Licensed Practical Nurse - Primary Care; Knoxville, TN

Position: Licensed Practical Nurse - Primary Care (Knoxville, TN)
This is an OPEN CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT and will remain open until July 6, 2026. The initial cut off date for referral of eligible applications will be February 19, 2026, with subsequent cut-off dates every two (2) weeks, depending on the number of applicants. Eligible applications received after that date will be referred at regular intervals or as additional vacancies occur on an as needed basis until positions are filled.

VA Careers - Licensed Practical Nurse:

Licensed Practical Nurse - vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Total-Rewards-of-a-LPN-Career
- Clinical Nursing Practice:

* Demonstrates proficiency in initiating, performing, and completing assigned duties while providing care to diverse patient populations.

* Maintains knowledge and ability to carry out patient care determined by the patient's condition utilizing judgement in selecting appropriate orders, procedures, and treatments; and recognizing, reporting, and recording relevant patient information to include urgent and emergent situations.

* Observes, identifies, and responds to patient needs for medication, medical equipment, and patient/family education while considering emotional, cultural, spiritual, socio-economic, and age-related factors.

* Maintains knowledge and skill to prepare, administer and appropriately document actions taken specific to commonly prescribed oral, topical, subcutaneous, intramuscular and/or intravenous medications as permitted by approved local facility policies and procedures.

Administration:

* Demonstrate ability to serve as a responsible member of the clinic and interact with patients, family members, professional and supportive personnel who provide patient care, and with members of other services.

* Assist with answering the phone, conveying timely messages to the appropriate staff, placing calls/pages as needed.

* Participate in evaluation of nursing care through attendance and input at team conferences and communication with the Nurse Manager. Further, participates in team conference development and implementation, by presenting a patient for team conference discussion when need identified.

Research:

* Have the option to participate in the accurate collection of data as instructed by the Nurse Manager or designee.

* Have the option to make recommendations for the application of current research findings to practice as well as applying those findings as assigned by the Nurse Manager or designee.

Education:

* Provides appropriate information to patients and their families regarding the plan of care.

* Assists the patient and family in understanding and acceptance of the disease process and encourages participation in the plan for the care and rehabilitation of the patient.

* Identifies patient's educational needs to include equipment, medication, treatment procedures, and diagnosis. Assists with teaching patient/family as appropriate.

Reusable Medical Equipment (RME):

* Be responsible for knowing what reusable instruments, equipment, medical devices, or supplies (inventory) are used in their assigned area.

* Be familiar with which items are cleaned locally (in clinic) and which items are sent to sterile processing service (SPS) for reprocessing and/or sterilization. If items are to be transported for reprocessing, he/she must be aware of the initial decontamination steps that must be taken prior to transport of item and the appropriate method of transport.

* Be responsible for following the local Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) drafted in accordance with the manufacturer's written recommendations. SPS and Infection Prevention and Control should be consulted when clarification of written instructions are needed. No one should be reprocessing any reusable medical equipment based on vendor's verbal instructions alone: this is not an adequate practice.

Work Schedule:

Full time

Recruitment Incentive:
Not Authorized

Permanent Change of Station:
Not Authorized

Pay:
Competitive salary and regular salary increases. When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade).

Pay Scale: V0 Q2

Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year)

Parental Leave:
After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.

Child Care Subsidy:
After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66. 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)

Telework:
Not…