Licensed Practical Nurse- Home Based Primary Care

At the Bismarck VA, the Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) supports Home-Based Primary Care (HBPC) for adult and geriatric Veterans with diverse physical, mental, behavioral, and psychological needs. Working independently and collaboratively, the LPN delivers complex nursing care, coordinates services, supports daily program operations, and helps ensure Veterans and their families receive safe, respectful, and responsive care.

Join a collaborative Home-Based Primary Care team where you will provide complex nursing support for adult and geriatric Veterans while helping coordinate the daily operations of the program. This position offers a unique blend of direct patient care, care coordination, program support, data management, and interdisciplinary teamwork, allowing you to build meaningful relationships with Veterans and their families while contributing to high-quality care delivery and program success.

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Major Duties include, but are not limited to: Provides complex nursing care for adult and geriatric Veterans with physical, mental, behavioral, and psychological needs. Receives and triages calls from Veterans, families, caregivers, and medical center staff and directs concerns to the appropriate team members. Coordinates referrals, communicates referral information to the care team, and supports completion of referral processes.

Collaborates with outside agencies and care team members to obtain and communicate information necessary for patient care coordination. Creates and maintains patient information databases, compiles reports, manages data across systems, and utilizes computer applications to support program operations. Conducts medical record reviews and monitors compliance with Home-Based Primary Care policies and procedures. Recognizes urgent or emergent patient care situations, promptly seeks assistance from the Registered Nurse or provider, and supports appropriate interventions.

Provides mentorship to staff regarding technology use, computerized documents, data management workflows, and nursing practice support. Promotes patient privacy, dignity, customer service, environmental stewardship, and effective communication with Veterans, families, caregivers, and interdisciplinary team members. Operates a Government-Owned Vehicle to transport mail, office supplies, information technology equipment, and other program-related materials and assists with vehicle maintenance coordination.

Travels to VA facilities and other authorized locations to retrieve and transport mail, office supplies, information technology (IT) equipment and supplies, and other program-related materials. Transports vehicles to and from scheduled maintenance or repairs, and transports staff as needed in support of fleet management activities. These duties occur approximately 1-5 times per week and are necessary to support efficient program operations Work Schedule: Full time; Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not authorized Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases. When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade). Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year).

Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience. Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child. Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66.

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) Telework: Not available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized Physical Requirements: This position requires some degree of fitness, strength, and agility.

Duties require extensive periods of standing and walking. Working with patients requires regular and recurring bending, lifting, stooping, stretching, pushing, pulling, lifting arm overhead, and similar activities. Assessment must be made for any acute or chronic medical/physical condition or medication use which interferes with the ability operate the appropriate Government-owned or -leased vehicle safely and without undue risk to themselves or others.

The following requirements must be met: distant vision 20/40 in one eye with or without correction; field of vision 70 degrees, ability to distinguish red, green and amber; whispered voice at five feet, or average hearing loss of not greater than 40 dbs. at 500, 1000 and 2,000 Hz. Questions about physical demands or environmental factors may be addressed at the time of evaluation or examination.

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met. Basic Requirements: United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. Education: Graduate of a school of practical or vocational nursing approved by the appropriate State agency and/or the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (Formerly: National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission).

See "Education" section for additional requirements and exceptions. Licensure: Full, active, current, and unrestricted licensure as a licensed practical or vocational nurse in a State, Territory or Commonwealth (i.e., Puerto Rico) of the United States, or District of Columbia. Physical Standards: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019. 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).

May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria). Grade Determinations: The GS-7 grade level is for select, complex LPN/LVN positions, as established by each health care facility. To qualify for the GS-7 level, a candidate must have at least three (3) years of experience as an LPN/LVN maintaining acceptable standards within a health care setting under the direction of a registered nurse (RN) or physician (MD/DO).

This experience must include completion of at least one (1) year of experience at the GS-6 level or equivalent, fully meeting all of the performance requirements for the GS-6 LPN/LVN. In addition, candidates must demonstrate the following GS-7 level Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs): Knowledge and skills necessary to carry out more specialized patient care duties, including assignments in selected, more complex inpatient and/or outpatient care settings.

Knowledge base promotes the incorporation of current patient care data in actively contributing to the development of the patient's overall health plan and in carrying out assigned nursing interventions. Positions at this grade level require broader knowledge and skills because supervision is more general and employees are expected to be involved to a greater degree in the development and modification of treatment plans.

Ability to assist RN and/or MD/DO to appropriately prioritize overall patient care needs and adjust plans for care delivery. Makes astute observations of subtle, less obvious changes, both physical and emotional, in patient's condition, and accurately and thoroughly documents care delivered and patient's response to care that could require immediate modification of the patient's care plan. Appropriately seeks assistance and guidance by informing RN or MD/DO of changes in patient's condition requiring higher-level intervention.

At this grade level, the LPN/LVN is expected to participate to a greater degree in prioritizing, and, as appropriate, modifying patient care treatment. They must also possess the ability to observe more subtle physical and emotional changes in patients and demonstrate taking appropriate action based on those observations. Ability to proactively assist the RN or MD/DO in addressing patient's needs for medication/treatments, accurately administering prescribed medications/treatments according to established policies/procedures and appropriately recording administration and patient's response to medications/treatments received.

(This may include restricted medication locally authorized for administration by employees at this grade level.) Demonstrates the knowledge and ability to readily recognize the more subtle signs and symptoms of potential or actual drug reactions, promptly inform the RN or MD/DO of observed changes in patient's condition and initiate appropriate, prescribed interventions. Employees at this grade level demonstrate broader knowledge and skill with respect to these responsibilities than employees at lower grade levels.

Knowledge and skill to promptly recognize potential urgent or emergent patient care situations, seek assistance of the RN and/or MD/DO for appropriate team intervention and effectively intervene, as directed, to assure the continuation of optimal, safe and therapeutic patient care delivery. At this grade level, the LPN/LVN must have a broader knowledge of the patient treatment process and exercise judgment that demonstrates the ability to effectively intervene when appropriate.

Assists individuals or groups of patients and their families to take an active role in promoting healthy lifestyles for more positive patient outcomes. Exercises skill in influencing and communicating with unusually difficult to care for or communicate with patients and/or family members who may exhibit problems with lack of self-control, resistant or abusive behaviors, or impediments in their ability to understand or follow instructions.

This includes the ability to effectively deal with the above types of patients under very general supervision. Exhibits skill, creativity and initiative in contributing to the improvement of overall care delivery and patient and/or family satisfaction levels through active participation in committees/task forces, research projects or in developing educational materials/media. Actively promotes and effectively incorporates established customer service standards in all aspects of their practice.

Possesses comprehensive practical nursing knowledge and skills in specialized procedures and practices to serve as a resource person for other staff in organizing and implementing more complex/specialized patient care. Serves as a role model and mentor to other nursing staff in the application of more complex technology, effectively guiding and directing their continuing practice in these areas. Supports the RN or MD/DO in monitoring the practice of unlicensed nursing or non-medical staff in patient care delivery.

Promptly reports any deviations from normal practice patterns to the RN or MD/DO. In addition to responsibilities at the lower grade level, the LPN/LVN is responsible for monitoring the practice of non-licensed nursing and medical staff. Work of considerable difficulty and responsibility is performed under general supervision. Individuals in these positions are, to a considerable extent, expected to exercise independent technical judgments and to possess and apply a comprehensive working knowledge of the principles, art and science of practical nursing.

The staff mix is such that employees at this grade level are expected to perform practical nursing duties of considerable difficulty and responsibility under very general supervision. Actively seeks out educational opportunities to enhance nursing knowledge and skills and providing leadership in assisting other staff improve and advance their nursing practice. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-7. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-7 to GS-7. Driver's License: This position requires the ability to operate a government vehicle and the ability to travel for 2 continuous hours in a vehicle. Physical Requirements: You will be asked to participate in a pre-employment examination or evaluation as part of the pre-employment process for this position.

Questions about physical demands or environmental factors may be addressed at the time of evaluation or examination.