Ashley Lovelace

Membership Coordinator

NOVA

Have you added your personal email to your account? If not, no worries, we are here to help! Just follow the simple steps below to add your personal email address to your NOVA account.

Step 1: Sign in to www.vanurse.org. Using your NOVA username and password. If by chance you do not remember them, you can email nova@vanurse.org to have them reset.

Step 2: After signing in, locate the “My Profile” box on the top right corner of your page. Once located click “Manage Profile”.

3. After clicking the “Manage Profile” link. Locate the “Information and Settings” box at the top of the web page.

4. Once located, click the “Edit Bio” link.

5. You should be brought to your “Edit My Member Profile” page.  Locate the “Email Address and Confirm Email” fields. If these fields have your va.gov email listed, this is incorrect. Please replace it with your personal email address. 

*Note: These two fields should match. Your profile WILL NOT UPDATE if the fields do not match.

6. Once your email address has been updated, scroll to the bottom of the webpage. Click “Save Changes”. Once saved your Member Profile will be automatically updated to reflect the new email address.

All updates can be made at any time once a member logs in to the NOVA website. If you have any questions, you can email nova@vanurse.org to help with managing your profile.

Teresa Morris, Director, Advocacy & Government Relations

Greetings NOVA Members –

It has been a busy July – NOVA submitted testimony to both the House and Senate VA Committees on pending legislation. 

Bills discussed at HVAC hearings would enhance CPE tuition and fees (HR 3693, VA CPE Modernization Act), improve the hiring and onboarding process (HR 3027, Veterans Improved Access to Care Act), require an independent assessment of health care delivery and require VA to make certain information available on a public facing site (HR 2775, VA Quality Health Care Accountability and Transparency Act), this includes staffing/vacancies, wait times, and quality of care data.  

The Senate VA Committee hearing included a bill “Department of Veterans Affairs Provider Accountability Act which requires VA to comply, verify and review all documentation for any healthcare provider working or employed by the VHA. It also addresses provider accountability within the VHA and proper reporting to the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) and State Licensing Boards (SLBs). NOVA commented that we strongly support updating policies and procedures and verifying credentials and licensure as oversight and accountability are important in any healthcare system. We provided some of our thoughts on how to strengthen the bill’s language.

NOVA testimony can be found on the website: Congressional Statements & Letters (vanurse.org)

As we move towards August and Congressional recess work period, I challenge all of you to take some time to meet with your Members (House and Senate) to discuss some of these issues and other critical VA issues important to you and NOVA. All House of Representatives and Senators have offices located in the District/State and should be hosting Town Hall meetings as well. Check their individual websites for COVID-19 guidance and when they will be available to meet.

It is a great time to get in front of your members and find out what they are planning for the month while they are home working. Also, take note of any members in your state that sit on the House and Senate VA Committees as they have jurisdiction over all VA issues.

For US House of Representatives: Homepage | house.gov

For US Senators: U.S. Senate: Senators

NOVA has provided a step-by-step “How To” schedule a meeting guide on the website.

2021_scheduling_a_meeting_wi.pdf (ymaws.com)

Schedule a Meeting with Your Member of Congress (vanurse.org)

Some of the issues NOVA has been actively involved include discussing pay caps, equity and the need for a review of staffing levels pre and post COVID. Recruiting and retaining healthcare professionals is our highest priority – especially in high-cost areas where shortages may affect timely access to high quality care for Veterans.

For copies of NOVA letters of support sent to the Hill, visit the NOVA website. 

For a list of our complete 2021 legislative priority goals: 2021_nova_legislative_priori.pdf (ymaws.com) 

Stay Tuned!

Kelly D. Skinner, DNP, APRN, NP-C, GNP-BC, CRRN, WCC, CFCN

VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA

NOVA Chapter 226

Nurses Week T-shirts

NOVA Chapter 226 nurses wore their NOVA 2020 - 2021 Year of the Nurse t-shirts with pride!

Left to Right Top Row: Theresa Presley. Nacha Pierre, Kelly D. Skinner, Sherry Clement, and Tom Savage

Left to Right Middle Row: Valentina Ward,  Anastasia Aryee,  Danielle Newman,  Julie Szegda and Mindy Shackelford

Left to Right Bottom Row: Molly Maloney, Nancy Brooks, Kattie Davis and Kelley Nunes

Secretary’s Award for Excellence in Nursing

Congratulations to Jessica Ash on being awarded the Secretary’s Award for Excellence in Nursing – RN Expanded Role category! She is the Nurse Recruiter at the VA Boston Healthcare System and continues to use her vast administrative and clinical knowledge to advance the hiring practices and recruitment of the best qualified candidates for the Nursing Service. Jessica was publicly recognized for being the recipient of this prestigious award during Nurses Week. 

Jessica Ash, BSN, RN

Nurses Week Raffle

Carol McTavish, LPN, May Park, BSN, RN, WCC and Chizoba Nwosu, PhD, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC are looking fabulous sporting their NOVA fleeces they won from the Nurses Week Raffle!

Left to Right: Carol McTavish, May Park and Chizoba Nwosu

Line Dancing Event

NOVA Chapter 226 coordinated a Line Dancing Event which took place on Saturday, May 15, 2021 in Marshfield, MA. Two-stepping together outdoors was so much fun! We seized this opportunity to get some exercise, relieve stress, recharge, learn new dance moves, and raise money for scholarships for NOVA nurses. Valentina Ward, Ellen McCarthy, Kelly D. Skinner, Theresa Presley, Mindy Shackelford, Sandra Terry, Gilda Cain, Marie Pizziferri, Joan Clifford, Anjana Phuyal, Nancy Connors, and Jessica Cunningham were just some of those who were shimmying and shaking that day. Sorry, but I am not at liberty to disclose who were the beginners and who were the boot scooters in this group. You will just have to go to the next Line Dancing Event in September to find out for yourself. Stay tuned for details!

Anjana Phuyal, BSN, RN 

VA Boston Health Care System, Boston, MA

NOVA Chapter 226

My name is Anjana Phuyal, and I work at the VA Boston Healthcare System in West Roxbury as the Accreditation Specialist. Throughout my nursing career, I have worked on various inpatient and outpatient units as a staff nurse. Prior to joining the VA in 2017,  I did some travel nursing in Massachusetts.

Prior to March 2020 I was working in the outpatient PACU; however, the COVID-19 pandemic transformed health care priorities and in the last week of March 2020, I was detailed to an inpatient COVID unit for 12 weeks. It was a momentous event in my life both professionally and personally. The biggest adjustment to the new detail was providing care under the unfamiliar guise of COVID-19 while ensuring my own safety and the safety of my loved ones. I was not forthcoming about which unit I was working on to protect and prevent people from “freaking out.” With all of the uncertainties and fear came a sense of duty to the Veterans to whom I felt obliged. 

I wrote this reflection to remember that working on the COVID unit had a silver lining. In the midst of the unknown, I met with many instances of the known human element. I looked into my patients’ eyes and those of my fellow co-workers with a different intensity; their eyes told the story. I held my patients’ hands more intently; they so needed human touch. I spent more time with each patient as I was not sure if I would see them the next time I worked (some were really sick and passed away). We all worked as a team even more than before as there was no other option and survival was on the line. We also experienced the fear of diminishing PPE supplies which added to our angst. 

“Call my wife and tell her that I love her!” yelled Mr. X fighting the tears in his eyes yet smiling. I held his cold hands and said “I will, and you can too when I bring the iPad over. I can call her, and you can say that to her, okay?” He was my new admission to the COVID unit, a transfer from the Bedford VA. He was extremely hard of hearing, unable to help himself, had wounds on his buttocks and legs, was feverish and had trouble with his memory.

I went into the room to do my admission assessment with the doctor. Because the patient was hard of hearing, I had a hearing device with me, but the patient did not want to wear it. I attempted to tell him that it was a hearing device that would facilitate our conversation. I put it around his ear and held it. After introducing himself, the doctor started to ask, “How are you doing, sir?” The patient looked at the doctor and then looked at me and said, “Call my wife and tell her I love her!” The doctor and I smiled underneath our N-95 mask; the eyes gave away the smile. “Are you in pain, sir?” asked the doctor. “Call my wife and tell her I love her!” stressed the patient. “Are you breathing okay, sir?” I yelled through my N-95 mask and the face shield unsure if my muffled voice reached his ears. I leaned over and the patient started to cry and said, “Call my wife and tell her I love her!” The doctor and I decided that we would proceed with the interview later because the patient was upset. I stayed with the patient, held his hand, and listened to him as he talked about his wife. The patient did not care about his pain, his shortness of breath, or his wounds, but cared about what was most important to him... his wife and telling her, “I love you!” His biggest concern was that his wife knew he loved her. Love is powerful I thought, and  I am seeing  a living, breathing example. Love gets us through the worst of times! 

Mr. X is a fighter. He beat COVID last year and still comes to the hospital for treatments and procedures. I wonder if it is the love that he has for his wife that helped him to fight and survive. 

Essentially, I wrote this piece to remember how much stronger (physically and mentally), kinder and wiser I emerged from the COVID detail. I was also thankful that when the whole world had to shut down and many people were not allowed to leave their homes that I had a reason and purpose to leave mine.  It may have only made small differences in my patients’ lives but it has made a major one in my  life.

Thank you for this opportunity to share my story.