I am feeling frustrated with the entire VA NPSB proficiency process. At my hospital, it is a good old boys system in which board members promote their friends and the other managers and shut the door on others. I am a staff RN with a MSN and years of experience. I applied for my nurse III after completing a hospital wide project and doing other work that met the 9 dimensions.
This whole process has me frustrated beyond words. My profIciency has been lost by HR multiple times. My initial NPSB review said I didnt meet 7 of the 9 dimensions. Before submitting my proficiency, I had it reviewed by 3 former board members who all said I would meet for a 3. I submitted a request for reconsideration after the initial denial, and suddenly I met 6 out of 9 dimensions. I am now appealing my denial to VACO. Has anyone ever done this? What was he outcome, and how long did your appeal take to be answered after it was sent off?
I have been repeatedly been told by my own manager "you cannot get a 3 without working in management" and "it takes multiple submissions to get approved". I do not think this is correct. It may be harder to find the time and get approval for a project, but staff RNs cannot be essentially "blocked" from promotion. The dimensions are black and white, yet a subjective system is used to approve or deny proficiencies. It seems so unfair at my hospital. I've seen other nurses get promoted who were friends with board members, while other truly deserving RNs who meet the dimensions and make lasting changed within the hospital are shut out.
Any guidance and other nurses experience with this would be greatly appreciated. I love working with our Vets, but the good old boys club and the oppressive bureaucracy had me ready to bash my face into something. I feel defeated. Thanks all
I am a nurse 3 step 3 now. I work as a your nurse at the mid south consolidated patient account center.
I am a BSN, MSN, I came in as a 2 step 2 with 8 years and an MSN. I am more than happy to send you my proficiency that got my promotion to Nurse 3. I don't know how I just basically figured out you need key words. Send me a PM and I will send you anything. IT ALL SUCKS my leadership SUCKS. but my pay is great where I work in south texas.
Specializes in CCRN/SICU/MICU/ER/PACU/GI/Med-Surg./Ortho/Uro/Pain.
Has anyone heard they may be doing away w/ this whole system in 2022? (Two people in upper management mentioned this to me, I guess, as a panacea for my rage.) So … just got shot down for my Nurse 3 after fighting it &, truly, it's all I can do not to hand in my resignation.
There are so many nurses who leave because of this or areas that have horrific morale. It's one thing to be under appreciated but to feel undervalued as well it's, well, just awful. And yes, I am well aware of the 13 criteria & wrote each response specifically to reflect that criteria. It's not ignorance of the requirements on my part but truly a difference of opinion; I still absolutely disagree w/ their decision.
Sincerely, I wish everyone going for their Nurse 3 the best of luck. But I told my Supervisors (who've always given me Outstanding reviews & monetary awards) that I will be handing the exact same Proficiency in until I retire. I will not waste one more drop of energy on writing them - esp. since my rebuttal effort took 3 full days!
And yes, I am well aware of the 13 criteria & wrote each response specifically to reflect that criteria. It's not ignorance of the requirements on my part but truly a difference of opinion; I still absolutely disagree w/ their decision.
Assuming your profile education is correct, are you aware of the educational requirements? I know that each facility is different, but if you have a BSN, you would not get a N3 in my facility no matter how eloquently you wrote to the criteria.
Has anyone heard they may be doing away w/ this whole system in 2022? (Two people in upper management mentioned this to me, I guess, as a panacea for my rage.) So … just got shot down for my Nurse 3 after fighting it &, truly, it's all I can do not to hand in my resignation.
There are so many nurses who leave because of this or areas that have horrific morale. It's one thing to be under appreciated but to feel undervalued as well it's, well, just awful. And yes, I am well aware of the 13 criteria & wrote each response specifically to reflect that criteria. It's not ignorance of the requirements on my part but truly a difference of opinion; I still absolutely disagree w/ their decision.
Sincerely, I wish everyone going for their Nurse 3 the best of luck. But I told my Supervisors (who've always given me Outstanding reviews & monetary awards) that I will be handing the exact same Proficiency in until I retire. I will not waste one more drop of energy on writing them - esp. since my rebuttal effort took 3 full days!
Hi Jami, Yes I have heard of the restructuring. I’m in VISN 1. Just curious there a lot of people upset about difficulties getting there nurse 3. I’ve been on the board before. Depending on the nursing director I found some never get approved. What is your current role? I think most people overlook the fact time as a nurse does not matter as much as what position you hold.. well in addition to your masters.
Specializes in CCRN/SICU/MICU/ER/PACU/GI/Med-Surg./Ortho/Uro/Pain.
I’m the RN Coordinator for the Dept. of Neurosurgery. The kicker in all this is I was told by a board member she thought it was a shame when I came into the system as I would have been a Nurse 3. But, there is a caveat that you can’t come into the system w/o a masters as a 3. However, once in, they can waive the educational requirement & still promote you w/o a masters.
I’m the RN Coordinator for the Dept. of Neurosurgery. The kicker in all this is I was told by a board member she thought it was a shame when I came into the system as I would have been a Nurse 3. But, there is a caveat that you can’t come into the system w/o a masters as a 3. However, once in, they can waive the educational requirement & still promote you w/o a masters.
I wasn't brought in as a N3, and my MSN peers weren't either -- it's a standard N2, L6 for most MSN candidates. Even running a large critical care program and having the board identify that I had met all criteria (except for education) both before and after coming to the VA, I was not successful at obtaining the N3 until the MSN was attached to my name. I'm not saying it's fair. I know plenty of nurses who are 3's who currently function at a N1 level, and it's super demoralizing to see this level of complacency. I think the VA should function more like the private sector: if you stop meeting the criteria in your career ladder level, the associated monetary bonus is eliminated. Will never happen, though.
Specializes in CCRN/SICU/MICU/ER/PACU/GI/Med-Surg./Ortho/Uro/Pain.
Have thought about the MSN but at almost 55 yrs it’s not where I want to devote my energy. (Was on the CRNA track before & had to abort that due to my mom’s Alzheimer’s worsening.) At this stage of my life if I were to go back to school it would be for something I’m interested in like Literature or Dog Philosophy. ;)
Was part of the MN Nurses Union the last 12 yrs. of my career prior to coming to the VA. (I’d NEVER been part of a union before but it was a requirement of joining that health system.)
It ended being nice because everything was laid out in the handbook - wages, vacation, seniority, what criteria must be met for advancement. I very much do not care for this subjective method of evaluation. .
I.E: One nurse submitted the exact same Proficiency 2 yrs in a row. The first year she was granted several of the standards. The next year she was granted several criteria again - only completely OPPOSITE ONES!
Specializes in CCRN/SICU/MICU/ER/PACU/GI/Med-Surg./Ortho/Uro/Pain.
On 8/5/2016 at 12:56 PM, pfchang said:
I have had similar problems. It feels like our board delights in not promoting people. We have star employees who deserve Nurse II and Nurse III but don't get it. Others get it with far fewer accomplishments. Some managers are able to play the game and help staff get the promotions but it seems like when you work in an area which is not an inpatient unit, the board has no idea what you do and denies the promotion. You can request a meeting with the person who heads the board that denied you. I did. She acted surprised about my denial and told me to write this and that a little differently. I did what she said and was still denied. They did grant me more areas of meeting criteria but not all.
I appealed all the way to VACO which also denied promotion. The whole thing took over a year, an unreasonably long time. My documents were also lost and had to be resent at keast twice. There was no acknowledgement of receipt of documents. If I had not kept on it, I am sure I would still be waiting.
The process is different from facility to facility. It should not be bc the criteria are in black and white but the subjective interpretation is. I have heard of some facilities working closely with nurses to get them to the next level, actively developing nurses. That does not happen at mine. I felt completely alone with the whole process, in spite of reaching out for help and advice. My docs were also reviewed by others who expected promotion. The proficiency process is broken and needs to be fixed. Good luck to you.
LRT, BSN, MSN
15 Posts
Would u send me your proficiency? [email protected]