Licensed Practical Nurse

Summary

The VA Northeast Ohio Healthcare System is recruiting for an Licensed Practical Nurse. The Licensed Practical Nurse will function in Community Outpatient Services.

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Duties

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VA Careers - Licensed Practical Nurse:

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

• Assists with the planning, implementation, and evaluation of patients' care with all interdisciplinary teams. Functions in complex healthcare activities with minimal supervision and guidance.
• Manages patient care problems and deviations using self-direction in accordance with VA Nursing Practice and LPN licensure standards. Maintains knowledge and skills to care for a wide range of patients, including those with chronic and acute illness.
• Provide nursing care for adults with population specific needs by incorporating pertinent physical, psychosocial, and cultural needs into the patient plan of care. .
• Readily identifies patient complications and acts to resolve issues under very general supervision. Applies critical thinking skills to solve clinical. and administrative issues.
• Able to proactively assist staff to identify Veteran medications/treatment needs, and accurately relay those needs to necessary/pertinent team members involved in the Veteran's care.
• Collaborates with the PACT team and other interdisciplinary services in the development, implementation, and evaluation of patient care.
• Provides indirect nursing care to patients with complex needs as related to consult management, screening of telephone calls, as well as assuming responsibility and accountability for nursing action.
• Demonstrates active listening and excellent interviewing/screening skills during telephone calls to obtain pertinent information from the caller and utilizes computerized medical record as an additional information resource.
• Serves as a preceptor in orienting, educating, and training less experienced LPN staff related to support duties for more complex, specialized tests/procedures.
• Determines clinic assignments, timely patient communication, consult management and medical record review/retrieval.
• Actively seeks out educational opportunities to enhance nursing knowledge and skills and provide leadership in assisting other staff to improve and advance their nursing practice. Maintains and updates professional certifications as required by policy/procedure.
• Participates in safety inspections and proactively reports unsafe working conditions to supervisory staff members. Collaborates with NM and other VA leadership to ensure work area and nursing practice is maintained in accordance with Joint Commission, OIG
• and other regulatory agency guidelines. Demonstrates a leadership role during EOC rounds and assists NM with correction of any identified deficiencies. Serves as a resource for other LPN/MT/MSA staff re: Continued Readiness Initiatives.
• Applies infection control measures appropriately in delivering nursing care.
• Demonstrates knowledge of all processes for reusable medical equipment (RME). Demonstrates proper setup (assembling the required items in preparation for a procedure in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions and VA protocols), and maintenance according to facility standard operating procedure (SOP). Serves as a resource for the other staff members and assists with completion of annual competency validation.
• Assists the RN/LPN to prepare patients for transport to appointments, other departments, emergency department, or other unit transfers.
• Performs treatments and procedures within the scope of license and facility policies and procedures.

Work Schedule : Monday - Friday; 8am - 4:30pm

Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized

Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized

Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases

Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year)

Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience.

Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.

Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66 .

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)

Telework : Not Available

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement # : 94215A

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• 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. Employees may be subject to random drug tests.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• 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.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

Basic Requirements :

• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• Must be a graduate of school of practical or vocational nursing approved by the appropriate State agency and/or accredited by the National League for Nursing. (Education will be waived for current VHA employees who were converted to appointments under 38 U.S.C. 7401(3) in implementation of Public Law 98-160, enacted November 21, 1983, and for VHA employees converted to appointments under 38 U.S.C. 7405 in implementation of Public Law 99-576, enacted October 28, 1986. The waiver will not apply to persons appointed under 38 U.S.C. 7401(3) or 7405 after these conversions.)
• Must possess a full, active, current and unrestricted licensure as a licensed practical or vocational nurse in a State, Territory or Commonwealth (i.e., Puerto Rico) of the United States, or District of Columbia.

May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria).

Grade Determinations : GS-07: Must possess at least one year of qualifying experience at the GS-6 level or equivalent. You must fully meet all performance requirements for the GS-6 LPN/LVN or equivalent and your resume must fully support this. Examples of experience include: Technically proficient in initiating, performing and completing assigned duties in providing care to variable patient populations; ability to appropriately carry out assigned patient care based on the patients' conditions; use judgment in selecting the appropriate order and sequence of procedures and treatments; accurately recognize, report and record relevant patient information; Completed work only needs a general review by a registered nurse or physician for appropriateness and conformity with established policies/procedures; Ability to observe, identify and respond to the patient's needs for care, including medication, equipment-assisted care and patient/family education. considers emotional, cultural, spiritual, socio-economic, and age-related factors. Prepares and administers prescribed medications (oral, topical, subcutaneous, intramuscular and/or intravenous) and performs treatments according to established policies/procedures. Observes for physical and/or emotional changes in patient's condition from prescribed medications/treatments, promptly and accurately documenting noted changes, and reporting any deviations from normal to RN or MD/DO; Knowledge and ability to recognize urgent or emergent patient care situations, seek assistance of the RN and/or MD/DO, and initiate appropriate emergency interventions as directed; Knowledge and understanding of human behavior, patient motivations and reactions to situations, and ability to appropriately utilize this knowledge in working effectively with patients, family members, and other staff; Establishes constructive relationships with individual patients and their families to elicit feelings and attitudes, and to promote positive relationships, communication and socialization skills; Fosters an environment of respect for individual patient and family rights to privacy and dignity in all aspects of care delivery; Effectively incorporates knowledge and understanding of established customer service standards in all interactions with patients, family members, and/or other internal/external customers; Knowledge and skill in performing support duties for complex diagnostic tests and/or specialized practices or procedures, which include preparing the patient, assisting in the diagnostic examination, preparing and handling specialized instruments or other specialized equipment, and monitoring the patient's condition before, during, and following the procedure; Serves as a preceptor in orienting, educating, and training less experienced LPNs/LVNs or NAs/HTs related to support duties for these more complex, specialized tests/procedures.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-07.

Physical Requirements: Applicant must possess the ability to climb stairs; lift, carry, pull, and push up to 25 pounds; frequent walking, standing, kneeling; repeated bending, squatting; and driving a car for periods up to 2 hours.

VA Healthcare System Serving Ohio, Indiana and Michigan (VISN 10) advocates for a Whole Health System of care in each of the Medical Centers. This is an approach to healthcare that empowers and equips people to take charge of their health and well-being and live their lives to the fullest. As an employee operating in a Whole Health System of care, you will operate in a model with three core elements, seeking to create a personalized health plan for each Veteran. This is done in the context of healing relationships and healing environments and a connection back to the Veteran's community. This aligns with the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Mission Statement to Honor America's Veterans by providing exceptional health care that improves their health and well-being.

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit:

Additional information

Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

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.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.