Associate Chief Nurse - Ambulatory Care (PACT)

About the role

The Associate Chief Nurse (ACN) for Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT) is responsible for executing leadership that is characterized by substantial and continuous responsibility and accountability for population groups or integrated programs that cross services and/or discipline lines. They provide senior leadership and oversight for daily clinical and administrative operations within nursing as directed by the Associate Director for Patient Care Services (ADPCS).

Responsibilities

• Supports the integration and collaboration of nursing with other professional disciplines and functional areas in the mutual achievement of patient-centered and organizational goals.
• Champions a High Reliability Organization (HRO) with a lifestyle of safety founded on a systems approach to developing evidence-based health care solutions based on prevention, not punishment, with collective mindfulness.
• Collaborates with interdisciplinary team members, including other program and service leaders at the facility and network.
• Assists the ADPCS with healthcare operations and the functions and activities expected of them.
• Ensures the delivery of nursing care to Veteran patients and manages nursing personnel within Patient Aligned Care Team programs.
• Collaborates with and provides leadership in the assessment, development, implementation, and evaluation of comprehensive programming.
• Manages resources within assigned area of responsibility, including assessing and recommending the allocations of human and material resources, determining staffing levels, managing overtime, and recruitment and retention of nursing staff.
• May include duties such as direct patient care, utilizing safe patient handling and mobility protocols, and potentially long periods of walking, standing, sitting, moderate lifting, repeated bending, or kneeling.
• May require flexibility in schedule and assignments, and travel between all affiliated clinics in the surrounding area 25% of the time.

Requirements

• English Language Proficiency: No person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English.
• Education: Master's degree in Nursing (MSN) and 4 years of professional nursing experience, one of which is specialized nursing experience equivalent to Nurse III and meets all dimension requirements for Nurse IV; OR Master's degree in a related field with a BSN and 4 years of professional nursing experience, one of which is specialized nursing experience equivalent to Nurse III and meets all dimension requirements for Nurse IV; OR a Doctoral degree in nursing and 3 years of professional nursing experience, one of which is specialized nursing experience equivalent to Nurse III and meets all dimension requirements for Nurse IV; OR a Doctoral degree in a related field with a BSN and 3 years of professional nursing experience, one of which is specialized nursing experience equivalent to Nurse III and meets all dimension requirements for Nurse IV.
• Physical Requirements: Pre-placement evaluation Required. However, incidental drivers shall undergo a standard Pre-Placement examination and periodic medical evaluation at least once every 4 years to ensure that employees who operate government owned or leased vehicles are medically able to do so without undo risk to themselves or others.

Qualifications

• Basic Requirements: Graduate of a school of professional nursing approved by the appropriate 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); OR Individuals attending a master's level bridge program in nursing who have completed coursework equivalent to a bachelor's level degree in Nursing may have opportunity to become registered as a nurse with a state licensing board prior to completion of the bridge program. Upon achievement of a State license, the individual may be appointed on temporary basis and later converted to a permanent appointment upon successful completion and graduation from the bridge program. (Reference VA Handbook 5005, Appendix G6); OR In cases of graduates of foreign schools of professional nursing, possession of a current, full, active, and unrestricted registration will meet the requirement for graduation from an approved school of professional nursing to warrant an appointment as a Nurse who has completed an associated degree/entry level Nursing education program. Credit for foreign nursing education higher that associate degree/entry level requires a formal degree equivalency validation from a recognized equivalency evaluation accepted by VA such as International Consultants of Delaware (ICD).
• 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.

Pay and Benefits

• Competitive salary, regular salary increases, potential for performance awards
• Paid Time Off: 50 days of paid time off per year (26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year)
• Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA Insurance
• Licensure: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)
• Work Schedule: 8:00am-4:30pm, Monday-Friday
• Telework: Ad-Hoc
• Virtual: This is not a virtual position.