NOVA awards and honors individuals and/or groups who have made significant contributions to the Nurses Organization of Veterans Affairs, the nursing profession, the health care of Veterans, or in service to our country. Please join us in congratulating the 2021 Awardees!

The NOVA Scholarship Program supports NOVA’s mission to educate APRNs, RNs and LPNs employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs by providing scholarships in the amount of $1,500 to $3,000 to qualified NOVA nurses.

Eligibility Criteria:

Applicants must be a current NOVA member for at least one year.

Applicants must be a VA employee, full-time or part-time.

Applicants must have completed at least 1 semester in an accredited nursing program.

Applicants must show satisfactory/fully successful at minimum on most recent proficiency, performance appraisal, or Executive Career Field (ECF). Congratulations to the following recipients:

• Anastasia Ayree $3000 Nursing Leadership Scholarship in Honor of Catherine J. Rick

• Julia Gamble $2500 Veterans Advocacy Scholarship in Honor of Anthony J. Principi

• Andrea Igoe $1500 Nursing Excellence Scholarship in Honor of Vernice Ferguson

• Marsha Charlton $1500 Commitment to Serving Veterans Scholarship in Honor of Jesse Brown

• Melissa Elliott $1500 Nurse Emeritus Academic Scholarship in Honor of Mary Raymer

TJ Wilcox-Olson, MHS, RN
National NOVA President Elect
VA Portland Healthcare System, Portland, Oregon

NOVA Chapter 332

Teresa Morris

NOVA Director, Advocacy & Government Relations

On October 21,2021, TJ Wilcox-Olson, President-Elect, Cathy Giasson, Membership Secretary, and Teresa Morris, NOVA’s Director of Advocacy and Government Relations were honored to visit the VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System (Chapter 273) in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

The purpose of the visit was to share information about NOVA and the benefits of being a member of a professional nursing organization designed just for VA Nurses!

After moving through the COVID screening station, we were taken to a conference room where the first guests were we met with night shift nurses who were eager to learn more about NOVA. They nurses were also the first to become new chapter members. There was a great turnout and engagement throughout the presentation; those in attendance wanted to learn more about NOVA’s education partnerships and committees. Nevada requires continuing education for nursing licensure and the many of the educational opportunities provided by NOVA can help each of the VA nurses achieve the required hours and goals.

The nurses also had many questions about our advocacy on Capitol Hill and shared their concerns about several issues that NOVA is helping to advance with Members of Congress. 

We found that the Nevada chapter contacts are eager to grow the Las Vegas chapter and to become get more involved in NOVA’s many programs and committees.

If your chapter is interested in having members from the NOVA Board of Directors visit your site, please reach out at nova@vanurse.org. We are always here to help!

Thelma Roach-Serry, BSN, RN, NE-BC

National NOVA Immediate Past President

Central Virginia VA HCS, Richmond, VA

NOVA Chapter 420 

Malliga Ravindar, DNP, RN

Dr. Malliga Ravindar has 35 years of nursing experience in various specialties and capacities of clinical nursing, nursing management and nursing education. She joined the VA in 2013 as a member of the Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT) team. She is profoundly passionate about providing exceptional care to our Veterans and is currently serving as a Nurse Educator for the Specialty Clinics at Central Virginia VA Health Care System (CVHCS). The specialties include both medical and surgical outpatient programs; from infectious disease and endocrinology to vascular surgery, wound care, urology, dermatology, interventional pain management and minor procedural care.

In May 2021, while continuing to work full time, Malliga obtained the highest degree in nursing – Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) with an emphasis in Educational Leadership from the Grand Canyon University, Phoenix, Arizona.

Malliga’s professional career has been very challenging. After graduating with her BSN in 1986 and MSN in 1991; she paved the way for many accomplishments in nursing. She takes pride in sharing that she has been privileged to train more than 2000 nurses from the Christian Medical College and Hospital, a reputed Academic institution in India founded by an American medical missionary. She is honored to see nurses trained by her adeptly serving mankind throughout the world in various capacities, including those in outstanding leadership roles in the United States. During a three year special assignment, she also trained approximately 200 nursing students to become professional nurses for the country of the Sultanate of Oman. 

Malliga expressed during a recent interview that “she is very grateful that the United States has provided her with immense opportunities over the past 16 years”. She has served as a nurse manager at the University of Virginia Health Care System (UVAHS), adjunct faculty for Virginia Commonwealth University School of Nursing, a bedside clinician in Neurology, Cardiology and Cardio Thoracic surgery, and a PACT care manager, as well as a Nurse Educator for the CVHCS in Richmond, Virginia. She has a very special zeal for higher standards of nursing care and looks forward to continuing to give her best to our great country by serving Veterans.

Dr. Ravindar, kudos for your contributions to the profession of nursing and achieving your DNP!

Marilyn Simpson, MSN/Ed, RN

West Texas VA Health Care System, Abilene, TX

NOVA Chapter 380

All of us have schedules and deadlines, either imposed upon us or are self-imposed. Let us review a few things that we are learning in Mindful Awareness classes.

• Do you skip family gatherings because they will understand how stressed you are?

• Have you postponed your favorite hobby because something had to give?

• How do you handle the pressure of knowing the buck stops with you?

• Does your blood pressure creep up by the end of the day because there is not enough time to get everything completed?

• Do you not take your paid time off because you believe no one in your department will do the work to your expectations?

• How are you sleeping?

• Do your friends and family complain you are grumpy a lot of the time?

• What would your neighbors say about your attitude lately?

• Do you ever completely fast from social media or screen time at home?

• Does your laptop live in the bag you keep with you at all times?

• If you had the choice, would you treat people differently?

I encourage you to take a deep breath. Right now, push back your chair. Breathe in deep and hold it. Give yourself a full two minutes to decompress, yes, right there where you are reading. Ask yourself if all the deadlines and striving with the clock are worth the cost, and allow yourself to answer truthfully. Now make appropriate changes PRN.