Nurse

Summary The Emergency Department (ED) deals with a wide range of acute and chronic medical, surgical, and psychological diagnoses. This unit is within the Acute Care area of Nursing Services. The registered nurse delivers theoretically and scientifically based nursing care to an assigned group of veterans. Responsibilities Responsible for providing competent, evidence-based care to assigned patients. Delegate and supervise basic nursing care of licensed practical nurses and unlicensed assistive personnel. Assists in directing the provision of nursing education, orientation, competencies and providing quality improvement and outcomes utilization. Provides urgent and emergent care to patients with acute and/or chronic medical, surgical, and psychiatric conditions. Nursing care ranges from basic nursing care to stabilization, resuscitation, and life-support measures. Integrates knowledge, skills, abilities, and judgment and is self-directed in goal setting for managing complex situations. Validates understanding of the rationale for care processes and decisions. Demonstrates expanded knowledge base of the nursing process in the care of assigned patients. Develops basic leadership skills within the concept of the unit through seeking additional leadership experiences. Questions clinical practices for the purpose of Functional Statement: Nurse I Level 3 Page 2 providing evidence-based care. Demonstrates the ability to cope with and manage competing priorities. Responsible and accountable for all elements of the nursing process when providing care. Assess the patient by collecting pertinent data or information, including the triage of patients based on the five-level triage system to prioritize patients that require more immediate care. Use assessment data to determine diagnoses, problems, or other concerns. Identify expected outcomes to develop a collaborative and individualized plan for each patient. Implement that plan, including care coordination, health teaching, and health promotion. Evaluate the progress toward achieving the expected goal and outcomes and adjusts the plan as necessary. Requires visual acuity, keen hearing, clear distinctive speech, and manual dexterity. Potentially long periods of continuous walking, standing, stooping, sitting, bending, pulling, and pushing. Transferring patients and objects may be required. Incumbent may be exposed to infected patients and contaminated materials and may be required to don protective clothing in isolation situations or operative/invasive procedures. Incumbent may occasionally be exposed to patients who are combative secondary to delirium, dementia, or psychiatric disorders. Must be mature, flexible, sensible individual capable of working effectively in stressful situations, able to shift priorities based on patient needs. Provide care to Veterans without discrimination and harassment, tailored to his/her needs regardless of veterans age, race, ethnicity, religion, culture, language, physical or mental disability, socioeconomic status, sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity or expression. VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package: VA Nurse Total Rewards Pay: Competitive salary, regular salary increases, potential for performance awards Paid Time Off: 50 days of paid time off per year (26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year) Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement) Licensure: 1 full and unrestricted license from any US State or territory Work Schedule: 7:30pm - 8:00am, an additional 8 hour shift per pay period (11:30pm-8:00am), includes weekend and holiday rotation Telework: Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Requirements Conditions of Employment U.S. Citizenship; non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA. Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959. Subject to background/security investigation. Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements ( Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment. Must pass pre-employment physical evaluation/examination. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). You may be required to serve a probationary period. Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement. Qualifications Basic Requirements: English Language Proficiency. In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7403(f), no person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English. Graduate of a school of professional nursing approved by the appropriate accrediting agency and accredited by one of the following accrediting bodies at the time the program was completed by the applicant: The Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) or The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE); OR Individuals attending a master's level bridge program in nursing who have completed coursework equivalent to a bachelor's level degree in Nursing may have opportunity to become registered as a nurse with a state licensing board prior to completion of the bridge program. Upon achievement of a State license, the individual may be appointed on temporary basis and later converted to a permanent appointment upon successful completion and graduation from the bridge program. (Reference VA Handbook 5005, Appendix G6); OR In cases of graduates of foreign schools of professional nursing, possession of a current, full, active, and unrestricted registration will meet the requirement for graduation from an approved school of professional nursing to warrant an appointment as a Nurse who has completed an associated degree/entry level Nursing education program. Credit for foreign nursing education higher that associate degree/entry level requires a formal degree equivalency validation from a recognized equivalency evaluation accepted by VA such as International Consultants of Delaware (ICD). Current, full, active, and unrestricted registration as a graduate professional nurse in a State, Territory or Commonwealth (i.e., Puerto Rico) of the United States, or the District of Columbia. Graduate Nurse Technician (GNT) Exception: Candidates who otherwise meet the basic education requirements, but do not possess the required licensure, may be appointed at the entry step of the grade and level applicable to the completed nursing education as a GNT on a 120-day temporary appointment while actively pursuing licensure (may be extended up to two years on a case-by-case-basis.) NOTE: Grandfathering Provision - All persons currently employed in VHA in 0610 series and performing the duties as described in the qualification standard on the effective date of the standard (1/29/2024) are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the grade held including positive education and licensure/certification. Grade Determinations: The following Scope, Education and Dimension criteria must be met in determining the grade assignment of candidates, and if appropriate, the level within a grade. The Dimension requirements (Practice, Veteran/Patient Driven Care, Leadership, Professional Development and Evidence-Based Practice/Research) are detailed for each grade and level within the online assessment: Grade/Level Scope Education Nurse I, Level I Delivers fundamental, knowledge-based care to assigned clients while developing technical competencies. An Associate Degree (ADN) or Diploma in Nursing, with no additional professional nursing required. Nurse I, Level II Demonstrates integration of biopsychosocial concepts, cognitive skills and technically competent practice in providing care to clients with basic or complex. An ADN or Diploma in Nursing AND 1 year of specialized nursing experience equivalent to Nurse I, Level 1 ;OR a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) with no additional professional nursing experience required. Nurse I, Level III Demonstrates proficiency in practice based on conscious and deliberate planning. Self-directed in goal setting for managing complex client situations. An ADN or Diploma in Nursing AND 2 years of professional nursing experience in which one year is equivalent to Nurse I, Level 2; OR a BSN and 1 year of professional nursing experience equivalent to the Nurse I, Level 2; OR a Master's degree in nursing (MSN) and no additional professional nursing experience; OR a Master's degree in a *related field with a BSN and no additional professional nursing experience. Nurse II Demonstrates leadership in delivering and improving holistic care through collaborative strategies with others. A BSN with 2 years of professional nursing equivalent to Nurse I, Level 3; OR an MSN with one year of specialized nursing experience equivalent to Nurse I, Level 3; OR a Master's degree in a *related field with a BSN and one year of specialized nursing experience equivalent to Nurse I, Level 3; OR a Doctoral degree in Nursing with no professional nursing experience; OR a Doctoral degree in a *related field with a BSN with no additional professional nursing experience. Nurse III Executes position responsibilities that demonstrate leadership, experience and creative approaches to management of complex client care beyond the immediate practice setting. MSN and 2 years of specialized nursing experience, one of which is equivalent to Nurse II and meets all dimension requirements for Nurse III; OR a Master's degree in *related field with BSN and two years of specialized nursing experience, one of which is equivalent to Nurse II and meets all dimension requirements for Nurse III; OR a Doctoral degree in Nursing with and one year of specialized nursing experience equivalent to Nurse II and meets all dimension requirements for Nurse III; OR a Doctoral degree in a *related field with a BSN and one year of specialized nursing experience equivalent to Nurse II and meets all dimension requirements for Nurse III. *Note: Foreign education programs/degrees are not creditable as related degrees. Preferred Experience: Emergency Department Experience Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit Physical Requirements: This clinical position includes a level of physicality normally associated with direct patient care duties performed by nurses for potentially long periods of time. This may include walking, standing, stooping, bending, sitting, reaching, pushing and pulling. It may include moderate lifting/carrying, not greater than 35 pounds following Safe Patient Handling Guidelines. Employees are expected to employ proper body mechanics during lifting and seek assistance or use mechanical lifts for weights greater than 35 pounds following Safe Patient Handling Guidelines. Requires adequate vision to accurately perform the assigned duties, distinguish basic colors and assess patients and the environment safely. The position requires the ability to hear at a level to perform the assigned duties, and the use of hearing aids is permitted. Education Additional Information This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status. VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement. Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.