Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Residency Program

NPR's Mission is to help novice nurse practitioners transition into competent, confident professionals equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to provide exceptional care to Veterans.

The NPR program philosophy is to provide a supportive environment where novice NPs are empowered to bridge their academic foundations to independent practice. The NPR program provides a multi-faceted supportive environment through the following: clinical faculty, mentors/preceptors, subject matter experts, experiential learning, interprofessional collaboration, and a scholarly approach to guide novice NPs in the delivery of safe, quality Veteran-centered care. Focus is placed on promoting personal and professional growth while increasing confidence and competence.

This one-year NP residency is available to 3 selected applicants annually. Residents will enjoy a full-time schedule while completing 2080 hours of 1:1 mentoring with Primary Care Providers in the Primary Care outpatient setting.

In addition, each resident will participate in specialty clinical rotations over the course of the year, in addition to the core experience in primary care, all under the guidance of highly qualified preceptors.

Residents will be in clinic 32-hours per week with a patient caseload and have 8 hours to dedicate to a robust didactic curriculum.

This is a funded position though the Veterans Affairs Nursing Office of Academic Affiliations and includes vacation, sick leave, health care and dental care benefits.

Nurse Practitioner Residents will:

· Strengthen the ability to conduct comprehensive primary care evaluations using advanced knowledge of health disorders and diagnostic strategies

· Enhance clinical skills and knowledge to differentiate between normal and abnormal findings to develop differential and definitive diagnoses, including determination of medical co-morbidities

· Demonstrate competent, safe, evidence -based management of primary care related pharmacotherapy and polypharmacy

· Demonstrate both informal and formal leadership qualities using critical and reflective thinking, and scholarly inquiry to continuously improve the quality of clinical practice

· Demonstrate a clear understanding of the interdependence of policy and practice and their impact on clinical care and patient advocacy

· Provide patient-centered care that incorporates individual cultural and spiritual preferences, values, beliefs, and Veteran centered care principles in a whole health construct.

The trainees will spend 40 hours in clinical and didactic learning activities weekly to become proficient in competencies specified in the Primary Care NPR curriculum. This includes 100% protected learning time.

· Residency curriculum includes: 80% experiential and 20% didactic learning.

· Primary Care NP Residency clinical sites include various clinical areas including primary care, women’s health, and specialty clinics. We utilize the Birmingham Main medical center, Annex and the 7 community- based outpatient clinics for rotation sites.

· Clinical and didactic activities are planned as face-to-face and virtual activities.

· Integrated and parallel clinical didactic sessions (20%)

· Capstone Quality-improvement project

To be eligible, candidates must:

· U.S. Citizen

· Possess a current, full, active, and unrestricted registration as a graduate professional nurse AND nurse practitioner in a state, commonwealth, or territory of the United States, or the District of Columbia, prior to the start of the NPR program.

· Primary Care NP Residents must hold either an Adult-Gerontological Nurse Practitioner or Family Nurse Practitioner board certification.

· Must be a recent graduate within the past 12 months of a master’s, post master’s certificate, or doctoral level of nurse practitioner program, accredited by CCNE or the ACE.

· Must be serving in their first NP role.

· CPR certified

· Immunized in accordance with CDC immunizations for healthcare workers.

· Current with tuberculosis (TB) screening in past 12 months.

· Willing to submit to random drug testing throughout the program.

· Provide health screening attestation.

· Active NPI number

· Proficient in written and spoken English and be a citizen of the United States.

· Must have star ID for onboarding.

· Hold national certification by the start of the program or within 90 days. While certification may still be pending candidates must complete their certification exam prior to program start.

· Pass a background/security investigation.

The residents in our program are considered federal full-time trainees with a one-year commitment. The salary and benefit package are defined by the VA Office of Academic Affiliations (OAA). Please recognize this is a temporary position. Employment after completion of the program is not guaranteed. Time worked does not go towards federal service and union representation is not available for residents participating in this program.

· Government health care medical, vision and dental

· 11 paid federal holidays

· Paid time off (PTO) 4 hours & sick leave accrued 4 hours per pay period

· No call or weekend shifts required

· 100% protected learning time