About Us

At VA Hampton healthcare system, we’re dedicated to improving the lives of Veterans and their families.

About Hampton VA health care system

VA Hampton Healthcare System provides you with outstanding health care, trains America’s future health care providers, and conducts important medical research.

Health care and services

We provide you with health care services at 7 locations in in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina: our Hampton VA Medical Center and 6 community-based outpatient clinics: Langley Air Force Base, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, Virginia and Elizabeth City, North Carolina. Special facilities at our medical center include a state-of-the-art women’s clinic designed to provide gender-specific care under one roof, plus leading spinal cord Injury and mental health units. To learn more about the services each location offers, visit our Hampton VA health care page.

The VA Hampton Healthcare System is one of the leading health care systems serving Veterans in the Mid-Atlantic Region. We’re an innovative care center within the Veterans Integrated Service Network 6 (VISN 6), which includes medical centers in North Carolina (Asheville, Durham, Fayetteville, and Salisbury) and Virginia (Hampton, Richmond, and Salem), and dozens of other health care facilities.

Learn more about VISN 6

Research and development

We conduct research to discover knowledge, develop VA scientists and health care leaders, and create innovations that advance health care for Veterans and the nation. We offer Veterans the opportunity to participate in and benefit from our work. Our goal is to use research to promote better health and healthcare for all.

Major research areas include:

Million Veteran Program (MVP) - a national research program to learn how genes, lifestyle, and military exposures affect health and illness.
Prostate cancer - genomic biomarkers in aggressive cancer.
Substance abuse and Veteran "X"
PTSD with art therapy
Carpel tunnel treatment methods

Teaching and learning

As a teaching hospital, Hampton VA Medical Center provides a full range of services, with state-of-the-art technology as well as education and research. Our medical center is primarily affiliated with the Eastern Virginia Medical School. We offer residency training in all major medical, mental health and subspecialties. We also provide associated health training in nursing, psychology, optometry, social work, dietetics, and pharmacy.

We’re proud of our partnerships with top institutions and organizations that support the educational mission of the VA.

Post-graduate Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Residency Program

Thank you for your interest in the Post-Graduate Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Residency Program at the Hampton VA Health Care System. This residency is designed for new graduate Family/Adult Gerontology Nurse Practitioners with a commitment to serving our Veteran population. Please send an e-mail to the Program Director with the subject: Primary Care Residency. You will then be provided a link to send all your documents as part of the application process.

Program: Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Residency
Location: Hampton, Virginia
Program Director: Terry A. Guyton-Smith, DNP, APRN, FNP-C, CDP, CGS
Program Director’s E-Mail: Terry.Guyton-Smith@va.gov
Nurse Residency Location: Hampton VA Health System
Address: 100 Emancipation Drive, Hampton, VA 23667
Academic Partner(s): Hampton University School of Nursing
Program Mission and/or Goals:

The mission of the Post-Graduate Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Residency is to bridge education gap while engaging in clinical practice to transition the novice nurse practitioners into a safe, competent professions to care for our nation’s Veterans while using clinical evidence to guide practice.

PC-NPR GOALS:

Supports professional role transition, integration, and socialization of new nurse practitioners.
Provides interprofessional learning and practice experiences in Veterans with complex health care problems.
Improves Veterans’ access to high quality care.
Expands the Hampton VA Health System’s workforce by improving the confidence, productivity, and job satisfaction of new nurse practitioners who choose to work in a Veteran-centric setting.

OBJECTIVES:

Recruits and retains well-trained and experience Nurse Practitioner Residents.
Enhances interprofessional collaborations and educational opportunities.
Enhances the intensity of collaborations between the Hampton VA Health System and the Hampton University School of Nursing (HUSON)
Improves the quality of primary care services for Veterans.
Gains tremendous experience in managing Veterans’ primary care and complex health conditions.
Home critical thinking and diagnostic skills.
Works closely with mentors and interdisciplinary health care teams to provide Veteran-centric competent care.

PC-NPR PROGRAM STRUCTURE:

PROGRAM DURATION:

The Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Residency is a 12-month program during which the residents have 100% protected time to master the complexities of caring for Veterans.

CURRICULUM MODEL:

The curriculum defines, separates, and integrates both classroom and experiential learning opportunities and consists of 80% experiential learning activities and 20% didactic learning activities.

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING:

The 12-month curricular program was designed using a four-phase model. The model consists of multiple rotations to a wide variety of specialty units and primary care clinics. Clinical rotations will be within the Hampton VA Health System, inclusive of its surrounding Community Based Out-Patient Clinics (CBOCs).

Program eligibility or qualifications for applying.
A recent graduate (within 12 months) of master’s or doctoral level nurse practitioner program accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) or The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).
U.S. Citizen.
Holds current board certification in the same specialty area as the program’s focus:
Primary Care NP Residents must hold either an Adult-Gerontological Nurse Practitioner or Family Nurse Practitioner Board Certification.
Current, full, active, and unrestricted registration as a Nurse Practitioner in a U.S. state, commonwealth, territory, or the District of Columbia, prior to the start of the NPR Program.
PC-Salary is paid by the VA Office of Academic Affiliations (OAA) and rates may increase depending on the current year allocation rate.
Government health care medical plan with optional dental, vision, and life insurance.
11 paid holidays.
Annual and sick leave accrued per pay period.
No call or weekend shifts required.
100% protected learning time.
Other VA unmatched benefits.

APPLICATION PROCESSES AND REQUIREMENTS:

Provide application steps or a link to specific application requirements or templates, as required.
Send e-mail to the Program Director: Terry.Guyton-Smith@va.gov. Make sure you use the subject as Primary Care Residency.
Once the e-mail has been received by the Program Director, an application, and a link to submit the following documents will be sent to each applicant:
- Application
- Curriculum Vitae
- Personal Statement (500 words or less)
- Unofficial Transcript
- Two (2) Letters of Recommendation

PROGRAM DATES:

Application Deadline: January 15, 2024 - April 15, 2024 (No applications will be accepted after April 15, 2024)
Interviews will be tentatively conducted in May of 2024
If selected for an interview, applicants will be notified by May 15, 2024
Cohorts begin September 3, 2024
Program Point of Contact: Terry A. Guyton-Smith, DNP, APRN, FNP-C, CDP, CGS

Notice: If you are a current government employee, please contact the Program Director prior to completing your application. A conversion status change from employee to trainee, including changes in benefits, will be required to participate in the residency.

Fast facts

The Hampton VA Medical Center is in the middle of one of the largest active duty and military retiree populations in the United States.
We have more than 2,000 full-time employees and serve more than 50,000 Veterans every year from 6 counties in eastern Virginia and 9 counties in northeastern North Carolina.
Our medical center is a 432-bed teaching hospital, which includes a 169-bed domiciliary, a 112-bed, long-term community living center, and a 10-bed free-standing hospice care facility.

Nurse Honor Guard Program

What is the Nurse Honor Guard?

The Hampton VAMC Nurse Honor Guard Volunteers provide support to families of nursing colleagues during their time of grief by honoring the deceased through a final call to duty presentation. Honor services are provided at the Hampton VAMC’s Chapel or at a community memorial service arranged by the family. This is a meaningful way to honor fellow nurses for their compassion and devotion in caring for Veterans of the United States Armed Forces. The Hampton VAMC Nurse Honor Guard also allows the organization to show high regard and reverence to the families of all VA Nurses.

During the ceremony, the Nightingale Lamp will be lit in honor of the deceased. The nurse’s name will be called four times. A duty bell will be rung at each calling. At the final call, the nurse will be symbolically re-leased from duty by retiring the light.

A Tibetan singing bowl is utilized for the final call because of its beau-tiful sound. These sounds are known for holistic healing, stress relief, meditation, and relaxation.

At the family’s request, the Hampton VAMC Nurse Honor Guard Chair will coordinate with community funeral service (or Hampton VAMC Chapel) to be added to the program of the deceased nurse. The family will be given an opportunity to provide some words of condolence to the Guard that will be incorporated into the presentation. The family will be presented a certificate and a white memorial rose during the service.

The Honor Guard exits the service. Presentation ranges between 5-10 minutes

All active or retired VA nurses can be an Honor Guard Volunteer.
All active or retired VA Nurses can request services to be presented at their memorial services. Be sure to share your wishes with your family including instruction on how to re-quest services for you.