Advanced Practice Nurse (Nurse Practitioner) - Primary Care

Summary

This is an OPEN CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT and will remain open until September 30, 2027. The initial cut-off date for referral of eligible applications and subsequent cut-off dates are on the 1st of each month. Eligible applications received after that date will be referred at regular intervals or as additional vacancies occur on an as-needed basis until positions are filled

Duties

Located in the city's historic Southside district, the Birmingham VA Medical Center (BVAMC) is a 313-bed acute tertiary care facility providing medical and surgical services to Veterans across Alabama and neighboring states. Serving as a regional referral center, the BVAMC currently operates 139 beds and offers care across nearly all medical and surgical specialties and subspecialties. Most staff physicians hold joint appointments with the VA and its primary academic affiliate, the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The BVAMC also operates nine community-based outpatient clinics across North Alabama. VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package: VA Nurse Total Rewards. This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific eligibility requirements per VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) & eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after review of the EDRP application. Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply. Learn more. Pay: 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: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement). Licensure: 1 full and unrestricted license from any US State or territory. Major Duties/Responsibilities for this position include but are not limited to: The Nurse Practitioner (NP) is an advanced practice registered nurse that works under a Scope of Practice and has prescriptive authority to diagnose and treat acute and chronic health problems. The NP follows established guidelines to provide coordinated health care to the adult and geriatric population. The NP performs independently or in collaboration with the provider to carry out the plan of care for the Veteran. He/she appropriately delegates to other Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT) members, but is responsible for diagnosing and treating medical problems, care coordination to higher level of care, and making complex clinical decisions. The NP will serve as the leader of the PACT teamlet, that consists of an RN, LPN/Clinical Associate, and Advanced Medical Support Assistant (AMSA). The NP optimizes care delivery and provides care to patients with acute problems, patients undergoing transitions of care, and patients with chronic conditions who would benefit in developing and performing self-management skills for chronic conditions especially diabetes, hypertension, CHF, hyperlipidemia, pain, and depression. The NP utilizes motivational interviewing techniques to facilitate patient development of patient driven goals for health optimization and will be required to attend a formal Motivational Interviewing course. The NP must demonstrate leadership in delivering and improving holistic care by utilizing health promotion and disease prevention and whole health strategies. The NP uses face to face, telephone, and video virtual care visits, and secure messaging, to provide care to patients. The NP develops the appropriate plan of care and tracks patient outcomes to determine if interventions are effective. The NP will document timely, appropriately, and effectively in the medical record; ensure the patient's care plan contains medical recommendations for clinically indicated care; and communicate test results and plans of care to patients or ensure this is accomplished by clinical support staff in a timely and effective manner. The NP performs clinical assessments; triages face to face or virtually; in collaboration with the patient to identify goals for optimizing health; provides patient/family education to improve outcomes, evaluates patient's progress or lack of progress toward achieving goals; and performs case management activities and care coordination activities for those patients assigned to the team who require those services. The NP will participate in team performance improvement and sustainment activities to optimize team efficiency and care delivery; provide leadership to the PACT including shared delegation of appropriate care and care processes to appropriate team members. The NP will report directly to the Primary Care Director and/or Associate Chief of Staff of Primary Care. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM or 7:30am -4:00pm. Subject to change based on the needs of the agency.

Qualifications

Advanced Practice Nurse (Nurse Practitioner) Basic Requirements Education: A post-master's certificate or master's or doctoral degree as a Nurse Practitioner. (Applicants pending the completion of educational requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until the education requirements are met.) Must be a 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). NOTE: Foreign Education. Graduates of foreign schools of professional nursing programs, the nurse practitioner degree equivalency must be validated through an Agency recognized degree equivalency evaluation agency, such as the International Consultants of Delaware (ICD). Candidates with equivalent nurse practitioner masters or doctorate level degrees who possess current, full, active, and unrestricted registration and certification will meet the requirement of graduation from an approved school of professional nursing to warrant appointment. License - All APN (NPs) must possess and maintain an active, current, full, and unrestricted APN license to practice as an NP in a State, Territory or Commonwealth of the United States, or in the District of Columbia. Basic Board Certification - All APN (NPs) must maintain full and current basic board certification in one of the following: Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP), Adult Nurse Practitioner (ANP), Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner (AGPCNP), or Gerontology Nurse Practitioner (GNP) from one of the following: the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board (AANPCB), or other nationally recognized certifying body in the area in which the Nurse Practitioner is academically prepared. NOTE: Grandfathering Provision - All persons currently employed in VHA in 0610 series and an APN (NP) assignment that are also performing the duties as described in the qualification standard on the effective date of the standard (1/29/2024) are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the grade held including positive education and licensure/certification. The following Scope, Education and Experience, and Dimension criteria must be met to qualify for Advanced Practice Nurse (Nurse Practitioner) II: Exception to Licensure for Graduate Nurse Technicians. Candidates who otherwise meet the basic requirements, but do not possess the required licensure and/or certification, may be appointed at the entry step of the Nurse II, as a Graduate Nurse Technician - Nurse Practitioner on a temporary appointment up to an