why is the VA taking so long to hire you?

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Hey everyone. I was interviewed and offered a job at the VA at the beginning of October. I did all the things that they asked for me: physical exam, Vetpro, fingerprint and E-qip, all done in October. Until now, I haven't heard anything from them and it's already November. Is it really this long to get a job over there. Should I be worried at all? Should I keep looking for other jobs (I actually have two interviews coming up, one at the police/corrections and the other at a private hospital). I'm just trying to have some back up plan, just in case the VA thing did not work out. Any suggestions?

Specializes in inpatient rehab (general, sci, tbi, cva).
It is common knowledge in VA that the R.N. has, in reality, no authority over the nursing assistants, and in fact is at their mercy in most regards. I also agree with the race preference. Ive seen it.

True, especially when, on some units, NAs have assignments just like RNs and LPNs. Overall, the RN is responsible if one of the NAs patients goes down and for any of the patients on a unit, since we take report on everybody, not just those to which you are assigned.

It's hard to delegate too much to a person who already has a full load. In fact, the NAs get more patients than the RNs and LPNs do and it works because the RNs and LPNs usually do meds (which the NAs cannot do) and other treatments that the NAs cannot (varies).

I have felt a racial undercurrent, but I deal with it. Most of the RNs are Caucasian on our unit (we have one black RN and one black LPN) and the NAs are predominantly black.

However, some of our RNs are flat out lazy, and race doesn't really matter in that regard. The problem I have is that we are not required to work OT and people get wigged out if they don't get their lunch break at exactly x time. It's not that they won't get lunch if they take that 5 minutes with a patient, it's that they don't WANT to do it. Some people are very schedule-oriented--for what they want. They will literally disappear, without telling anyone and make someone else take care of their patient who needs something, which is a burden to others.

I know no place is perfect, and I've worked elsewhere, so I'm not complaining. I make my mind up to do my very best everyday and let the rest of the junk fall to the wayside. I sleep better at night knowing I did the right thing when I worked.

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.
True, especially when, on some units, NAs have assignments just like RNs and LPNs. Overall, the RN is responsible if one of the NAs patients goes down and for any of the patients on a unit, since we take report on everybody, not just those to which you are assigned.

It's hard to delegate too much to a person who already has a full load. In fact, the NAs get more patients than the RNs and LPNs do and it works because the RNs and LPNs usually do meds (which the NAs cannot do) and other treatments that the NAs cannot (varies).

I have felt a racial undercurrent, but I deal with it. Most of the RNs are Caucasian on our unit (we have one black RN and one black LPN) and the NAs are predominantly black.

However, some of our RNs are flat out lazy, and race doesn't really matter in that regard. The problem I have is that we are not required to work OT and people get wigged out if they don't get their lunch break at exactly x time. It's not that they won't get lunch if they take that 5 minutes with a patient, it's that they don't WANT to do it. Some people are very schedule-oriented--for what they want. They will literally disappear, without telling anyone and make someone else take care of their patient who needs something, which is a burden to others.

I know no place is perfect, and I've worked elsewhere, so I'm not complaining. I make my mind up to do my very best everyday and let the rest of the junk fall to the wayside. I sleep better at night knowing I did the right thing when I worked.

You make some interesting points and since I too work at the VA, I thought it would be good to share my thoughts with you on this matter.

1. You dont have the same assignment that an RN has. Your job is to be the nursing assistant. Do you pass mediciations to patients, do physical examinations, Do you verify that all the orders and referalls for each patient is correct? Do you make patient assignments, do admission and discharges, coordinate with the social worker and the pharmacists and the physicians ?

2. I dont where you work at or what the tone is of your floor, but do you feel their is racism because some of the RNs are white ? Is is racism towards the white people or towards the black people, or both ways ? I am also interested in what you think about that? What can you do to help lesson this tone of racism that you describe ?

3. I assume your in nursing school because of your screen name ? RN or LPN ? when do you graduate ?

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Specializes in inpatient rehab (general, sci, tbi, cva).

While my userID says student, I am indeed an RN. What I'm talking about is from the perspective of an RN, not a student.

I think racist people will be racist no matter who or what color/race person they deal with. I work with everyone equally. I'm not on the floor to solve society's problems. I have responsibility for the ones in front of me.

My philosophy is to come to work, care for the patients, work with the rest of the team on my unit and do my very best. For that, I will get pay and benefits.

It's not really a bad deal at all. Times are tough. I am happy to have a good job.

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It took me 3.5 months to get hired. It would have been longer if i didn't come there in person. I felt like the nurse recruiter was giving me a run around whenever i would call her over the phone. She would always give me vague answers. So i went there and asked. It turned out my background check, vetpro and physical had been cleared weeks ago (nobody bothered to check it over there). so just go there in person to see your status.

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I applied 4 months ago for a VA position. The recruiting process is crazy there. They just hand over your application to any nurse manager, then wait (I am told), up to THREE weeks for them to report back about whether there is ANY interest in hiring you at all. IF you are rejected for any reason, then you are back to square one.

When I have asked the recruiting dept for the list of open RN positions for which I would be most qualified, they tell me that they don't know. They do NOT try to match your qualifications with a particular position. Isn't that their job?????? So it is up to the me to decide to have the application sent to a particular manager or not. Aren't they supposed to have an IDEA about what each dept is looking for in a new hire ??? It is very frustrating. I get NO return calls from them. They are always on vacation/holiday. When I ask a question from two different people in the same dept, I get two entirely different answers. It is run very poorly there. I would give up but I really want to work for the VA since I did long ago and really enjoyed it.

I am anxious to start working asap but will try to get some per diem under my belt in the meantime.

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What is E-quip?

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Specializes in Critical Care.

To the best of my recollection, because filling out all of the paperwork/computer data entry is mind boggling, it is the electronic version of your application that you must data entry. The VA, or vet pro, needs to give you a user name/password.

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what if the recruiter called and offered hourly pay and yearly and your floor, if all paperwork /physical goes as planned. About how long before starting. Never heard of e-quip.

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Specializes in Critical Care.

Well if you accept the offer, then they will start the process. For me, once I got the offer, it was about 3-4 months. They have to process everything, including a background check and your references. Since 9/11 this whole process takes a "long time", because of all Homeland Security requirements. Heard the saying "It the Gov't, hurry up and wait" - its true. Wait for the job and take it - it is well worth the wait...

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