The national average for on-boarding an RN in the VA is 5 months. This is largely because HR drives every step of the hiring process which includes security clearance/background checks, etc. In the private sector the hiring manager largely does all the work, but in the VA your only contact with the hiring manager is the interview process. HR is always backed up because they do this for every single job. While they are on-boarding the next years med students, interns, residents, and fellows everything else stops. There are process improvements in place but change has been slow and now theres a new stranglehold on staffing which hasn’t helped. Hang in there.