The Caring for Older Adults and Caregivers at Home (COACH), is a home based dementia care program that serves veterans with neurocognitive disorders and their caregivers residing within a 50-mile radius from the Durham VA Medical Center. The COACH program offers support and education to caregivers in the dementia care management, including areas of disease progression, behavioral management, safety, caregiver stress, and advance care planning.

Duties

The Caring for Older Adults and Caregivers at Home (COACH) program is a home-based Dementia care program. In this program, a team of Geriatric Social Worker and an RN conducts home visits to evaluate the veteran's physical, cognitive, and functional status to identify unmet needs. They also do home safety evaluations and social/resource evaluation. The goal of the program is to maintain the veteran safely at home for as long as possible. Most of the interventions involve caregiver support, education on Dementia, progression, and behavioral management. Referrals are made to VA and community resources, and specialty providers. The program is based on an interdisciplinary approach. The full team consists of a Geriatrician, Geriatric psychiatrist, pharmacist, Social Worker, occupational therapist and an RN. The Care of Older Adults and Caregivers at Home Program (COACH) Registered Nurse will receive referrals for the COACH Program, conduct initial screening and coordinate evaluation with the Social Worker. Along with the Social Worker, the RN will provide education and linkage to other needed resources, conduct a home safety evaluation, and provide ongoing case management to the enrollees. This RN in effect acts as a Case Coodinator for the enrolled population, with the idea of supporting the Veteran and Caregiver so that the Veteran can remain in the home, away from the Emergency Room and outside of acute care. The COACH registered nurse is responsible for the screening, assessments, care planning, and care coordination of veterans with dementia and the provision of support and education to caregivers in collaboration with social workers and the supporting interdisciplinary team. Services are provided in the veterans' home environment and other settings as appropriate, including use of telehealth services. 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: Monday - Friday, 0730 - 1600 or 0800 - 1630. Telework: Not available. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized. Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

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: A minimum of one year successful Medical/Surgical experience within the past two years Demonstrated skills in decision-making, using good clinical judgment and critical-thinking abilities Demonstrated ability to use computer systems in support of patient care delivery Previous Long-Term Care or Community Health experience 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. The full performance level of this vacancy is Nurse III. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of Nurse I to Nurse III. 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: Per VA Directive and Handbook 5019 - a physical examination will be conducted based on the physical requirements of the position. A physical examination prior to placement is required. Regarding this specific RN position, the population of male and female veterans served ranges from the adult, age 18, to the elderly adult, age 65 and over. The VA Medical Center is a major interdisciplinary teaching facility, serving medical, surgical, and neurological inpatients and outpatients. There is a large outpatient psychiatric population, with admissions for medical co?morbidities. 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.

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.

The Associate Degree Nursing (ADN), Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing (BSN), or Master of Science degree in Nursing (MSN) must be fully accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) or the Commission On Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). Verification of accreditation may be obtained from CCNE - Accredited Programs (ccnecommunity.org) or Search ACEN Accredited Nursing Programs (acenursing.com)

• If your school has changed names, or is no longer in existence, you must provide this information in your application.
• If your school was accredited by ACEN or CCNE at the time of graduation, but is no longer listed on the websites, you must provide documentation of accreditation with your application packet.

Contacts

• Address Durham VA Medical Center 508 Fulton Street Durham, NC 27705 US
• Name: Cassidy Rosser
• Phone: (980) 401-2559
• Email: [email protected]