RN Float Pool

Duties

As a Staff Nurse you will provide prescribed medical treatment and personal care services to ill and injured veterans. Duties include documenting observations, assessments, and changes in patient's condition; collaborating with health team members to facilitate positive patient care outcomes; providing a full range of nursing care to patients with a variety of physical and/or behavior problems. Incumbent is accountable for meeting and maintaining the qualification standards and functional statements of assigned grade. Our facility is seeking individuals who possess good organizational skills which enable completion of work, a demonstrated ability to assume leadership in a patient centered program, and the ability to establish effective communication with patients, families, visitors and members of the interdisciplinary team.

The medical/surgical unit serves as the base units for General Surgery,  Oncology, General Medicine, and ENT services.  Care is also provided to a diverse group of patients with medical diagnoses. Special services focus on patients requiring telemetry, pain control, chemotherapy, tracheostomy care, and terminal/palliative care.

Special services particular to these units include care of patients with the following diagnoses:

COPD

Complications of diabetes

Neurological disorders

Renal hemodialysis

Cardiac disorders

Cancer

Hospice/Palliative Care

Acute and Chronic Mental Health Care

Work Schedule: The schedule is for 12-hour shifts, evenings and nights, various tour of duty and may require weekend coverage as well. These positions report to the Nurse Manager of the Float Team in the Associate Director of Patient Care Service Line.

Functional Statement Title/#:   Registered Nurse, Medical-Surgical Float Pool

Qualifications

BASIC REQUIREMENTS:  

• U.S. citizenship.  Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.

• 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 (ACEN) or The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).  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.

• 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)

• 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.

Grade Determinations: The following criteria must be met in determining the grade assignment of candidates, and if appropriate, the level within a grade:

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, 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 year's of nursing practice/experience; OR a Master's degree in nursing or related field with a BSN and approximately 1-2 year's 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 year's of nursing practice/experience; OR a Doctoral degree in nursing or related field and approximately 2-3 year's of nursing practice/experience.

Education/Experience Requirements:  BSN preferred

Preferred Experience: Three to five years Clinical Care experience.  P****referred certifications include: ANCC Medical-Surgical Nursing (RN-BC); Certified Medical-Surgical Registered Nurse (CMSRN); Oncology Nurse Certification (OCN).

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social).  Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment.  You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

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.

To verify that your nursing education meets the VA requirements, please refer to these links:

Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) http://www.aacn.nche.edu/ccne-accreditation/accredited-programs

Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN-formerly NLNAC) http://www.acenursing.us/accreditedprograms/programsearch.htm