Teresa Morris, NOVA Director, Advocacy & Government Relations

Greetings NOVA Members –

I wanted to provide more information and an update on the VA Nurse and Physician Assistant RAISE Act which passed as part of the FY 2022 appropriations package and was signed into law in March.  

The law will increase existing pay limitations for Title 38 RNs, APRNs, PAs, and CRNAs. The new pay cap for APRNs and PAs is Executive Level I which for 2022 is $226,300. For RNs, the new pay cap is Executive Level II which is $203,700. It is worth noting that these occupations – prior to the new law –   were capped at Executive Level IV, which for 2022, is $176,300.  This does not mean that everyone is getting a raise, only those earning the old cap ($176,300) will receive an increase once the Locality Pay Schedules are updated to incorporate the new pay caps.

Medical Center Directors are also required to review locality pay schedules within 10% of the old pay compression and determine if increases are needed to recruit and retain VA nurses.  NOVA has advocated that there is an urgent need to alleviate the compressed pay scales within VHA.

VA Workforce Management Consulting is working on these changes and is expected to have HR and payroll systems updated by late June. They are actively updating and testing systems while reviewing hundreds of pay schedules. Those who are at the cap and who live in high cost of living areas—specifically where the facilities are unable to recruit/retain nurses--will be the first to receive a pay raise. 

I have heard from many LPNs that this does not affect their salaries and want to assure all of you that NOVA continues to advocate for a review of Title 38 Hybrid pay, but we need your help and voices to get this done.  I encourage all of you to speak to your members of Congress on this issue. Tell them that recruiting and retaining this valuable workforce is challenging and affects healthcare provided to our Veterans.  Remind them of what you do everyday and the importance of the care you provide our ill and injured Veterans.

I also encourage you to think about joining NOVA’s Legislative Committee. Review the NOVA website under the Advocacy dropdown and help us continue our work on behalf of All VA nurses. 

Links to the toolkit can be found here: NOVA Advocacy Toolkit (vanurse.org)

I look forward to continuing our advocacy and working with all of you to make sure VA nurse voices are heard. What you do continues to be critical to the health and well-being of our Veterans and the entire VA Healthcare system.

Stay Tuned!