Registered Nurse - Heart Failure Navigator

Veterans Health Administration • Pittsburgh, PA

10h • Onsite

About The Position

This position is located at the University Drive campus. The Heart Failure Navigator supports heart failure patients across inpatient, outpatient, and specialty services by coordinating care, providing education, and helping prevent readmissions. The nurse rounds on inpatients, follows patients after discharge, assesses readmission risk, and tailors follow-up to individual needs. The role also includes work in the IV Diuretic Clinic, review and triage of heart failure consults, collaboration with inpatient staff and residents, and participation in cardiac rehabilitation care meetings and the CLC.

The position is scheduled Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Telework and virtual work are not available. Relocation and recruitment incentives and permanent change of station are not authorized.

Applicants must meet VA nursing education and licensure requirements, including graduation from an appropriately accredited school of professional nursing (or an accepted equivalent pathway), current full and unrestricted nursing registration in a U.S. state, territory, commonwealth, or the District of Columbia, and proficiency in written and spoken English. Grade assignment depends on education, specialized experience, and the applicable practice, patient-care, leadership, professional-development, and evidence-based-practice criteria. Selected applicants must also meet the stated federal employment conditions, including applicable screening and onboarding requirements.

Requirements

• Proficiency in basic written and spoken English.
• Graduation from a professional nursing school approved by the appropriate accrediting agency and accredited by ACEN or CCNE at the time of program completion, or an accepted alternative education pathway described in the announcement.
• Current, full, active, and unrestricted registration as a graduate professional nurse in a U.S. state, territory, commonwealth, or the District of Columbia; the announcement also describes a limited Graduate Nurse Technician exception for candidates actively pursuing licensure.
• Meet the education, experience, and grade-determination criteria applicable to the assigned Nurse grade and level.
• U.S. citizenship, with non-citizens eligible only when qualified citizens cannot be recruited in accordance with VA policy.
• Selected applicants in testing-designated positions must submit to urinalysis screening for illegal drug use; refusal results in denial of VA employment.
• Register for Selective Service if applicable to males born after December 31, 1959.
• Pass a background/security investigation and complete the online onboarding process and required identification documentation.
• Pass a pre-employment physical evaluation.
• Participate in the seasonal influenza vaccination program as a requirement for VA health care personnel.
• Complete all application requirements in the announcement's Required Documents section.
• A probationary period may be required.

Nice To Haves

• More than four years of progressive clinical experience in advanced cardiac care, including heart failure management, LVAD coordination, and CICU operations.
• Experience guiding complex cardiac patients through transitions of care, optimizing heart failure treatment plans, and educating patients and families.
• Experience collaborating with multidisciplinary teams to support evidence-based practice, improve outcomes, and reduce readmissions for high-risk cardiac populations.
• Experience monitoring hemodynamics, managing advanced cardiac therapies, and coordinating LVAD care, including device assessments, patient training, and emergency response readiness.
• Ability to serve as a clinical resource, advocate, and navigator for patients with chronic and acute heart failure and promote continuity of care across inpatient, outpatient, and specialty services.
• Skill in patient-centered communication, care coordination, and early identification of decompensation.

Responsibilities

• Round on inpatients daily to ensure heart failure patients receive appropriate education and care coordination before discharge.
• Call patients within three days after discharge and conduct follow-up at three days and 30 days after discharge.
• Use a risk-assessment tool to identify patients at high risk for readmission and provide closer, individualized follow-up; high-risk patients are followed at least weekly.
• Provide education to patients' families or designated support persons.
• Refer eligible patients to the Home Telehealth Program.
• Review the daily loop-diuretic list to ensure the heart failure service is consulted.
• See all patients admitted to the IV Diuretic Clinic.
• Review and triage heart failure consults.
• Provide education to inpatient staff and residents.
• Participate actively in weekly cardiac rehabilitation care meetings.
• Serve as an active member of the CLC.
• Track readmission rates.
• Perform additional duties as assigned.

Benefits

• Competitive salary, regular salary increases, and potential performance awards.
• 50 days of paid time off per year, comprising 26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, and 11 paid Federal holidays.
• Traditional federal pension with five-year vesting and federal 401(k), with VA contributions up to 5%.
• Federal health, vision, dental, term life, and long-term care insurance; many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: Associate degree