The Challenges and Rewards of Government PA Jobs

Advanced Practice providers seeking locum tenens jobs with the government have many choices. From federal prisons to VA Hospitals to Indian Health Services (IHS), nurse practitioner jobs and physician assistant jobs are available in a variety of settings.

Daniel, a PA from Arizona, has been exposed to two different types of temporary physician assistant jobs with the government. He’s currently working with Indian Health Services and he’s also worked in a VA hospital. He candidly admits that working with the government has its challenges. “A lot of times the left hand doesn’t know what the right is doing,” he explains. “It’s definitely easier in a private setting.”

While Daniel says he wouldn’t want to make a career of government locum tenens jobs, he is happy in his current contract. He’s been working in the emergency department for two months now. “It’s definitely interesting,” he says. “There are a lot of sick people so it’s stimulating in that way, but it’s frustrating to see so many people not taking care of themselves. And it’s hard to develop relationships with patients in that kind of situation.”

The emergency room keeps Daniel extremely busy, but he prefers it that way. He currently works 12 hour shifts 7 days a week with a 10 day break every 5 weeks. It’s an intense schedule, but Daniel chose it. “I’m here to work,” he says. “At some point I’ll take 2 or 3 months off to travel or just do nothing, but for now I’m focused on work.”

The work certainly keeps Daniel on his toes. “The emergency room can be unpredictable, so you have to have a flexible mindset,” he explains. “But I get bored easily so the constant changes keep me engaged. It’s exhausting, but it’s more fun.”

Daniel has nothing but praise for his AdvancedPractice recruiter, Michelle Jernigan. “Michelle has been there for me 100%,” he says. “It can be tough working government PA jobs but AdvancedPractice has done everything possible to make the process easy.”

Provider Comments:

"My Recruiter, Michelle was a joy to work with. She was always very attentive to my needs and willing to go above and beyond to make sure I was taken care of."

-- Locums NP in Florida

Michelle Jernigan, Recruiter from AdvancedPractice.com (middle), recently had a chance to travel to South Dakota and visit with some of the locum tenens providers we have placed. 

The trip was especially timely as several weeks later ABC Television's 20/20 aired the special:  Hidden America:  Children of the Plains which focused on the plight of the Lakota tribe at the Pine Ridge Reservation.  Pine Ridge is one of the facilities where AdvancedPractice.com has a government contract to place locum tenens NPs and PAs.  Since the airing of the program AdvancedPractice.com has had an outpouring of response from NPs and PAs interested in working government locum tenens.