Veterans Administration Nurse Anesthetist

[GaMommy81]

Hi Everybody! I am currently a student registered nurse anesthetist. I am interested in working for the Veterans Administration after graduation and I would like to know what the current needs are for CRNAs in the VA hospitals. Are there any VA CRNAs on the site that can provide feedback about what their particular VA anesthesia care model looks like? Did anyone have the opportunity to take advantage of the HPSP Scholarship through the VA? Thanks in advance for your assistance.

[offlabel]

VA's run the gamut in terms of practice model, case type and acuity. Big ones like San Francisco, Seattle and Washington frequently have university affiliations and are training centers for doctors and CRNA's and are ACT type models. Smaller ones in "fly over" country or smaller cities can be CRNA only groups or "collaborative" type models where docs and CRNA's see their own patients and do their own cases but help out each other as needed. It's a very different vibe than private practice, not the least of which because they are federal facilities and the OR staff can be a bit fixated on what time it is, if you get my drift. That said, I've never ever seen nurses that care more about their patients than VA nurses.

The VA I worked at was indy CRNA, then we got some anesthesiologists that just did pain and no OR, now I think it's a mixed doc/CRNA group but still mostly CRNA's seeing their own patients.

[GaMommy81]

Offlabel! Thank you so much for your detailed response. It was extremely helpful. I would like to work in a large VA after school is over if I go that route. It seems as though it would be extremely gratifying. I am hoping that I will have an opportunity to experience caring for our nation's heroes.