Registered Nurse (Risk Manager)

Veterans Health Administration • San Antonio, TX

10d • Onsite

About The Position

This position is located at the Audie L. Murphy Memorial Veterans' Hospital in San Antonio, Texas, in the Office of Quality and Patient Safety. It reports to the Chief of Quality and Risk Management. The Risk Manager minimizes the likelihood of adverse risk to patients, personnel, and visitors and protects facility assets by identifying, reporting, trending, reviewing, and correcting problems that may lead to incidents.

The role supports Veterans and Active Duty Service members with complex healthcare needs. Depending on grade and level, duties include reviewing occurrences and episodes of care, identifying significant deviations and negative outcomes that may merit peer review, coordinating record-review findings with the STX Suicide Prevention team, and evaluating clinical performance using internal and external monitoring data. The Risk Manager communicates findings to clinical and senior leaders and facilitates recommendations for system or resource changes.

At higher grade levels, the position independently plans and delivers technically competent practice, serves as a subject matter expert to leadership, supports internal review systems, and helps ensure clinical and administrative activities meet accrediting and regulatory requirements. The role may lead nursing practice, professional development, quality improvement, educational initiatives, and integration of readiness activities such as Accreditation, Patient Safety, EPRP, OPPE, and System Redesign.

The work schedule is Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Central Time. Telework is ad hoc and subject to agency determination; this is not a virtual position. The work is primarily sedentary, with some movement between work areas and possible travel to meetings or conferences. The employee may need to walk or stand and lift or carry light items weighing less than 15 pounds.

Requirements

• Proficiency in basic written and spoken English.
• Graduation from an appropriately accredited school of professional nursing, or an applicable qualifying nursing education pathway described in the announcement.
• Current, full, active, and unrestricted registered nurse licensure in a U.S. state, territory, commonwealth, or the District of Columbia, subject to the stated Graduate Nurse Technician exception.
• Education and professional nursing experience must meet the applicable Nurse grade and level requirements; these vary by grade and include ADN, BSN, MSN, or doctoral education and specified experience where applicable.
• U.S. citizenship is required, except where appointment of a non-citizen is permitted under VA policy when qualified citizens cannot be recruited.
• Applicants tentatively selected for a testing-designated position must undergo urinalysis for illegal drug use.
• Selective Service registration is required for males born after December 31, 1959.
• Must be able to complete background/security investigation, onboarding, and pre-employment physical evaluation/examination.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is required for VA Health Care Personnel.
• Must complete the application requirements listed in the announcement's Required Documents section.
• Nursing degree programs used to meet qualification requirements must be accredited by ACEN or CCNE; foreign education requires the specified equivalency validation.
• Physical work may involve walking or standing, moving between offices or facilities, travel to meetings or conferences, and lifting or carrying items weighing less than 15 pounds.

Nice To Haves

• Bachelor's or master's degree.
• Two years of recent experience in a risk management role.
• Two years of recent experience with peer review and tort claims.
• Experience performing detailed audits and identifying, analyzing, and mitigating risks affecting patient safety, staff safety, and organizational performance.
• Experience developing, implementing, and sustaining corrective actions to meet accreditation standards and other regulatory requirements.
• Two years of recent Risk Management or Protected Peer Review experience.

Responsibilities

• Review occurrences and episodes of care to monitor and evaluate healthcare quality and identify opportunities for improvement.
• Identify significant deviations from morbidity and mortality data and negative outcomes that may merit peer review.
• Coordinate record-review findings with the STX Suicide Prevention team.
• Use clinical knowledge and monitoring data to evaluate clinical performance and communicate findings to clinical and senior leadership.
• Identify, report, trend, review, and help correct problems that may lead to incidents.
• Facilitate recommendations for system and resource changes to improve workforce and resource utilization.
• Apply the nursing process to plan, deliver, and evaluate care and professional practice, as appropriate to grade and level.
• Serve as a subject matter expert to leadership on the peer review process and support internal review systems.
• Help ensure clinical and administrative activities comply with agency accrediting and regulatory requirements.
• Partner with Quality, Safety, and Value staff and functions to integrate readiness activities, including Accreditation, Patient Safety, EPRP, OPPE, and System Redesign.
• Lead improvement and educational initiatives that support evidence-based or data-driven outcomes beyond the immediate practice setting.
• Provide peers with constructive feedback and foster a safe, supportive environment for professional development.

Benefits

• Competitive salary and regular salary increases.
• 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.
• Federal 401(k), with VA contributions of up to 5%.
• Federal health, vision, dental, term life, and long-term care insurance; many federal insurance programs may be carried into retirement.

What This Job Offers

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