Registered Nurse-Professional Development Specialist

Veterans Health Administration • Orlando, FL

13h • Onsite

About The Position

The Professional Development Specialist Registered Nurse applies adult learning principles and adapts learning strategies to assessed needs across the healthcare organization. The role assesses, plans, implements, and evaluates educational needs to support clinical staff development and skills training. It focuses on individual growth in practice, self-direction, and critical-thinking skills.

The specialist provides education and training to nursing staff in clinical and outpatient units, supports new-employee orientation and progress evaluation, and develops learning plans to address identified deficiencies. The role also supports resuscitation education, nurse residency programming, competency assessment, and ongoing clinical education in collaboration with professional development colleagues, leadership, managers, and interprofessional teams. The specialist evaluates practice and learning outcomes, reviews nursing literature and evidence-based research, and may propose practice or documentation revisions based on outcomes.

This is a Monday-through-Friday position scheduled 0730–1600, with flexibility to meet organizational needs. Telework and virtual work are not available. Relocation and recruitment incentives and permanent change of station are not authorized. The position may involve physical demands normally associated with nursing duties, including extended periods of walking, standing, or sitting, moderate lifting, repeated bending or kneeling, and time standing while assisting Veterans. Safe patient-handling and mobility protocols are used.

Requirements

• Proficiency in basic written and spoken English.
• Graduation from an approved professional nursing program accredited by ACEN or CCNE, or another qualifying nursing 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; a Graduate Nurse Technician temporary appointment exception is described for eligible candidates pursuing licensure.
• Meet the education and professional nursing experience requirements for the assigned Nurse grade and level, which vary by grade and include qualifying ADN, BSN, MSN, or doctoral education and, where applicable, specialized nursing experience.
• U.S. citizenship, except that non-citizens may be appointed when qualified citizens cannot be recruited in accordance with VA policy.
• Pass required pre-employment urinalysis, background/security investigation, and physical evaluation/examination.
• Participate in the seasonal influenza vaccination program.
• Complete the required online onboarding and application requirements.
• Physical ability to perform nursing duties that may include prolonged walking, standing, or sitting; moderate lifting; repeated bending or kneeling; and assisting Veterans while standing.

Nice To Haves

• Recent experience as a hospital-based nurse educator.
• Nursing Professional Development (NPD) certification.
• Experience working in a Community Living Center (CLC) or with a geriatric or hospice population.
• Master of Science in Nursing (MSN).

Responsibilities

• Assess learning needs and plan, implement, and evaluate education and training for clinical staff.
• Provide educational instruction and training for nursing staff in clinical and outpatient units.
• Support individual growth and development in practice, including self-direction and critical-thinking skills.
• Apply instructional design and adapt learning strategies to assessed learning needs.
• Assist with new-employee orientation, evaluate progress, and develop and implement learning plans to address identified deficiencies.
• Serve as a trainer and consultant for the Resuscitation Education Initiative (Redi) Program, including serving as a Basic Life Support (BLS) instructor.
• Monitor and track BLS and Advanced Life Support (ALS) compliance within the organization.
• Collaborate with interdisciplinary teams to support and evaluate facility emergency responses, including BLS and ALS responses.
• Organize, participate in, and evaluate mock codes.
• Support nurse residency programs, including curriculum development using simulation, lectures, case studies, and virtual reality.
• Develop entry-level coaching and mentoring skills.
• Evaluate current practice systematically and formulate outcomes for patient groups or organizational processes within the area of expertise.
• Collaborate with Professional Development Specialists and interprofessional healthcare teams on in-services, training, competency assessments, and evaluations of current and new staff nursing skills.
• Review nursing literature and evidence-based research for new trends and changes; propose practice and documentation revisions based on evaluation of outcomes.
• Collaborate with leadership and unit managers to identify staff education needs and support competence, critical thinking, and decision-making.
• Use innovative teaching strategies, assessment skills, and evaluation of outcomes.

Benefits

• Competitive salary, regular salary increases, and potential performance awards.
• 50 days of paid time off per year: 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 up to 5% in VA contributions.
• Federal health, vision, dental, term life, and long-term care insurance; many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement.
• Federal employee benefits package, subject to position eligibility.

What This Job Offers

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