One of my best friends is a psychiatrist for the VA. He just came out of working for a private hospital, and he says there's about half the patient load per doctor. He says that the bureaucracy is annoying (EVERYTHING comes out of a manual, even for MD's like him). But he also says he feels like there's a lot more time to devote to patients, and that the shrinks and nurses he works with are mostly really cool and reasonably motivated. (Just not insane workaholics like at his old job.) He also got a 30% pay cut, but given that he doesn't have to be on call 1/4 as much and it's drastically less stressful, it's overall worth it to him.
I don't think my friend is a stereotypical government drone. I suspect a lot of that depends on which department you work for, etc. If you take an IRS job looking for thrills and providing excellent customer service, I've got bad news for you. If you join the Coast Guard or work at a national park, well, it might be pretty interesting work.
