VA nurses are in short supply. Unions say Trump's deferred resignation plan could make things worse

For the federal government's largest group of employees — nurses caring for military veterans through the Department of Veterans Affairs — the Trump administration's deferred resignation offer and its looming Thursday deadline come amid longstanding staffing shortages, deemed severe at more than half of all facilities.

Unions are discouraging nurses from accepting the offer, and leaders say an exodus would directly and immediately affect the care of its 9.1 million enrolled veterans.

“We’re already facing a staffing crisis in our hospitals,” said Irma Westmoreland, a registered nurse who heads the Veterans Affairs unit for National Nurses United. “We cannot afford to lose any more staff.”

Nurses for the VA — the federal government's largest employer — comprise the biggest single group of federal workers, numbering more than 100,000 and accounting for 5% of all full-time permanent employees, according to an Associated Press analysis of personnel data.

Union official Mary-Jean Burke said she's taken calls from nurses and other VA workers from across the country. At first, she said, some thought the buyout plan sounded attractive, but second thoughts have set in.

“Originally, I think people were like, ‘I’m out of here,’” said Burke, a physical therapist and American Federation of Government Employees leader. As more information came from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, it started sounding “a little bit too good to be true and people were hesitant."

VA nurses are somewhat older than the rest of the workforce, with 16.2% of nurses 55 and older, compared with 14.6% for the rest of the federal workforce, AP's analysis shows.

Burke said some workers who are retirement eligible have been “on the fence” about the offer, which promises pay through Sept. 30, though there have been broad concerns about the program's legality.

Nurses were confused at first, and now they’re angry, Westmoreland said.

Official communication on the offer has implied the nurses are not productive, she said, and that's insulted those she’s talked to. A follow-up question-and-answer email from the Office of Personnel Management encouraged federal employees to find a job in the private sector.

“The way to greater American prosperity is encouraging people to move from lower productivity jobs in the public sector to higher productivity jobs in the private sector,” the email said.

Burke she's been asked by workers about the flurry of other executive orders, too.

“I can tell you here in Indiana and other places, people are really frightened about the chaos, the chaos they kind of feel around them,” Burke said.

The department's leadership also has expressed concern about the potential impact on nursing in the VA, she said. More than 80% of facilities are experiencing a severe nursing shortage, according to a 2024 report from the VA Office of Inspector General.

“They’re scared, too,” she said. "They know that they have to follow the president’s orders, per se, but then you hear the caveat, like, ‘Hey, if five nurses take the buyout, we don’t have an OR anymore.’ That’s in the dialogue of conversation.”

The VA did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Burke said she is worried about the federal workforce more broadly.

“I know it’s going to look different," she said. "A lot of people are stressed out because they kind of feel like the predictability of their mission is a little bit different.”

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Associated Press data journalist Mary Katherine Wildeman in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed to this report. Johnson reported from Washington state. Witte reported from Annapolis, Maryland.

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