Thank you to the Virginia Health Services team of nurses!
We are celebrating National Nurses Week (May 6-12) by thanking our entire nursing team and showing our appreciation for all they do. This week’s theme is “The Power of Nurses,” highlighting the contributions of nurses worldwide and the challenges they face daily, according to the American Nurses Enterprise.
The VHS nursing team builds relationships with our residents and patients to provide the highest level of quality care possible. Many team members begin as Care Assistants with our organization and develop careers in nursing and leadership.
“The ultimate power of nursing is to choose to continue to grow professionally in the field of your choice, as you help grow the next generation of nurses along the way,” says VHS Vice President of Nursing Rebecca Boyd.
To celebrate this week, there will be treats and gifts, with additional appreciation opportunities during National Skilled Nursing Care Week (May 11-17). VHS does what it can to recognize our nurses throughout the year.
“Nurses often are underappreciated,” Rebecca says. “And it’s a hard job.”
Nurses are not only caregivers in VHS communities and with VHS Home Health Care and VHS Hospice, they often are also caregivers in their own homes and are the first call for family members seeking medical advice or opinions.
“You wind up being a resource to everyone. It’s why we do what we do,” Rebecca says. “We do care about people. Our nurses want to give of their time. When you give and you give, you kind of empty out.
“Our job is to fill our nurses back up and remind them what they do matters every day. They are making a difference. They’re changing a life. Those small acts of kindness that half the time they’re not even cognizant of, but it makes an impact and it has a bearing on someone else’s life.”
National Nurses Week is celebrated the same dates each May, as May 12 marks the late Florence Nightingale’s birthday. The week has been supported and promoted by the American Nurses Association (ANA) since 1896.
Relationships matter
The power of nursing is in the relationships they build with patients and their loved ones.
“We are more powerful together as we build relationships with each other, our residents and our families through what can be the most difficult time in their lives,” Rebecca says. “This is often a time of extreme change for residents and families and our nurses are key to helping with the transition of care, loss of independence, and potential for end-of-life care.”
In all settings — including at-home care, or a skilled or long-term care environment — nurses get to know more than just medical issues. They, along with team members that include social workers, therapists, dietary aides, housekeepers, and certified nurse assistants, support all aspects of a patient’s care.
“The power of the nurse is compassion, empathy and support to adapt to these changes. Nurses provide education and training related to potential life changes and disease process, as well as the impact the change can have on care needs and quality of life,” Rebecca says.
VHS Home Health Care
The VHS Home Health Care team delivers skilled nursing care and rehabilitation therapy wherever the individual resides. The nurses on the team provide services including wound care, medication and pain management, palliative care, post-operative care, and remote patient monitoring for blood pressure, blood sugar, heart rate and more.
The coverage area spans from Richmond to Virginia Beach and hits all points in between, so the need for nurses in all locations is necessary to give the best quality care.
“The power of a nurse is healing,” says Melissa Prince-Crouch, RN, CWS, who is the DON at The Newport Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. “We all, no matter what field of nursing we are in, are there to help people get better and heal from whatever their aliment is.”
Education matters
Virginia Health Services employs a team of CNAs, LPNs and RNs, and regularly has openings. VHS also offers an earn-as-you-learn apprenticeship that graduates Care Assistants to Nurse Aides and covers the cost of the state certification exam to be a CNA. Courses are available on the Peninsula and in Gloucester, Virginia. Many students have gone on to nursing school to be LPNs and RNs.
“A nurse’s power is her influence and her authority, which have meaningful impacts in healthcare, patient outcomes and professional environments,” says VHS Director of Education Princess Henderson, RN, BSN. “As an educator, I have influence over the knowledge, attitude and confidence of those that I teach. I hope to encourage our future caregivers to uphold high standards of care.”
Our CNAs spend a majority of the time with our nursing and rehabilitation centers’ residents. They help get them ready for the day – or in the evening for bed, and going to and from meals and activities. CNAs are the eyes and ears for the nursing team to provide daily assessment of a patient’s well-being.
Rebecca says LPNs and RNs get involved in the residents’ medical needs.
“Nothing makes a nurse feel more powerful than when you advocate for your residents and get them what they need,” says Walter Reed Nursing and Rehabilitation Center ADON Katherine Renison, BBA, RN.
Career paths in nursing at VHS
There are many different avenues to keep fresh when you’re a nurse with Virginia Health Services. Those include:
- MDS Coordinator, which drives the quality measures and level of care, as well as drives reimbursement to ensure VHS can provide the care and services needed. Coordinators have to dive deep to see what those patient diagnoses are to determine level of care.
- Certified wound care nurses are a needed specialty. “We deal with chronic-type wounds, surgical wounds that won’t heal. We have to be specialized in wound care and be on the cutting-edge of wound products,” Rebecca says.
- IV management is key. There are many patients on IV antibiotics and other IV treatments that must be managed daily.
- Leadership opportunities in management positions such as director and assistant director of nursing and administrator. Several of the DONs in VHS have come from MDS roles; the same is true of our administrators. Many started as CNAs or floor nurses – that foundation where you learn a lot about the resident, Rebecca says.
- There are also opportunities to move into nurse education roles. Director of Education Princess Henderson started in the CNA class with VHS in 2008. “It’s all about education, education, education,” Rebecca says. “The need for continuing education of the staff is vital to providing quality care. … A majority of our CNAs are coming from the six-week apprenticeship program. A lot of their education has to be on the job. It relies a lot on the nurses who already are part of the structure to provide that education.”
- There are opportunities to provide education within each facility, starting with infection preventionists.
“The power of nurses is doing the right thing — all the time,” says Lana Ketch, RN, who is the Director of Nursing at Walter Reed. “We make a difference in their lives, even if it seems like a small difference. Small differences add up to big differences.”
Join our team!
We are hiring for all positions, including CNAs, LPNs and RNs.
VHS Home Health Care and VHS Hospice also have openings for nurses. Short-term contracts also are available for nursing positions.
VHS offers competitive wages and benefits, flexible scheduling, bonuses, early wage access, training and development opportunities, and more. Visit vahs.com/careers to apply today.
We also offer an earn-as-you-learn apprenticeship program that graduates Care Assistants to Nurse Aides and covers the cost of the state certification exam to be a CNA. Available dates, details and application links are at vahs.com/apprenticeship.
Classes are offered in Newport News/Hampton, Gloucester and Kilmarnock, Virginia, throughout the year, and graduates remain team members with VHS. Graduates have moved into roles such as recreational therapy or continued employment while attending nursing school.
