A career in primary care offers a lot, and when you choose a career caring for Veterans at the VA, you’re taking part in a mission that matters.
A mission of service is unlike any other in health care. There’s no greater calling for physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants than working directly with Veterans and helping them heal.
The satisfaction the work with the VA offers is limitless, and the VA works hard to ensure Veterans are satisfied with their care. Our Veterans find better care at VA facilities than anywhere else, so it only makes sense that the VA offers better employment benefits to keep healthcare professions satisfied, too.
Benefits of Working in Primary Care at the VA
-Spending more time with your patients.
-Enjoying more time off to spend with your family.
When we imagine the professionals caring for aging Veterans, we often immediately think of doctors, nurses, and pharmacists. Still, one avenue of care you may not consider is geriatric mental health.
While older Veterans have vast experience coping with challenges, some face longstanding or emerging mental health conditions as they grow older. As our Veteran population ages, those who have served our country will need mental health professionals to help them continue to live their best lives.
A Unique Expertise
When it comes to providing for our aging veterans’ mental health, geriatric psychiatrists bring unique expertise to our team. They focus on the prevention, evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of mental and emotional disorders in the elderly. However, the critical difference for geriatric professionals is their experience with older adults who have multiple medical issues and take multiple medications.
Aging Veterans may experience depression, anxiety, distressing memories from their military service, or stress related to health concerns—including pain, sleep troubles, or memory problems. Even something as basic as increased difficulty getting around isn’t limited to just the physical—there can be a mental component attached to the possible loss of independence.
“Having access to a specialist who not only understands psychiatric medicine but the pharmacological goals of the elderly we care for has made a tremendous difference in our ability to keep our Veterans stabilized and safe in our memory care unit,” explained Edith Emerson, who works in the memory care unit at the Togus Maine VA.
A Critical Need
VA has many programs to support older Veterans and their families and caregivers, both online and in-person at our facilities. We also provide specialized geriatric services for Veterans and families to help them cope with complex mental health conditions in later life.
However, the need for geriatrics professionals throughout the country is growing. There are more than 11 million people aged 60 and older alive today who have served in the military, representing the largest population of Veterans in the nation. As these Veterans find their way to VA, we must to be ready to meet their needs.
“Nationwide, there’s a shortage of geriatric services, in particular geriatric psychiatry,” said Dr. Isis Burgos-Chapman, a geriatric psychiatrist who provides community living center and outpatient consultation services through one of VA’s Clinical Resource Hubs.
A Career of Caring for Veterans
Between our ever-expanding telehealth services, inpatient care positions, and outpatient care support opportunities, there are plenty of ways a mental health professional with a focus on geriatrics can reach out to aging Veterans and demonstrate our core values—integrity, commitment, advocacy, respect, and excellence
These core values define who we are as VA employees and how we will fulfill our mission to care for Veterans in all their times of need. In addition, these five ideals describe our culture and serve as the foundation for how we interact with our Veterans and fellow employees.
Integrity: We act with the highest professional standards and maintain the trust of all we engage.
Commitment: We work diligently to serve Veterans and are driven by an earnest belief in VA’s mission.
Advocacy: We are truly Veteran-centric as we work to identify, consider and advance the interests of Veterans.
Respect: We treat all those we serve and with whom we work with dignity and respect because we believe you must show respect to earn it.
Excellence: We strive for the highest quality and value continuous improvement.
Work at VA
If you have an interest in working with older Veterans, whether in one of the VA facilities or in their own homes, VA has an opportunity for you.
A healthcare career as a pharmacy technician at VA offers unique opportunities and excellent benefits and might be the prescription some need.
The VA is always looking for candidates with top-notch organizational skills to help keep their pharmacies running.
Pharmacy Technician Role Offers a Unique Environment
A pharmacy technician at VA works closely with pharmacists to ensure the health and safety of our Veterans. However, it’s the pharmacy technician’s responsibility to locate, dispense, pack and label prescribed medication for patients.
Since VA offers some pharmacists the unique ability to write prescriptions independently, the work of a pharmacy tech is even more critical in assisting our Veterans.
The VA’s work environment is unique, offering the opportunity to work in outpatient and inpatient settings.
While some veterans may require prescriptions they take home with them, other patients might need the pharmacy technician’s assistance in the halls of VA medical centers. For example, veterans needing chemotherapy or IV dosages look to pharmacy technicians to ensure their medications are provided safely and securely.
When not interacting with veterans, a pharmacy technician also helps pharmacists with administrative tasks such as processing insurance claims, tracking inventory and filing paperwork, or even updating and replenishing the supplies on the emergency carts used by VA teams.
Career Growth at the VA
When pharmacy technicians are ready for a new challenge, the VA offers ongoing leadership development through every level of employment, whether mandatory programs or competitive opportunities. The VA also provides resources making it easier to continue education.
Trade your student debt for a promising career serving Veterans. If you’re looking for help repaying your student loans, you can qualify for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program with a VA career.
By canceling loans after 10 years of public service, PSLF removes the burden of student debt on public servants and entices people to work in high-need fields. Because VA is a federal employer, new and existing VA workers with federal student loans may be eligible for this national loan forgiveness program.
Qualifying for the program
The PSLF program forgives your remaining loan balance after you have made 120 qualifying monthly payments under a qualifying student loan repayment plan while working full-time for certain employers, like VA.
Right now, the U.S. Department of Education has waived some requirements for applications submitted through Oct. 31, 2022, opening up loan forgiveness to more borrowers.
Still, though, you need qualifying employment to be considered, which is one of many reasons why you should consider a career at VA.
Investing in your future
Despite the short-term waiver that expands PSLF, the program is ongoing, which means that anyone looking for a career at VA can participate once they begin their employment.
But that’s not all VA has to offer. With our Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), VA employees with qualifying student loans who are in specific, difficult-to-recruit direct patient care positions may receive up to $200,000 over a five-year period.
And for those looking to continue their education, the Employee Incentive Scholarship Program (EISP) offers significant support. This program provides eligible VA employees with tax-free scholarships of up to $41,572 toward the cost of higher education, including tuition, registration fees and books. In return, you agree to work at VA for one to three years after you complete the program.
We offer some of the most comprehensive employee education benefits in the nation, and we work hard to ensure you have access to tools, benefits and training that provide the personal and professional growth needed to take your career to next level.
Work at VA
A job at VA could provide some relief from your student loans and be the next step on your journey to a fulfilling career.
With all that nurses do for our patients, it is only fitting that we do just as much for them, supporting nurses as they grow in their VA career.
Whether at the bedside of a Veteran or working in an outpatient clinic, our nurses deliver quality care and lead the way in innovating how we provide nursing care. Nurses also develop patient safety initiatives, conduct research to improve care delivery, and help guide the next generation of nurses.
Academic partnerships
VA and schools of nursing around the country offer academic affiliations. These collaborative efforts between VA facilities and the country’s finest nursing schools provide students with clinical experiences that specifically address the unique needs of Veteran population and prepare them to excel in careers at VA.
These partnerships offer nursing students a comprehensive and intensive four-year clinical training. The programs create a stronger, mutually beneficial relationship between nursing schools and VA facilities by giving students the opportunity to engage with faculty and ultimately provide better patient care as they put classroom concepts into practice.
By the end of the program, graduates are fully accustomed to the culture and mission at VA and ready to care for our Veterans.
Transition to practice
For over a decade, VA has promoted Registered Nurse Transition-to-Practice (RNTTP) residency programs to provide a transition from school to the more complex clinical environment for RNs with less than one year of experience.
The comprehensive 12-month curriculum explores the clinical, leadership and professional dimensions of nursing at VA. Post-graduate RNs perform the typical roles, duties, patient care activities and procedures that are carried out by nurses on our team.
Availability varies by location, so contact the nurse educator or nurse recruiter at a facility near you for more information.
Financial aid
VA offers eligible employees and students nursing scholarships to advance their education and skills training through the following programs:
The National Nursing Education Initiative (NNEI), a component of the Employee Incentive Scholarship Program, funds the pursuit of bachelor’s and advanced degrees for VA RNs.
The VA National Education for Employees Program (VANEEP) is offered to employees in a clinical program pursuing first-time licensure in a clinical occupation. Participants can earn their degree faster by attending school full time, with VA covering not only some education costs but also replacement salary while they are enrolled.
The VA Learning Opportunities Residency (VALOR) program provides an opportunity for outstanding college nursing students to develop clinical competencies at an approved VA Medical Center. VALOR is designed to increase participants’ clinical skills, clinical judgement and critical thinking while caring for our nation’s Veterans. This program provides opportunities for learning with a qualified RN preceptor. Students must have completed their junior year in an accredited baccalaureate nursing program. VALOR students are offered up to 800 hours of salary dollars.
Work at VA
Are you ready to help us heal and care for Veterans so they can thrive in life after military service? Apply for a job as a VA nurse.
