Registered Nurse - Emergency Department

The VA Midwest Health Care Network advocates for a Whole Health System of care in each of the Medical Centers. This is an approach to healthcare that empowers and equips people to take charge of their health and well-being and live their lives to the fullest. As an employee operating in a Whole Health System of care, you will operate in a model with three core elements, seeking to create a personalized health plan for each Veteran. This is done in the context of healing relationships and healing environments and a connection back to the Veteran's community. This aligns with the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Mission Statement to Honor America's Veterans by providing exceptional health care that improves their health and well-being.

Join the Emergency Department at the Sioux Falls Veterans Affairs Health Care System, where Registered Nurses (RNs) triage, assess, monitor, educate, advocate, and lead response efforts for Veterans with a wide variety of urgent health needs. This role supports Veteran-centered care through evidence-based practice, collaboration, safety, and active participation in quality improvement.

Major duties include, but are not limited to:

• Tend to the needs and provide direct care to patients presenting with a variety of illnesses.
• Care for patients who are acutely ill, who have an acute or potentially acute illness or injury, and who are experiencing an exacerbation of a chronic condition affecting one or more body systems.
• Provide efficient care by triaging patients according to established Emergency Severity Index protocols.
• Document observations, assessments, and changes to patient conditions.
• Provide Veteran-centered services, instructions, and education to the Veteran and those accompanying the Veteran prior to discharge.
• Monitor vital signs along with the clinical status of the patient, administer medications, and report adverse reactions to medications in a timely manner.
• Use interpersonal communication strategies, serve as an advocate in the care management process, and perform work in a manner that enhances the safety of the work environment.
• Lead the Campus Response Team, Code Blue, and Code Strokes that happen in the Emergency Department.
• Be responsible and accountable for all elements of the nursing process when providing and/or supervising direct patient care; provide competent, evidence-based patient care to assigned patients and oversight of licensed vocational nurses/nursing assistants, as appropriate to the setting.
• Demonstrate leadership in delivering and improving holistic patient care through collaborative strategies with others, share educational findings, experiences, and ideas with peers, and participate in unit/program level quality improvement processes, competencies, initiatives, and customer service programs.

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: Varied days, nights, weekends, and holidays
Telework: Not Available.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

• 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.)

• Emergency Department nursing experience
• Triage training
• ACLS
• BLS

• 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.
• 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.