Registered Nurse - Patient Aligned Care Team

Veterans Health Administration • Washington, DC

1d • Onsite

About The Position

The Registered Nurse (RN) provides professional, evidence-based nursing care to Veterans at the Washington, DC VA Medical Center, a tertiary-care, Complexity Level 1B interdisciplinary teaching facility. The RN works within the Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT) to provide patient-centered, comprehensive, continuous care in accordance with VA policies, procedures, and nursing practice standards. Depending on grade and proficiency level, the position involves progressively advanced clinical practice, coordination, leadership, and management of complex patient care.

The PACT RN Care Manager works as an integral member of a Teamlet comprising the patient, Primary Care Provider, RN Care Manager, and Clinical Support Technician. The nurse collaborates with patients, families, caregivers, interdisciplinary team members, and internal and community-based providers to develop and implement individualized, patient-driven care plans. Care management includes health education and self-management support, continuity of care, coordination of transitions between VA and non-VA services, and effective communication of patient needs and treatment plans.

At advanced levels, the nurse demonstrates clinical leadership, participates in performance improvement, quality assurance, and customer service activities, and applies patient characteristics such as age, developmental stage, health status, culture, socioeconomic circumstances, values, and beliefs to care planning. The Nurse III provides advanced nursing care and professional guidance, including assessment, clinical judgment, care planning and evaluation, case management, counseling, disease prevention, health promotion, supportive and restorative care, and administration of prescribed medications and treatments. The nurse is accountable for clinical decisions, patient advocacy, care coordination, and safe, effective, evidence-based nursing services, with a primary professional commitment to the patient in accordance with the ANA Code of Ethics.

Requirements

• Proficiency in basic written and spoken English.
• Graduation from an appropriately accredited school of professional nursing, or qualifying education under the stated bridge-program or foreign-education provisions.
• Current, full, active, and unrestricted registered professional nurse licensure in a U.S. State, Territory, or Commonwealth, or the District of Columbia; a temporary Graduate Nurse Technician appointment may be available under the stated exception.
• Meet the education, experience, and scope requirements for the applicable Nurse grade and level.
• U.S. citizenship, except that non-citizens may be appointed when recruitment of qualified citizens is not possible under VA policy.
• Pass a pre-employment physical evaluation or examination.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program.
• Satisfy applicable background and security investigation, onboarding, identification, and other pre-employment requirements.
• For Nurse I Level I: ADN or nursing diploma; no additional professional nursing experience required.
• For Nurse I Level II: ADN or diploma plus one year of specialized nursing experience equivalent to Nurse I Level I, or BSN with no additional professional nursing experience.
• For Nurse I Level III: ADN or diploma plus two years of professional nursing experience, including one year equivalent to Nurse I Level II; or BSN plus one year equivalent to Nurse I Level II; or MSN or qualifying related-field master’s degree with BSN, with no additional experience.
• For Nurse II: BSN plus two years of professional nursing experience equivalent to Nurse I Level III; or MSN or qualifying related-field master’s degree with BSN plus one year of specialized experience equivalent to Nurse I Level III; or qualifying doctoral degree with no additional professional nursing experience.
• For Nurse III: MSN or qualifying related-field master’s degree with BSN plus two years of specialized nursing experience, including one year equivalent to Nurse II and meeting Nurse III dimension requirements; or qualifying doctoral degree with BSN plus one year of specialized experience equivalent to Nurse II and meeting Nurse III dimension requirements.

Nice To Haves

• BSN with three years of PACT experience.
• Five years of prior acute or critical care experience.

Responsibilities

• Provide professional, evidence-based nursing care to Veterans in accordance with VA policies, procedures, and clinical practice standards.
• Use the nursing process to assess patients, exercise clinical judgment, plan and implement care, and evaluate patient responses.
• Collaborate with patients and the PACT Teamlet, interdisciplinary team members, families, caregivers, and internal and community-based healthcare providers.
• Develop and implement individualized, patient-driven, holistic care plans that account for patient characteristics and circumstances.
• Coordinate patient care, communicate treatment needs, manage healthcare resources, and facilitate continuity of care and transitions between VA and non-VA services.
• Promote health education, self-management, patient counseling, disease prevention, and health promotion.
• Provide case management and supportive and restorative nursing care.
• Administer medications and treatments prescribed or authorized by licensed healthcare providers.
• Advocate for patients and make accountable clinical decisions to support safe and effective care.
• Participate in unit- and service-level performance improvement, quality assurance, and customer service activities.
• Promote the medical center’s mission, vision, and values and support EEO initiatives, partnerships, and customer service standards.

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 contributions by VA.
• 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: Entry Level
• Education Level: Associate degree