Summary

Deputy Associate Director For Patient Care Services position is in Assoc Dir, Patient Care service at the VA Connecticut Medical Center, located at the West Haven campus location. This position is a full-time at 40 hours per week.

Duties

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Deputy Associate Director for Patient Care Services (DADPCS) is an advanced healthcare executive who demonstrates leadership, experience, and creative approaches to ensure the continuous and timely availability of quality nursing practice in a variety of complex patient care services and programs. They function as an executive administrator and consultant to the Associate Director for Patient Care Services (ADPCS) to improve care for large groups of Veterans through their influence and collaboration for decisions made at the local, regional, and network levels. This position will serve as the acting ADPCS in the absence of the ADPCS.

The scope of the DADPCS is of an executive nature, comprised of complex leadership and administrative components associated with critical health care issues and activities that influence the organizational mission, health care, and policy (VA Handbook 5005, PartII, Appendix G6.). They are accountable to the ADPCS and are an integral part of the senior leadership team.

The DADPCS is a member of the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) and a healthcare executive within nursing services. The incumbent is a spokesperson for organized nursing services and works to ensure the integration and collaboration of nursing with other professional disciplines and functional areas in the mutual achievement of optimal Veteran centered organizational goals in the facility. The DADPCS works closely with the ADPCS as a collaborator and partner in strategic planning, organization assessment, and program development. They have the responsibility to assist with the establishment of standards for the practice of nursing at the health care system level to ensure the continuous and timely availability of quality nursing services.

The DADPCS is responsible for the practice of nursing 24/7. This includes all registered nurses, advanced practice nurses, and allied health staff (LPNs, NAs, etc.) regardless of line authority. They have line authority over the Associate Chief Nurses(ACN) and may have additional duties assigned to them by the ADPCS. The incumbent exercises preliminary approval for the following: job descriptions, policies, and procedures; standards of patient care, treatment, and services; nursing practice standards; staffing plans; functional statements; and standards to measure, assess, and improve patient outcomes. The incumbent appropriately delegates activities to services assigned to them under the purview of the ADPCS.

The DADPCS ensures a competency process is in place to evaluate individual practice, as well as a review process for annual performance ratings. The DADPCS promotes shared decision-making to ensure a healthy work environment for nursing; a spirit of inquiry and the use of evidence-based practice; and an academic environment supportive of education and research to promote the profession of nursing. The incumbent champions a High Reliability Organization (HRO) founded on a collective mindfulness approach to develop evidence-based health care solutions that promote a culture or prevention and safety.

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: Monday through Friday 7:30 am-4:00 pm, but must be available 24 hours a day/7 days a week

Telework: Ad Hoc at the discretion of the supervisor

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Financial Disclosure Report: Required, selectee must file a financial disclosure report, OGE Form 450, within 30 days of onboarding and then annually.

Notifications:

• This position is not a Bargaining Unit position.
• Selectee may be required to work at any VA Connecticut Healthcare System campus, as needed.
• Current and former Federal employees must submit copies of their most recent SF-50 (Notice of Personnel Action). The SF-50 must identify the position title, series, grade, step, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). In some cases, more than one SF-50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held.
• This position is in the Excepted Service.
• The salary is based on the grade and step approved for the selected candidate.

Requirements

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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.

The following Scope, Education and Dimension criteria must be met to qualify for Nurse V:

• Scope: Practice of an executive nature, comprised of complex leadership and administrative components, associated with critical health care issues and activities that drive meeting the organizational mission, health care and policy.
• Education: Master's degree in Nursing (MSN) and 5 years of professional nursing experience, one of which is specialized nursing experience equivalent to Nurse IV and meets all dimension requirements for Nurse V; OR Master's degree in a *related field with a BSN and 5 years of professional nursing experience, one of which is specialized nursing experience equivalent to Nurse IV and meets all dimension requirements for Nurse V; OR a Doctoral degree in Nursing and 4 years of professional nursing experience, one of which is specialized nursing experience equivalent to Nurse IV and meets all dimension requirements for Nurse V; OR a Doctoral 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 IV and meets all dimension requirements for Nurse V. *Note: Foreign education programs/degrees are not creditable as related degrees.
• Dimension Requirements:
  
  • Leadership. Establishes the strategic direction for health care delivery, evidence-based practices, industry-leading research, and innovative care models. Creates a shared vision and successfully leads change to improve performance and attain measurable outcomes at the organization or enterprise level.
  • Business Acumen. Transforms health care through the application of new processes, technology, informatics, data analytics, business principles, systems thinking and resource management at the organization or enterprise level.
  • Inspiring an Industry-Leading Lifestyle. Establishes an industry leading, shared decision-making lifestyle; a workforce that serves Veterans, families, and caregivers of all backgrounds; builds trust and lifestyle competencies and catalyzes dynamic teams at the organization and enterprise level.
  • Communication and Relationship Management. Drives the effective use of relationship management principles to achieve positive customer service experiences that are consistent with professional and organizational values, beliefs, and practices at the organizational or enterprise level.
  • Professional and Social Responsibility. Sets the standard for a lifestyle of holistic care, health advocacy and health equity. Applies ethical principles in decision-making at the organization or enterprise level. Advances nursing knowledge through health science research and the translation and dissemination of evidence into practice to maximize the value to Veterans, the community, and the health care industry.

Preferred Experience:

• Progressive and sustained Leadership Growth in inpatient and outpatient settings;
• Resource Utilization and Workforce Optimization with measurable results;
• Enterprise Systems Thinking and Perspective with data drive outcomes;
• Committee and/or Shared Governance Leadership
• National Specialty Certification such as Nurse Executive-Advanced Certification (NEA-BC), Nurse Executive Certification(NE-BC) or specialty certification preferred.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

Physical Requirements: Registered Nurses should be physically and mentally capable to perform duties of the position. The position requires walking, standing or sitting for periods of up to 8 hours.

Education

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

The Associate Degree Nursing (ADN), Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing (BSN), or Master of Science degree in Nursing (MSN) must be fully accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) or the Commission On Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). Verification of accreditation may be obtained from http://www.acenursing.us/accreditedprograms/programsearch.htm or https://directory.ccnecommunity.org/reports/accprog.asp.

-If your school has changed names, or is no longer in existence, you must provide this information in your application.

- If your school was accredited by ACEN or CCNE at the time of graduation, but is no longer listed on the websites, you must provide documentation of accreditation with your application pack