Facebook Live recap video: Ask a VHA nurse recruiter

In mid-September, VA Careers hosted a Facebook Live session with three of our wonderful VHA nurse recruiters. They discussed what it’s like to work for VHA, as well as what positions and experience are necessary to get a job at VHA as a nurse. View the video on the VA Careers Facebook Page and join us for the next Facebook live event on September 7, we’ll be talking about Interns & Residents.

VHA has over 93,000 nurses on staff, including RNs, nursing assistants, and LPNs, so there is a lot to discuss. Participants were encouraged to ask Shawanda, Carol and Deanne questions about nursing careers at VHA.

A few viewers asked about education and licensing within VHA. VHA is a “One license, 50 states” organization, which means when you apply to work in a different state you do not have to apply for a new license in that state. There are also a number of opportunities to further your education with VHA if you are interested in becoming a Registered Nurse. Many of the nurses at VHA have, at minimum, their bachelor’s degrees, and a good number also have their master’s degrees.

There were also a few questions about VHA’s policy on hiring new grads and requirements for previous nursing experience. Shawanda cleared that up by stating that recruiters receive thousands of applications and look to balance new hires with experienced nurses. The goal is to have a staff with a wide variety of backgrounds.

There were also quite a few Veterans who tuned in and asked about nursing positions open for Veterans who are also nurses, and what the process is like. Shawanda broke down the process and explained that the recruiters gather applicant information and work to match a position with your skills.

Thank you to everyone who participated in our Live Chat. We hope it was educational and informative. As Shawanda mentioned in our chat, we receive a large number of applications per job post and that can cause a delay in hearing back about a job.

You can always check the status of an application by logging in to your USAJOBS account, under Application Status. We also provide all the information you need for the application process on our site.

If you are a nurse interested in exploring what a career at VHA could look like, or to find your local VHA recruiter, check out our careers page.

And check out recaps of some previous chats:
• Recent Graduates
• Veterans Preference
• Occupational Therapists