The Spinal Cord Injury Service consists of a 38 bed CARF-accredited inpatient rehabilitation, 4 clinic room for the outpatient clinic and 1 urology suite. This service provides care for medically complex patients including vent dependent patients, and provides acute SCI rehabilitation, medical rehospitalizations, post-op care, pressure ulcer treatment, annual evaluations, and outpatient treatment.

Duties

Duties include but are not limited to: The SCI Outpatient Clinic specialized in rehabilitation, medical/surgical issues, and annual evaluations. The RNCM is a PACT Team member who provides comprehensive and coordinated nursing care to an assigned panel of patients. The RNCM collaborates with both VA services and community services, as appropriate, to effectively meet the health promotion or disease prevention, acute, chronic, and long-term needs, based on the Veteran's goals and plan of care with a focus on self-management. The RNCM utilize the nursing process, is responsible for providing independent, on-going assessment of the SCI outpatient population. Collaborating with the SCI interdisciplinary team, other health care professionals and/ or outside agencies to ensure implementation of treatment, continuity and follow up of patient care. The RNCM's responsibility include telephone triage in the outpatient clinic, preventive health maintenance and patient/family/caregiver education for assessed needs, initiating appropriate and timely actions, coordination and pre-scheduling outpatient annual evaluations, medication refills, routine medical supplies, and prostatic requests. This position is responsible for unscheduled and walk-in SCI Veterans during normal business hours. This position is responsible for providing coverage to the SCI Telehealth Nurse, SCI Urology Nurse, SCI Inpatient Nursing and other duties as needed. 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, 7:30am-4:00pm Compressed/Flexible: Available Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: May be Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): 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. Education: Graduate of a school of professional nursing. (1) Education Accreditation Requirement: Nursing education must be from a school of professional nursing accredited by one of the following accrediting organizations at the time the program was completed by the applicant:(a) The Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN), 3343 Peachtree Road NE, Suite 850, Atlanta, GA 30326. The ACEN accredits all levels of nursing programs, including clinical doctorate, masters/post master's certificate, baccalaureate, associate and diploma nursing education programs. Or(b) The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), 655 K Street, NW, Suite 7, Washington, DC 20001. The CCNE is an accrediting arm of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) and accredits nursing education programs at the bachelor and master's level. 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. (2) Nursing Bridge Program: 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. (3) Foreign Education: Graduates of foreign schools of professional nursing who possess a current, full, active and unrestricted registration (see paragraph 3c) will meet the requirement of graduation from an approved school of professional nursing to warrant appointment as a Nurse who has completed an associate degree level Nursing education program. (4) 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. Licensure and Certification: The following licensure and certification requirements are considered conditions of employment. Nurse. All Nurses must possess and maintain an active, current, full and unrestricted license as a Nurse to practice in a State, Territory or Commonwealth of the United States, or in the District of Columbia. 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 - Diploma or associate degree in nursing with no professional nursing experience Nurse I Level II - Diploma or associate degree in nursing and one year of specialized nursing experience equivalent to Nurse I, Level 1 OR a Bachelor's degree in nursing and no professional nursing experience. Nurse I Level III -Diploma or associate degree in nursing and two years of professional nursing experience, one of which is a year of specialized nursing experience equivalent to Nurse I, Level 2 OR Bachelor's degree in nursing and one year of professional nursing experience equivalent to Nurse I, Level 2 OR Master's degree in nursing and no professional nursing experience OR Master's degree in a related field with a bachelor's degree in nursing with no professional nursing experience. Nurse II - Bachelor's degree in nursing and two years of professional nursing experience, one of which is a year of specialized nursing experience equivalent to Nurse I, Level 3 OR Master's degree in nursing with one year of specialized nursing experience equivalent to Nurse I, Level 3 OR Master's degree in a related field with a bachelor's degree in nursing with one year of specialized nursing experience equivalent to Nurse I, Level 3 OR Doctorate degree in nursing with no professional nursing experience OR Doctorate degree in a related field with a master's or bachelor's degree in nursing with no professional nursing experience. Nurse III - Master's degree in nursing with two years of specialized nursing experience, one of which is equivalent to Nurse II and meets all dimension requirements for Nurse III OR Master's degree in a related field with a bachelor's degree in nursing with two years of specialized nursing experience, one of which is equivalent to Nurse II and meets all dimension requirements for Nurse III OR Doctorate degree in nursing with one year of specialized nursing experience which is equivalent to Nurse II and meets all dimension requirements for Nurse III OR Doctorate degree in a related field with a master's or bachelor's degree in nursing with one year of specialized nursing experience equivalent to Nurse II and meets all dimension requirements for 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. Preferred Experience: Experience with Spinal Cord Injury patients SCI Outpatient PACT Experience Experience as an Outpatient RN Physical Requirements: Heavy lifting (45 pounds and over); Straight pulling (6 hours); Pushing (2 hours); Reaching above shoulder; Use of fingers; Both hands required; Walking (6 hours); Standing (2 hours); Repeated bending (6 hours); Both legs required; Both eyes required; Ability to distinguish basic colors; Visual acuity 20/30 corrected. Environmental Factors: Working with hands in water and working closely with others.

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.

Note: The National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission/NLNAC changed its name to ACEN in May 2013. ACEN's website may be utilized to verify accredited programs using automated inquiry processes; however, for verification of any nursing program's accreditation prior to 1998, an automated inquiry cannot be used and ACEN must be contacted directly via their email contact information on the ACEN website to verify.)

Note: In order to grant credit towards an appointment based on foreign nursing education higher than the associate degree level, formal degree equivalency validation from a recognized degree equivalency evaluation agency accepted by VA such as the International Consultants of Delaware (ICD) must be obtained.

Contacts

• Address VA Puget Sound Health Care System 1660 South Columbian Way Seattle, WA 98108 US
• Name: Melody Laughlin
• Phone: 253-583-1173
• Email: [email protected]