NOVA provides live webinars every month, and the webinars are available on the NOVA website after the presentation. NOVA is in the second year of our three year Caring for Veterans Program. The webinars in this program provide information on veteran healthcare topics to help VA nurses care for veterans. These programs are especially helpful for new nursing graduates and nurses new to the VA. They make excellent additions to nursing orientation and transition to practice programs.

In the next few months NOVA is presenting webinar topics specifically designed for VA nurses. If you can’t see it live, watch it on the NOVA website. Webinars are scheduled at 12:30pm ET. On March 12, Lynn Loper BSN RN BC will present “Adjustment Disorders.” On March 25, Nancy Claflin DNP MS RN NEA-BC CENP CNEcl CCRN CPHA FNAHQ will present “SAAs, SAPs, and Cash Awards.” ON April 10, Katherine Allen RN will present “Phototherapy.” On April 23, Nancy Claflin DNP MS RN NEA-BC CENP CNEcl CCRN CPHA FNAHQ will present “Evaluating Your Self-Assessment for Promotion to Nurse II with Educational Waiver. “ On May 15, Andrea Kossoudj MS MBA Rn\N AMB-BC will present “Empowering Nurses to Serve Veterans with Military Environmental Exposure.” On May 28, Nancy Claflin DNP MS RN NEA-BC CENP CNEcl CCRN CPHA FNAHQ will present “Evaluating Your Self-Assessment for Promotion to Nurse III.”

As a NOVA member, you can register for a webinar, and then schedule a room in your facility to show the webinar. You can send an email from your private email address to VA nurses with information about the webinar. You can also post flyers on bulletin boards to let people know about the webinar. Have people sign an attendance sheet, and send it to nova@vanurse.org after the webinar so people who attend can receive an evaluation and a certificate as NOVA is also an accredited provider of nursing continuing development credits (NCPD).

Remember that you can always access webinars on the NOVA website https://www.vanurse.org/page/memberonlywebinars. Some of the webinars currently available include: Military Sexual Trauma/Intimate Partner Violence, Substance Use Disorders, A Look into VA Community Care, Suicide Prevention Strategies, Safe Patient Handling, Visually Impaired and Blind Veterans and Blind Rehabilitation Services, Gulf War Illness, Veterans Justice Outreach, What is PTSD and How Do You Address it with Veterans?, Empowering Seamless Transitions: Enhancing Care Coordination Through the VA Consult Toolbox, Providing Equitable Healthcare for LGBTQ+ Veterans, Nurse Safety Proactive Personal Protection, Organ, Eye, and Tissue Donation, Caring for Veterans with Rehabilitative Needs, Whole Health, Hospice and Palliative Care, Caregiver Support Program, Wound Care, VA Community Care Quality Improvement Program Train the Trainer: Veteran Specific Population, Eligibility for VA Care, Compensation, and Pension, Addressing Homelessness and the HUD-VASH Program, Breast and Cervical Screening Updates, Aromatherapy in Nursing, Acute Pain Management, and Evaluating Your Input for Your Proficiency for Nurse III.

NOVA’s Mentoring Program
NOVA developed the Empower Mentoring Program to help you meet professional goals and pursue dreams for professional advancement within the VA. The program is designed to guide a mutual relationship between an experienced VA nurse who is the mentor and the mentee. Should you ask for a mentor? Would you like help navigating the VA system, developing supportive and encouraging relationships, guidance in professional, personal, and interpersonal growth? Would you like to connect with seasoned NOVA members to benefit from their expertise and experience? Should you become a mentor? Have you worked in the VA for a year or more? Do you know things now that you wished somebody told you when you first started in VA? Do you want to help people navigate the sometimes confusing routes to promotion and career development in the VA? Do you want to make a difference? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, go to the NOVA Webpage; click on Education, then select Mentorship Program.