Registered nurse - patient safety manager

Summary

The Registered Nurse (RN) Patient Safety Manager (PSM) is responsible for utilizing the nursing process and practice principles to ensure the delivery of safe, high-quality, patient-centered care at the Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks (VHSO). The RN provides substantial and continuous responsibility for the oversight, coordination, implementation, and evaluation of the Patient Safety Program across all service lines and disciplines.

Duties

The RN is responsible for influencing the organizational culture in the continued mission to provide safe, quality healthcare to our veteran service population. RN is responsible for designing, implementing, and maintaining an organizational Patient Safety Program for the employees who contribute to patient care and activities. Duties include but are not limited to:

• Coordinates and implements patient safety policies and activities developed by the National Center for Patient Safety (NCPS) and is the facility's key person to help build and implement patient safety systems and promote safety within Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facilities and for Veteran patients in all healthcare setting.
• Coordinates patient safety efforts across all service lines and disciplines.
• Works with all levels of staff, including top-level management, Root Cause Analysis (RCA) team members, RCA team leaders, and RCA recorders.
• Collaborates with and directs patient safety activities of personnel within the facility, such as infection control professionals, risk managers, and quality managers, and is responsible for translating patient safety policies, theories, and strategies into action within the complex interrelationships that influence patient safety.
• Trains and implements patient safety and RCA processes for clinicians, management, and all relevant support personnel, including those at associated locations such as home-care operations.
• Maintains clear communication between VHSO and NCPS, sharing relevant patient safety information, lessons learned, and national updates that have potential impact beyond the local level.
• Performs duties contributing to the administrative management of the healthcare delivery system, applying specialized principles and practices of healthcare management to support the safe operations of the organization.
• Supports facility leadership in planning, organization, development, direction, and evaluation of the patient safety program within the facility.

VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package:

• 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 - Friday, 7:30am - 4:30pm, subject to change based on the needs of the facility.
• Telework: Available
• Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
• Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
• Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Requirements

Conditions of employment U.S. Citizenship; non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA. Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959. Subject to background/security investigation. Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment. Must pass pre-employment physical examination. Must be able to independently operate Government Vehicle. Must provide clean driving record report from the DMV during the pre-employment process. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). You may be required to serve a probationary period. Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

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 than 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.

Preferred Experience:

• Effective verbal and written correspondence, ability to communicate with Veterans, staff, leadership, and other stakeholders.
• Experience with interpersonal communication including multi-level leadership and public facing.
• Experience in reviewing and completing detail-oriented tasks/assignments.
• Work with minimal to no supervision and as part of a multidisciplinary team with experience as a Patient Safety Program Manager.
• Effective prioritization skills to manage multiple ongoing tasks and assignment of tasks to applicable stakeholders.
• Flexibility/Resiliency to complete daily tasks and impromptu assignments.
• Able to maintain strict confidentiality.
• Experience with patient safety processes and systems approaches to healthcare delivery.
• Able to lead and organize care delivery, apply advanced clinical knowledge, and drive improvement initiatives.
• Demonstrated leadership in patient advocacy, evidence-based practice, and professional development.
• Strong Interdisciplinary collaboration skills throughout the organization and experience collaborating with infection control professionals, risk managers, and quality managers.

Reference:

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

Physical Requirements:

This position requires carry and/or heavy lifting 45 pounds and over, straight pulling 1 hour, pushing 1 hour, reaching above shoulder, use of fingers, both hands required, walking 7 hours, standing 7 hours, kneeling .5 hours, repeated bending 7 hours, both legs required, operation of crane, truck, tractor or motor vehicle, ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously, near vision corrected at 13" to 16" to Jaeger 1 to 4, far vision correctable in one eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other, ability to distinguish basic colors, ability to distinguish shades of colors, hearing without aid, mental and emotional stability and working with detergents and antiseptic solutions.

Additional information

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status. VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement. Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act. Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution. A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new window Learn more about federal benefits. Review our benefits Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.