Registered Nurse (Inpatient/Med Surge)

<p>The Inpatient Staff Registered Nurse is responsible for providing competent, evidence-based care to patients with oversight of licensed vocational nurses/nursing assistants as appropriate to the setting. The nurse will assist in directing the provision of nursing education, orientation, competencies and providing quality improvement and enhance outcomes utilization, integrating knowledge, skills, abilities, and judgment and is self-directed in goal setting for managing complex situations.</p><h3>Major Duties</h3><p>The Fayetteville VA Medical Center (VAMC) is located at 2300 Ramsey Street, Fayetteville, NC within 10 miles of Fort Liberty and Pope Army Air Base. In addition, Camp Lejeune Marine Base and Seymour Johnson Air Force Base lie in the facility's catchment area. The Fayetteville VAMC is a general medicine, surgery, and mental health facility. It is a Complexity Level 1C Medical Center authorized 58 general medical, surgical, and mental health beds. The medical center also maintains a 69-bed long-term care Community Living Center (CLC) to care for Veteran residents. Fayetteville VAMC serves Veterans in 19 counties in Southeastern North Carolina and 2 counties in Northeastern South Carolina serving 69,200+ patients. We are also the largest catchment area in the VISN 6 Mid-Atlantic Healthcare Network. The Medical Surgical Telemetry Registered Nurse is directly responsible to the Inpatient Nurse Manager for the Inpatient Acute Unit. He/she is responsible and accountable for the provision of direct patient care and for the delivery of quality nursing care to a culturally diverse veteran patient population. He/she possesses basic knowledge and skills to apply all aspects of the nursing process within a collaborative, interdisciplinary practice setting, which will then enable effective implementation of health promotion and prevention practices, management of acute and chronic illnesses, and attainment of optimal levels of functioning and/or support of the dying patient and significant others. Core Competencies/skills include: - Excellent observation and assessment skills - Skill in recording symptoms, reactions, and progress - Skill in administering medical treatments and examinations - Knowledge of convalescence and rehabilitation requirements for patients - Skill in developing, planning, implementing, evaluating, documenting, and managing nursing care - Patient and family education skills - Ability to help individuals and groups take steps to improve or maintain their health - Administer medications and other treatments that are appropriate to the patient situation and based upon provider order - Demonstrate competence with utilization of electronic documentation systems to ensure safe patient care to include CPRS, VISTA, and BCMA - Respond proactively to changes in patient condition to prevent or minimize adverse patient outcomes - Document assessment findings based on facility policy and in a timely manner Reconcile medications and treatments across transitions of care - Documentation and acknowledgment of all new provider orders throughout the tour of duty. - Perform a physical assessment using age-appropriate, system-specific, evidence-based tools and techniques based on facility policy for timeliness and provider orders for exceptions. - Advocate for patient - Document patient's response to interventions and changes to the plan of care - Maintain appropriate physical and emotional boundaries - Monitor cardiac rhythm throughout tour of duty and notify provider of any significant changes in rhythm - Identify barriers to effective communication and make appropriate adaptations - Document appropriate aspects of nurse-patient interactions - Maintain current license and up-to-date BLS/ACLS certification - Utilize technologies to enhance nursing practice - Participate in shared governance, unit based council and play key role in quality improvement activities - Seeks opportunities to advance professionally in nursing practice - Serves as a clinical content expert for the design and enhancement of competencies, policies, and processes that affect nursing care at the unit level - Maintain current and up-to-date with mandatory competency requirements to include VA Talent Management System (TMS) training - Identify malfunctioning equipment or devices at the unit level and place work orders for timely repair - Appropriately identify patient safety events and document in Joint Patient Safety Record Function as Charge Nurse - Direct and supervise less skilled nursing/health care personnel in the role of a shift Charge Nurse 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: 7:45am-8:15pm (rotating weekends) Compressed/Flexible: Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized</p><h3>Requirements</h3>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 (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). 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 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.<h3>Education</h3>Nursing Bridge Programs: Nursing bridge programs are accelerated nurse education programs which rely upon existing nursing knowledge and education. Graduates from nursing bridge programs that meet accreditation requirements specific grade level requirements in this standard must also be met in addition to the following:(a) Master's Level Bridge Program Education Appointments Prior to Graduation. Individuals attending a master's level bridge program in nursing who achieve the level in their education in which they 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 a temporary basis for any period up to three years contingent upon full completion of the professional nursing education program, if education verification provided by the school supports the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) equivalency. Upon successful completion and graduation from the bridge program, the Nurse may be converted to a permanent appointment under the provisions of section 7401(a)(1) of title 38. Failure to complete the bridge program on which the temporary appointment was based will result in termination of the appointment.Degree in a Related Field: A graduate level or doctorate degree in health care/management related fields from an institution accredited by the State and approved by the Department of Education at the time the candidate completed the program may be credited as specifically indicated in grade requirements. The graduate level or doctorate degree and coursework must provide evidence in support of the nursing role and duties associated with the assignment and grade level. Foreign education programs/degrees are not creditable as related degrees.Dimension Requirement for Nurse III: Nurses at Nurse III must meet ALL the following dimension requirements to qualify for Nurse III. Practice. Demonstrates expertise in professional practice using the nursing process (assessment, diagnosis, outcome identification, planning, implementation and evaluation) with improved evidence-based and/or data-driven outcomes beyond the immediate practice setting. Veteran/Patient Driven Care. Leads initiatives to improve Veteran/patient experience. Satisfaction and/or safety beyond the immediate practice setting. Leadership. Communicates and collaborates as an effective leader of the inter-professional team, at the expert level, with improved evidence-based and/or data-driven outcomes beyond the immediate practice setting. Professional Development. Enhances knowledge base and practice evaluation, at the expert level, with improved outcomes beyond the immediate practice setting. Evidence Based Practice/Research. Leads the identification and integration of evidence-based practice/research with clinical expertise to improve quality of care and resource utilization at the expert level with improved outcomes beyond the immediate practice setting. 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: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. 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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.