Hey everyone! This is my first thread to start. Yay! :) I am a BSN student and recently applied for the VALOR Program in my area. (For those who don't know, the VALOR Program is essentially a paid internship with the VA for 10 weeks during the summer, and then I think part-time during the school year.)
I am waiting on hearing back about any results, but I am also torn about it. On one hand, my heart lies with the military and veteran community because my husband is in the Army and is a veteran, and has struggled with the "invisible wounds" of war. It can be a difficult road to walk and since I have experience walking alongside him in this journey, I want to help other veterans too. So even before I started nursing school I've had my eye on the VALOR program because it would be a way to get my foot in the VA door/veteran community.
The flip-side is that I am already turned off by the federal system. The application process through USA Jobs and the VA site was convoluted and I had to resubmit my information via email to the program coordinator because it was unclear that a transcript was necessary as part of the application. (It was not indicated under the list of REQUIRED documents.) It was also difficult to touch base with the coordinator. I should've known that it would be this way, since my husband is in the military and deals with things like this all the time.
If I get a spot with the VALOR program, I'll be paid about $20 an hour full-time during the summer, which would be SWEET and there's really no other student nurse job that would pay that much. On the other hand, will I be basically an overpaid CNA? I'm not saying I'm above doing CNA work. But I do want to get experience with RN tasks too. If all I'll be doing is CNA stuff full-time, I'd rather have my summer to do other things (I run a home business and a blog and would like to get caught up with that so things can be more automated during the school year).
Anyhow, this is a very long-winded way of asking: who here has done the VALOR program, what did it entail, and was it worth it to you? :)
Hi there! I was in the VALOR program from June of 2014 through May of 2015. There were 8 of us VALORs from our program and 7 out of the 8 of us took a job with the VA after we passed NCLEX. I absolutely loved the program. I got to do and see so many things and I feel like it made me a much more well-rounded nurse in the short period of time I was doing the program. I was accessing ports, starting IV's, doing wound care, setting up sterile fields for surgery/GU procedures, and much more. I hope you get an interview and can get in! If you show how sincere you are about caring for veterans then you should be great!
As far as for my VALOR experience, we worked whatever schedule our preceptors worked in the area we were in. We rotated through different clinics and units (we usually spent two weeks at each), and usually there were 2 approved preceptors in each area, so you could pretty much go in and have someone to precept you. They really really want you to finish the hours for the internship, so at least at my VA they were very flexible with making sure you were able to log all your hours before the semester ended.
VALOR students are awesome! I work at a VA on a med surg unit and VALOR students do everything the nurse does under their supervision! They even take the full load of patients! They are basically precepting. To answer your question at least at our facility they are matched with 2 primary preceptors and choose their shifts depending on when their preceptors are working. It's great too because a lot of times they extend their employment throughout their last year of school and a lot of times hire them right out of school which is great because they are pretty much already oriented and don't need much else and can start nursing on their own sooner! It's definitely a win win!
Thank you all for your words of wisdom!! I'm happy to say that I got a call today (during clinical, so I need to call back tomorrow) from the VALOR program here inviting me for an interview!! I'm excited and a little bit nervous. Any interview tips? I'm really passionate about pursuing nursing and helping our veterans so I definitely want that to shine through. :)
Also, another question: today my mom told me that the family is possibly planning a 1-week family vacation in July, and I told her that I'm not sure what the VALOR schedule would be like if I get it. Is it 10 straight weeks or is there a break in there somewhere? Or is it different depending on the VA?
Thank you all again. I love this community already! :)
One thing I would stress is when they ask your weakness don't lie. Say something real and what you've done to over come that. Everyone says "I'm a perfectionist" or "I care too much" these are fake answers and don't come across well. I have said when I first started nursing I was told that I wasn't a great team player. As a new nurse it's easy to get focused on what you need to get done I didn't even realize I wasn't being helpful then I listed all the things I did to try and over come this and that now my managers think I have improved a lot but when I'm learning new things I need to remind myself to offer help to others too. Also, think of a mistake you've made and how you handled it. Everyone makes mistakes they want to know what you learned from that mistake! Those are hard questions but important. You need to admit your faults because everyone has them but show your strengths by explaining what you did to over come them. :) hope that helps! Just had an interview and accepted a position in the ICU at the VA I work at!
BayAreaRN21
6 Posts
After you graduate school or finish the 10 week program?