The Registered Nurse serves as the Professional Development Specialist / Post-Baccalaureate Registered Nurse Residency Program Director. The RN collaborates with staff in employee education, nursing leadership, and Medical Center leadership to ensure the transition of the nurse resident from an advanced beginner to a competent professional.

Duties

The RN collaborates with multiple disciplines in the assessment, planning, organization, implementation, and evaluation of entry to practice programs including orientation, in-services, continuing education and competency assessment and validation. The RN will demonstrate excellent clinical practice, problem-solving, and decision-making skills and serve as a mentor to new nurses, student nurses, and other nursing staff. The RN is responsible and accountable to the Chief, Education Department. Duties include, but are not limited to: Applies advanced level of clinical knowledge in assessing staff skills in the application of the nursing process. Serves as an expert in the interpretation of the nursing process to members of other disciplines. Facilitates components of the nursing process in program planning, problem solving, and conflict resolution. Contributes to the development and practice of standards of care and practice; identifies methods to promote acceptance, implementation, evaluation, and revision of standards of practice. Leads on-boarding and orientation for RNs with less than one year experience as an RN, who are enrolled in entry to practice programs. Provides and/or coordinates orientation of entry to practice RNs/NPs, evaluation of their progress in the orientation process, and for developing and implementing a learning plan for improving identified deficiencies. Demonstrates leadership and guides others in the use of evidenced-based practices (EBP) across nursing programs and in collaboration with other clinical programs and staff. Orientation: provides and/or coordinates orientation for entry to practice Ns/NPs, evaluation of their progress in the orientation process, and for developing and implementing a learning plan for improving identified deficiencies, designs and implements entry to practice program to assist RNs/NPs with less than one year experience to acquire, maintain, and/or increase their competence in fulfilling their assigned responsibilities. Leads entry to practice program competency program; collaborates with nursing leadership to review, revise, and implement annual competency requirements, based on high risk, low volume, and problem prone and other criteria, including organizational requirements. Provides evaluative feedback to the presenters/facilitators of an educational activity. Serves as a consultant throughout Wilmington VAMC and in the community on clinical and non-clinical practice issues. Performs duties and responsibilities as assigned by Chief, Education Department and Associate Director, Patient Care Services/Nurse Executive. Identifying outcome measures and implementing programmatic steps and processes for special development programs including benchmarking, quality indicators, and performance measures 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: Monday-Friday 7:30am-4:00pm (Occasional episodic need to work outside of normal duty hours)

Requirements

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. English Language Proficiency. In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), 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 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). The approving official may authorize a waiver of the requirement for ACEN or CCNE accreditation of any degree in nursing provided the college or university has regional accreditation from an accrediting body recognized by the Department of Education at the time of the candidate's graduation and the composite qualifications of the applicant warrant such consideration. In cases of graduates of foreign schools of professional nursing, possession of current, full, active and unrestricted registration will meet the requirement of graduation from an approved school of professional nursing. OR The completion of coursework equivalent to a nursing degree in a MSN Bridge Program that qualifies for professional nursing registration constitutes the completion of an approved course of study of professional nursing. Students should submit the certificate of professional nursing to sit for the NCLEX to the VA along with a copy of the MSN transcript. (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. 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. Preferred Experience: MSN in Nursing Education or related field, Experience initiating and maintaining CCNE accreditation, demonstrated ability to coordinate and facilitate interdisciplinary education programs. Experience in the following: RN training programs (Registered Nurse - Transition to Practice, Post Bachelorette Nurse Residency, Graduate Nurse Technician, Student Nurse Technician), education experience, national certification in appropriate specialty. Grade Determinations: The following criteria must be met in determining the grade assignment of candidates, and if appropriate, the level within a grade: Nurse I Level I - An Associate Degree (ADN) or Diploma in Nursing, with no additional nursing practice/experience required. Nurse I Level II - An ADN or Diploma in Nursing and approximately 1 year of nursing practice/experience; OR an ADN or Diploma in Nursing and a bachelor's degree in a related field with no additional nursing practice/experience; OR a Bachelor's of Science in Nursing (BSN) with no additional nursing practice/experience. Nurse I Level III - An ADN or Diploma in Nursing and approximately 2-3 years of nursing practice/experience; OR an ADN or Diploma in Nursing and a Bachelor's degree in a related field and approximately 1-2 years of nursing practice/experience; OR a BSN with approximately 1-2 years of nursing practice/experience; OR a Master's degree in nursing (MSN) or related field with a BSN and no additional nursing practice/experience. Nurse II - A BSN with approximately 2-3 years of nursing practice/experience; OR ADN or Diploma in Nursing and a Bachelor's degree in a related field and approximately 2-3 years of nursing practice/experience; OR a Master's degree in nursing or related field with a BSN and approximately 1-2 years of nursing practice/experience; OR a Doctoral degree in nursing or meets basic requirements for appointment and has doctoral degree in a related field with no additional nursing practice/experience required. Nurse III - Master's degree in nursing or related field with BSN and approximately 2-3 years of nursing practice/experience; OR a Doctoral degree and approximately 2-3 years of nursing practice/experience. Note regarding MSN degrees: If your MSN was obtained via a Bridge Program that qualifies for professional nursing registration, a BSN is not required. Reference: VA Regulations, specifically VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G-6 Nurse Qualification Standard. This can be found in the local Human Resources Office. Physical Requirements: This position requires visual acuity, keen hearing, clear distinctive speech, and manual dexterity. This position requires potentially long periods of continued walking, standing, stooping, sitting, bending, pulling, and pushing. Transferring patients and objects may be required. The 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. The incumbent may occasionally be exposed to patients who are combative secondary to delirium, dementia, or psychiatric disorders. The incumbent must be a mature, flexible, sensible individual capable of working effectively in stressful situations, able to shift priorities based on patient needs. Must complete annual Employee Health requirements, such as annual TB screening or testing, as a condition of employment.

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: 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: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Contacts

• Address Wilmington VA Medical Center 1601 Kirkwood Highway Wilmington, DE 19805 US
• Name: Claudette Edwards
• Phone: (215) 823-5800
• Email: [email protected]