Licensed Practical Nurse - Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT)

Responsibilities

• Ongoing - continuous care of one or more assigned panel(s) of Veterans
• Utilizing all available tools - such as registries - to enable effective and efficient identification and intervention of individual patients and cohorts
• Ensuring appropriate evaluation and access is provided to patients assigned to the patient panel
• Functioning at the full extent of the team member's relevant clinical privileges - credentials - scopes of practice - elements of practice - certification - functional statement - position description - or other VHA or local facility approved documentation of competency
• Participating in team performance improvement and sustainment activities to optimize team efficiency and care delivery to patients
• Implementing primary care operations management processes - as appropriate
• Managing communications and facilitating safe transitions of patients between the PACT's site of care and other health care settings - using informal and formal communication methods - as appropriate
• Providing health education and health coaching on wellness - disease prevention - chronic care management - and self-management skills to patients and personal support persons - commensurate with the documented expertise or professional training of the PACT member
• Engaging patients in using health care - encouraging patients to engage personal support persons - receiving input from patients and personal support persons regarding VA care
• Using formal and informal communications that are respectful - effective - timely - and bidirectional with all team members (including the patient and personal support persons) to convey significant - clinically relevant information for the care of the patient
• Collaborating with informatics technology staff to develop and implement systematized - electronically supported - standardized - tools to support PACT care delivery processes (e.g. - pre-visit reminder calls - post-hospitalization follow-up calls - recall scheduling procedures - new patient orientation - disease registries and primary care protocols for chronic disease management)
• Providing evaluation and care consistent with licensure - certification - and functional statement with elements of practice - to patients assigned PACTs
• Collaborating with PACT staff to develop comprehensive health care plans and care management plans for patients assigned to patient panels
• Managing clinic workflow
• Ensuring patients are placed in examination rooms in a timely manner - and providing direction to patients as they move through the clinic environment

Requirements

• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy
• English Language Proficiency: Licensed practical or vocational nurses appointed to direct patient care positions must be proficient in both spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d) and 7407(d)
• Education: Graduate of a school of practical or vocational nursing approved by the appropriate State agency and/or accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) at the time the program was completed by the applicant. Exceptions include:
  • Health care education in the military service or training in the military service that is accepted by the licensing body in the jurisdiction in which licensed as qualifying for full LPN/LVN licensure meets the education requirements
  • Individuals granted a license by a jurisdiction that does not require graduation from an approved school
• Licensure: Full - active - current and unrestricted licensure as a licensed practical or vocational nurse in a State, Territory or Commonwealth of the US, or District of Columbia
• Grade Determinations:
  • GS-3: None beyond the basic requirements
  • GS-4: Six months of qualifying experience as an LPN or LVN OR Must have graduated from an approved school and one year of experience that involved nursing care work in a hospital, outpatient clinic, nursing home, or other supervised medical, nursing, or patient care facility that provided a practical knowledge of human body structure and sterile techniques and procedures OR Must have graduated from an approved school of at least 24 months duration. LPNs at the GS-4 grade level perform all duties expected