VA-STEP Nursing Training Program
The Veterans Affairs Student Trainee Experience Program (VA-STEP) provides an opportunity for outstanding college nursing students to develop clinical competencies at an approved VA Medical Center. The VA-STEP program serves as a recruitment tool to retain excellent future registered nurses before they graduate and enter the workforce. VA-STEP students spend a total of 400 clinical hours (10 weeks full time) during the Summer between their Junior and Senior year of college.
They attend multiple professional development trainings which include one week of nursing orientation, BLS certification and ACLS preparation, one week of EKG interpretation, Whole Health, and various other training classes. VA-STEP students are given the opportunity to explore specialty practice areas and are rotated through the Operating Room, Cardiac Catheter Lab, Post Anesthesia Care Unit, and more. After those 10 weeks, VA-STEP students may be allotted an additional 400 practice hours to continue to hone their skills to becoming competent registered professional nurses. The VA-STEP students will be placed in clinical practice areas such as medical-surgical, intensive care and the emergency room. During this time, VA-STEP students are paid 80% of a Nurse 1 Level 1 salary.
Since 1990, Cincinnati VA Medical Center has a long and robust history of training student nurses in the VA-STEP Program, formerly known as the VALOR Program! Cincinnati is proud to have VA-STEP as part of our educational nursing fabric. Many VA outstanding practicing registered nurses are products of this program. Students are selected from accredited BSN Nursing Programs with a stringent grade point average, outstanding letters of recommendation from their colleges of nursing and their unique personal practice statements. Jeanne Burns, BSN, RN is the VA-STEP Program Coordinator.
VA-STEP opportunities
Learning Opportunity:
VA-STEP is an honors program with structured clinical experience for outstanding nursing students who have completed their junior year. The clinical experience will include didactic course work, competency-based clinical practice with a qualified RN preceptor and participation in nursing focused clinical conferences. The Nursing VA-STEP Program provides the student with an opportunity to develop competence in a nursing specialty area and to learn VA policies and procedures.
Salary: 80% of a Nurse 1 salary
The goal of the VA-STEP program is recruitment; however, no future obligations to the VA will be incurred because of participating in this program. The Nursing VA-STEP Program participant who selects VA employment after graduation may be considered for employment as a registered nurse at a salary rate above the minimum, based on superior qualification as evidenced by their participation in this program. Additional opportunities may include a position in the Post-Baccalaureate Registered Nurse Residency (PB-RNR) Program. Employment opportunities vary with each VA facility.
Eligibility requirements
- Students in NLN accredited traditional BSN program who have completed their junior year.
- Students with Cumulative Grade Point Average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale (no grade lower than a B in a nursing course).
- Students must be able to complete a minimum of 400 hours (10 weeks) full time status during the summer between their junior and senior year as a Nursing VA-STEP participant at the Cincinnati VA Medical Center. Students may be eligible to
- work additional hours part-time or full-time during their senior year until graduation in the spring.
- Students who are a U.S. citizen and meet physical examination standards at the time of entry into the Nursing VA-STEP Program.
- Students who do not have an obligation to any federal scholarship program, a state, or other entity for professional practice after academic training. Students with Health Professional Scholarship Program (HPSP) may apply and be considered.
How to apply
Complete the VA-STEP Application Process through the website: About VA-STEP - Veterans Affairs Scholarship Program (intelliworxit.com)
- Application completed by student applicant in AMS must include:
- Two (2) Recommendations Letters:
o Required: Dean/Academic Faculty
o Required: Employer/Manager/Other
- Resume
- Transcript
- DD214 (current and former service members)
- Other documents as you deem necessary.
VA-STEP application date:
Selection notification: March 2025
Application deadline: February 14, 2025
Interviews: March 2025
Start date: June 2, 2025
Jeanne Burns, BSN, RN
VA-STEP Coordinator
VA Medical Center
3200 Vine Street
Cincinnati, OH 45220
Phone: