JOB SUMMARY:
Vacancy Identification Number (VIN): 929747
To fulfill President Lincolns promise – "To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan" – by serving and honoring the men and women who are Americas Veterans.
As a VA professional nurse, your opportunities are endless. With many openings in the multiple functions of VA, you will have a wide range of opportunities at your fingertips. Not only is it the largest, most technologically advanced integrated health care system in the nation, but we also provide many other services to Veterans through the Benefits Administration and National Cemeteries.
Applicants education and experience will be reviewed by a Professional Standards Board in determining the grade and salary of the applicant selected. The recommended salary may be at any point in the range listed for this vacancy.
Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply.
PLEASE READ THIS ENTIRE ANNOUNCEMENT BEFORE APPLYING ON LINE!!
External applicants (not an employee of Tennessee Valley Healthcare System), to be considered for this job you must submit Application for Nurse and Nurse Anesthetists (VA form 10-2850a) and the Declaration of Federal Employment (OF-306). If we do not receive these two forms, you will have an incomplete application and will not be considered.
****PLEASE NOTE: NEW FORM OF-306 FORM REVISED DATE OF OCT. 2011. YOU WILL NEED TO UPDATE THIS FORM IN YOUR APPLICATION MANAGER. PLEASE SEE LINK IN THE INSTRUCTION ON FORMS REQUIRED.****
KEY REQUIREMENTS
- U.S. Citizenship
- Full unrestricted Licensure, Certification, or Registration required.
- Must pass pre-employment examination.
- Designated and/or Random Drug Testing required.
- Background and/or Security Investigation required.
- English Language Proficiency required.
DUTIES:Back to top
Tour of Duty: Based on the needs of the service.
The Registered Nurse in the Operating Room (OR) will be responsible for the direct care of the patient. The RN is primarily responsible and accountable for assessing, planning, implementing, and evaluating direct and indirect nursing care, and identifying outcomes for patients in the OR setting. The RN is responsible for coordinating patient care delivery to ensure quality care according to established standards of care/practice, policy, and procedure. The specific patient population to whom direct care is provided includes adults with a wide variety of different conditions during the perioperative period. The practice of the nurse is characterized by leadership in improving patient care. The OR provides the following services: general surgery, ear, nose, and throat, opthalmic, orthopedic, peripheral vascular, thoracic, cardiac, urologic, plastic, podiatric, transplant, neuro, endoscopic and laproscopic. The nurse has the technical and operational knowledge and clinical skills to function as a circulating and scrub nurse in all services. He/she monitors activities occurring within the department when acting in the charge nurse capacity. The RN must be able to lift 30 lbs or more, twisting and/or bending, standing and/or walking almost constantly during the course of the day to assess patients, provide patient care, administer medications, and direct nonprofessional staff. The nurse must also be able to direct nonprofessional staff’s lifting, moving, and/or transferring of patients and use equipment to provide patient care which usually involves lifting and/or pushing the equipment. The RN is responsible for the storage, proper cleaning techniques, and use of reusable medical equipment (RME). The RN must be able to locate the Standard Operating Procedures for all RME in the clinical area. The RN is responsible for carrying out proper procedures for caring for patients in an isolation environment by following proper infection control procedures. The RN communicates regularly with nurse managers, physicians, nursing supervisors, charge nurses, transfer coordinators, allied health care staff, health care technicians, pharmacy, and the business office. Additional duties as assigned.
Relocation: Expenses: Relocation expenses are not authorized for this position.
QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED:Back to top
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States
Licensure: Active, full, current and unrestricted licensure as a Graduate Professional Nurse in a State, Territory, or Commonwealth (i.e., Puerto Rico), in the United States or the District of Columbia. The RN must maintain a current, full, active and unrestricted registration to continue employment with VA.
Graduate of a school of professional nursing approved by the appropriate State-accrediting agency and accredited by one of the following accrediting bodies at the time the program was completed by the applicant: The Accreditation Commission For Education In Nursing Inc.(ACEN) or The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).
***All applicants must ensure the nursing program for the school where the Nursing Degree was received, is accredited and listed on one of these two sites to meet the requirements of the education qualifications. *****
IF your nursing program is not listed on one of the websites below, and the program was accredited at the time of graduation, you will need to submit additional written documentation from one of these agencies, or from the Director of the Nursing program from your school, as proof of accreditation by the ACEN or CCNE. Your college transcripts are not proof of this accreditation.***
1. The Accreditation Commission For Education in Nursing Inc. (ACEN), located at 3343 Peachtree Road NE, Suite 850, Atlanta, GA. 30326 or call (404) 975-5000 The ACEN accredits all levels of nursing programs. Additional information may be obtained from the ACEN web site; (http://www.acenursing.org/) or
2. The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), an accrediting arm of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). The CCNE accredits bachelors and masters degree programs, and is located at One Dupont Circle N.W., Suite 530, Washington, DC 20036 or call (202) 463-6930. Additional information may be obtained from the CCNE web site. (http://www.aacn.nche.edu/ccne-accreditation/accredited-programs)
(b) 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. In these programs, students are given a certificate of professional nursing to sit for the NCLEX and should submit this certification to VA prior to appointment. Students do not earn a BSN, but receive a MSN degree upon completion of course work. A copy of the MSN transcript must be provided to VA. Bridge programs that confer a master’s degree also fully meet the education requirement, even though a Bachelor’s Degree is not awarded.
(c) In cases of graduates of foreign schools of professional nursing, possession of current, full, active, and unrestricted registration (see paragraph 2a(3)) will meet the requirement of graduation from an approved school of professional nursing.
Physical Standards/Requirements: All applicants must be physically and mentally able to perform efficiently the duties of the position. Must be able to lift (30 lbs or more); twisting and/or bending, standing and/or walking almost constantly during the course of the day.
Applicant must be proficient in spoken and written English.
All education claimed by applicants will be verified by the appointing agency accordingly.
Applicants education and length of nursing practice (experience) will be considered by a Nurse Professional Standards Board in determining the grade and salary of the applicant selected. Experience as a RN will be evaluated to determine if the experience is of an acceptable level of quality with regard to the following four dimensions of nursing: Practice, Professional Development, Collaboration and Scientific Inquiry. Each dimension of practice has criteria that demonstrate essential core competencies for VHA Nursing Personnel. The criteria are as follows: Practice: practice, ethics and resource utilization, Professional Development: performance, education/career development, Collaboration; collaboration, collegiality, Scientific Inquiry: quality of care, research.
- Nurse I Level I - An Associate Degree (ADN) or Diploma in Nursing, no experience.
- Nurse I Level II - An ADN or Diploma in Nursing and approximately 1 year of experience, or an ADN or Diploma in Nursing and a bachelors degree in a related field and no experience; or a Bachelors of Science in Nursing (BSN) and no experience.
- Nurse I Level III - An ADN or Diploma in Nursing and approximately 2-3 years of experience, or an ADN or Diploma in Nursing and a bachelors degree in a related field and approximately 1-2 years of experience; or a BSN with approximately 1-2 years of experience, or a Masters degree in nursing (MSN) or related field with a BSN and no experience.
- Nurse II - A BSN with approximately 2-3 years of experience, or ADN or Diploma in Nursing and a bachelors degree in a related field and approximately 2-3 years experience or a Masters degree in nursing or related field with a BSN and approximately 1-2 years experience, or a Doctoral degree in nursing or meets basic requirements for appointment and has doctoral degree in a related field with no experience.
- Nurse III - Masters degree in nursing or related field with BSN and approximately 2-3 years experience or Doctoral degree in nursing or related field and approximately 2-3 years experience.
- If MSN obtained in a Bridge Program, no BSN required.
- · Basis Life Support (BLS) Certification is preferred.
- · Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) is preferred.
Additional Preferred Qualifications:
1. 1-2 Years of successful clinical nursing practice in an acute care or critical care setting preferred.
2. Customer Service –being highly skilled in interpersonal effectiveness preferred. The RN promotes service to internal and external customers and solves customer problems, treats customers with dignity and respect, acknowledges customers, and responds quickly to customer needs.
IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.
Reference: VA Handbook 5005/27, Part II, Appendix G-6 NURSE QUALIFICATION STANDARD
Veterans Preference:
When applying for Federal Jobs, eligible Veterans should claim preference on their application or résumé. Applicants claiming preference based on service-connected disability, or based on being the spouse or mother of a disabled or deceased Veteran, must complete an SF 15, Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference. Veterans who are still in the service may be granted tentative preference on the basis of information contained in their applications, but they must produce a DD Form 214 or other proof prior to appointment to document entitlement to preference. For more information on Veterans Preference, please visit http://www.fedshirevets.gov/job/veterans.aspx.
HOW YOU WILL BE EVALUATED:
Your application, résumé and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment. You may also be evaluated based upon the question responses you provide during a structured interview. In responding to structured interview questions you should be sure to cite specific examples of experience, explain exactly what you did, and the outcome.
Country: USA,
State: Tennessee,
City: Nashville,
Company: Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration.
