probably prefer to get someone less experienced and educated so they can pay them less. 

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Does anybody know how the VA system work? After the annual salary. Do you get locality pay on top of it?

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This is the website where you can look at the pay scales for any VA location.  If you don’t know what station it is, go down to the state first and look for the facility you want and it’ll tell you the station.  Then you can find easily that station’s pay scale.

https://www.VA.gov/OHRM/Pay/archive.asp

With the VA, you don’t get a guaranteed step increase each year like you do with DoD.  I’m glad I stuck with DoD and didn’t take the lowball offer the VA gave me.

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