Registered Nurse - Clinical Nurse Educator

Summary

The Clinical Nurse Educator (CNE), Registered Nurse, serves within the Veterans Affairs Washington DC Health Care System. The CNE is responsible for assessing, planning, implementing, and evaluating educational programs and learning needs for clinical staff throughout the organization. The RN applies adult-learning principles, innovative teaching strategies, assessment methods, and outcome evaluation to promote staff development, clinical competency, and safe, high-quality Veteran care.

Duties

Duties of the Clinical Nurse Educator include, but are not limited to: Assesses, plans, implements, and evaluates educational needs and programs designed to promote clinical staff development, competency, and skill acquisition. Provides evidence-based education, instruction, and training to nursing staff assigned to clinical and outpatient units. Applies principles of adult learning and instructional design and uses innovative teaching strategies based on identified learner and organizational needs. Conducts learning-needs assessments and develops educational programs and training to address identified clinical staff needs. Assists with orientation of new employees, evaluates progress throughout the orientation process, and develops and implements individualized learning plans to address identified deficiencies. Serves as a trainer and consultant for the Resuscitation Education Initiative Program, including serving as a Basic Life Support (BLS) instructor. Monitors and tracks organizational compliance with Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Life Support (ALS) requirements. Collaborates with the interdisciplinary healthcare team to support and evaluate responses to emergency events within the facility, including BLS and ALS responses. Organizes, participates in, and evaluates mock-code activities to support emergency preparedness and clinical competency. Supports nurse residency programs, including curriculum development utilizing learning methodologies such as simulation, lectures, case studies, and virtual reality. Provides coaching, mentoring, precepting, and teaching to support the professional development and clinical competency of nursing staff. Collaborates with other Clinical Nurse Educators and interprofessional healthcare teams to conduct ongoing clinical education activities, including in-services, training, competency assessments, and evaluations of current and newly hired nursing staff. Reviews current nursing literature, evidence-based research, and emerging clinical trends and recommends appropriate revisions to nursing practice and documentation based on evaluation of outcomes. Collaborates with leadership and unit managers to identify staff education and training needs and supports activities that promote clinical competence, critical thinking, and effective decision-making. Analyzes, interprets, and evaluates data to determine educational program outcomes and identify opportunities for program improvement. Provides consultation and professional nursing expertise through participation on organizational committees and interdisciplinary initiatives. Leads educational initiatives and supports the professional growth of others through mentoring, precepting, teaching, and knowledge sharing. Integrates evidence-based practice and research with clinical expertise to improve quality of care, resource utilization, and outcomes within the practice setting. Participates in quality improvement activities through monitoring, analyzing, and evaluating outcomes and identifying opportunities to improve clinical practice and care delivery. Promotes effective communication, teamwork, collaboration, patient safety, and a professional learning environment consistent with VA policies, procedures, and standards. Maintains required education and competencies and participates in ongoing orientation, mandatory education, competency assessment, and validation. BLS is required for the position. Supports continued accreditation readiness, including compliance with standards of care, documentation, safety, infection control, privacy, and performance-improvement requirements. Performs other duties as assigned. VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package: VA Nurse Total Rewards 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 Work Schedule: To be determined based on the needs of the service. Work schedules may require flexibility, including rotation of tours or non-administrative tours, as established by the immediate supervisor. Telework: AD-HOC as needed by the agency. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Qualifications

Basic Requirements: English Language Proficiency. In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7403(f), no person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English. 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. Graduate Nurse Technician (GNT) Exception: Candidates who otherwise meet the basic education requirements, but do not possess the required licensure, may be appointed at the entry step of the grade and level applicable to the completed nursing education as a GNT on a 120-day temporary appointment while actively pursuing licensure (may be extended up to two years on a case-by-case-basis.) NOTE: Grandfathering Provision - All persons currently employed in VHA in 0610 series and 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. Grade Determinations: The following Scope, Education and Dimension criteria must be met in determining the grade assignment of candidates, and if appropriate, the level within a grade. The Dimension requirements (Practice, Veteran/Patient Driven Care, Lead