Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Residency (PC-NPR) Program

Built in 1942, The Marion VA Health Care System is a Joint Commission accredited facility with 45 acute care beds (which include five Intensive Care Unit Beds), a 54-bed Community Living Center (CLC), a 20-bed Residential Rehabilitative Treatment Program (RRTP) and a free-standing Center for Behavioral Health located in Marion, Illinois.

We offer a full continuum of care in both inpatient and outpatient such as surgery (inpatient and outpatient), primary care (including home-based primary care services), medical/specialty subspecialty services, behavioral medicine services (including mental health intensive care management), physical medicine and rehabilitation, women’s health services, long and short-term care, chaplain services, clinical nutrition/dietetics services, and social work services.

Specialty services include (but not limited to) oncology, hematology, cardiology (including cardiac catherization and pacemaker implantations), urology, orthopedics, pulmonology, podiatry, ophthalmology, optometry, audiology, dermatology, gynecology, gastroenterology, otolaryngology, nephrology, respiratory therapy, speech pathology, occupational therapy, wound care, pain management, spinal cord injury (SCI), visually impaired services, palliative care, and dentistry.

The Marion VA Health Care System also operates the Evansville Health Care center in Evansville IN and
ten Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) across three states (IL, IN, and KY).

The Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Residency Program (PC-NPR) at the Marion Veterans Affairs Health Care System (MVAHCS) welcomed its first cohort in August 2021. This program was made possible through support from the Office of Academic Affiliations (OAA), facility leadership, and our school affiliations. The nurse practitioner resident is a newly graduated NP student within the last 12 months. The NP resident participates in a 12-month trainee program, working under the guidance of seasoned NP preceptors in a primary care outpatient clinic. As a nurse practitioner resident you will participate in a comprehensive plan of study incorporating both didactic and direct patient care clinical experiences with the focus of transitioning from a novice to competent nurse practitioner who is skilled in caring for Veterans and their families. Admission occurs annually in August. The curriculum of the 12-month residency program is based upon the Commission on Collegiate Nurse Education (CCNE) standards for entry to practice nurse residency programs and is centered on leadership, patient outcomes, and professional role development.  The curriculum is also designed to reflect a progression from care of the general, non-acutely ill patient, to the more complex and chronically ill or specialty patient populations.  Residents participate in weekly didactic sessions and coursework to support their professional role transition, safe care delivery, advancement in critical thinking, and development of evidenced-based clinical care. By completing this residency, the resident will gain experience and confidence to practice independently in primary care management of patients.

Philosophy

The philosophy of the PC-NPR is to funnel all goals and objectives through a paradigm of caring and respect. Caring and respect must be demonstrated to each resident, to every colleague and co-worker, and to every client and their family members. This philosophy compels developers, preceptors, and instructors of the PC-NPR to look at every activity of the residency program through lenses colored by caring and respectful attitudes. This philosophy fosters the notion that the professional nurse learns to care for self to provide caring for others. The transitional first year of advanced nursing practice is an evolutionary pathway that should instill in the resident a commitment to life-long learning and inspire a passion for respecting and caring for patients.

While caring for the physical body, the PC-NPR program incorporates an understanding of the social, psychological, and economic realities that influence the delivery of care to the military Veteran. Creativity in problem-solving is encouraged, and scientific exploration for evidence to support practice is expected. From the point of onboarding and progressing through a full year of supported transition residents are guided by expert advanced practice nurses and subject matter experts (SME). The program is centered on direct patient care, communication, collaboration, and the professional role.   

Residency Purpose and Mission

The purpose of the PC-NPR is to bridge education and professional advanced nursing practice through building on essentials learned in the academic educational setting. With increasing the residents' knowledge, it will strengthen their confidence in practice and lead to competent autonomy in direct patient care. The PC-NPR is an innovative, evidence based education training experience designed to develop competent, confident , and practice ready Nurse Practitioners (NP) equipped with knowledge and skills to address the unique needs of our nations Veterans and improve access to care. The residency program vision is to honor America's Veterans by providing exceptional health care with improves their health and well being. The vision is to be a patient-centered, integrated health care organization for Veterans that provides excellent health care. Accomplished through  process improvements, quality improvement, and continuing nursing education. Building a culture and organization where people choose to work. The PC-NPR helps fulfill this mission and vision in the clinical learning and practice environment by providing a safe, supervised transition with a supervising nurse practitioner and mentor. The mission of the PC-NPR is to enhance the scientific knowledge, clinical expertise , and professionalism of novice NPs by providing a safe, mentored transition of newly licensed and board certified nurse practitioners working in Primary Care setting into competent and confident professionals providing excellent care to patients.

Program Goals and Outcomes

The goals of the program are to increase confidence, competence, and retention of new NPs and enhance their utilization of scientific evidence to support nursing practice. Program outcomes include:

1. Integrate evidence-based knowledge, ethical principles, and clinical excellence in advanced practice nursing while caring for the Veteran population.
2. Develop the role of the independent advanced practice nurse with a commitment to excellence and quality outcomes.
3. Develop collaborative skills through inter-professional relationships and team-based care approaches.
4. Integrate quality, efficiency, and cost effectiveness while supporting awareness of the complex health care delivery system.
5. Provide new NPs with depth, breadth, volume, and intensity of clinical training necessary to serve as primary care providers in the VA.
6. Train new NPs in a model of Veteran-centric care that is compassionate, valued, and effective in promoting health and preventing illness.

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• Enhance your nursing clinical and leadership skills.
• Experience a Veteran-centric learning and practice environment.
• Increase your confidence in providing competent nursing care to complex patients in a variety of settings that may include acute/critical care, medical-surgical services, outpatient services, mental health, rehab/long term care, geriatrics, spinal cord injury, or other specialty areas.
• Paid position
• Accrue sick and annual leave
• 11 paid Federal Holidays
• Tour of Duty:  Monday through Friday, typically 8 hr. shifts (no nights, holidays, or weekends unless special circumstances)
• Health benefits offered
• Hiring preference for open positions within the facility with successful completion of the program

• Recent or soon to be graduate of a MSN FNP degree program accredited by Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing or Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (*recent is defined as 12 months or less from time of graduation to the start date of the upcoming nurse residency program).
• Ability to obtain NP certification and licensure prior to program start date or within 90 days of start date
• No previous NP work experience. 
• Active BLS certification
• Be a U.S. Citizen and meet standards for onboarding including background/security investigation as required by the Marion VAHCS.
• Additional information on Eligibility to be a VA Health Professions Trainee can be found here: Am I Eligible? Checklist for VA HPTs

Application Submission

Send resume and/or any questions to:

Dr. Jamie Mabry DNP, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC

OAA sponsored NP Residency Primary Care (NPR-PC) Program Director

jamie.mabry@va.gov