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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.