NOVA Mentoring Program

Nancy Claflin DNP MS RN NEA-BC CENP CNEcl CCRN CPHQ FNAHQ

Chair, NOVA Education Committee

NOVA’s Mentoring Program

Did you know that NOVA has a Mentoring Program?  NOVA developed the Empower Mentoring Program to help NOVA nurses meet professional goals and pursue dreams for professional advancement within the VA.  The practice of mentoring in nursing has existed as long as the profession itself. Florence Nightingale is often credited as the founder of modern nursing and has been referred to as the mentor of matrons.  With mentoring in nursing, there is an understanding that there are benefits for both mentor and mentee, and that the availability of mentoring is vital.  According to Palermo (2024), mentoring in nursing has the potential to impact nurse retention and decrease turnover.  Nurse turnover increases the impact of the current nationwide nursing shortage and directly impacts patient outcomes negatively.  NOVA’s Mentoring Program is designed to guide a mutual relationship between an experienced VA nurse who is the mentor and the mentee.  Mentorship programs can support all nurses, including new graduate nurses and nurses new to the VA.  Research based evidence demonstrates that mentoring can reduce turnover and support new graduates in their transition to practice.  Mentees reported benefits including expanding their networks, gaining confidence working with management level topics, and developing professional as well as interpersonal effectiveness.  Mentors reported benefits including improving their coaching skills and benefitting from learning new ideas from their mentees.  Organizations with mentoring programs demonstrated an increase in employee retention, improved recruitment of diverse employees, and more cost-effective training.

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 Website. NOVA's Mentoring Program matches NOVA nurses across the country to help you learn about the VA and achieve your career goals. Learn more: https://www.vanurse.org

Palermo, K. (2024). Mentoring New Graduate Nurses to Decrease Turnover : A Pilot Project 
Journal of Christian Nursing, Vol41(1),pE10–E15.
DOI:10.1097/CNJ.0000000000001134

Nancy Claflin DNP MS RN NEA-BC CENP CNEcl CCRN CPHQ FNAHQ
Chair, NOVA Education Committee

NOVA’s Mentoring Program

NOVA developed the Empower Mentoring Program to help NOVA nurses meet professional goals and pursue dreams for professional advancement within the VA.  According to the 2024 NSI National Health Care Retention & RN Staffing Report, 30.2% of new graduate nurses leave their jobs within the first year of employment.  NOVA’s Mentoring Program is designed to guide a mutual relationship between an experienced VA nurse, who is the mentor, and the mentee.  Mentorship programs can support all nurses, including new graduate nurses and nurses new to the VA.  Research based evidence demonstrates that mentoring can reduce turnover and support new graduates in their transition to practice.  Mentees reported benefits including expanding their networks, gaining confidence working with management level topics, and developing professional as well as interpersonal effectiveness.  Mentors reported benefits including improving their coaching skills and benefitting from learning new ideas from their mentees.  Organizations with mentoring programs demonstrated an increase in employee retention, improved recruitment of diverse employees, and more cost-effective training.

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 Website; click on Education, then select Mentorship Program. NOVA's Mentoring Program matches NOVA nurses across the country to help you learn about the VA and achieve your career goals. 

More Information:
Bell, S., Gorsuch, P., Beckett, C., McComas, A., Boss, K., and Rose, K. (2025). An Evidence-Based Initiative to Reduce New Graduate Nurse Turnover:  Implementation of a Mentorship Program. Worldviews on Evidence Based Nursing, 22:e70009 1 of 7
https://doi.org/10.1111/wvn.70009

Heard on the Hill

Teresa Morris

July /August 2025

Advocacy and membership are essential to a strong voice on Capitol Hill. Your voice will be critical as we head into August recess.

Troubling legislation has been marked up by the House and Senate VA Committees.

H.R. 740/S. 275, the “Veterans’ Assuring Critical Care Expansions to Support Servicemembers (ACCESS) Act of 2025 includes provisions that if enacted, could seriously undermine future veterans' access to VA healthcare and services.

NOVA is advocating against several harmful provisions in the bill that would:

1. Allow a veteran’s “preference” for the first time, to automatically afford eligibility for community care. This would erode the VHA’s organizing foundation, which may eventually lead to changes in its staffing levels, in-house programs, and facility operations.
2. Permit veterans to access private sector healthcare without VHA referral, pre-authorization, or oversight that will also alter the integrated care model of the VHA, shifting its primary function from a provider of healthcare to a payer for private sector services.
3. While the intention is to vastly expand veterans’ preference and choice, these changes reduce healthcare options for the majority of veterans when specialized VHA programs and facilities are scaled back or closed.

Removing the VHA as the authorizer of care may eventually decrease available choices for veterans. As funds shift to the private sector, some veterans—particularly those with service-connected conditions who depend primarily on the VHA—could face fewer opportunities to select VHA services if essential units and programs are discontinued.

The bill cost would also drain internal VHA accounts – risking privatization of many VA services.

As we move into August recess, I encourage all of you to schedule meetings with your Members of Congress regarding what is happening at your VA facility and to speak about these issues and any other legislation that will harm internal VA care and services.

More than ever, your voice is critical during this time. Nurses remain one of the most respected professions across the country and your opinions are valued!

For information on the ACCESS Act / statement for the record and article published by the Veterans Healthcare Policy, learn more here: Veterans-ACCESS-Act-VHPI-analysis-2.15.25.pdf

I cannot stress the importance of your advocacy and influence. As nurses what you say matters and educating your lawmakers – both House & Senate – as to what you need to provide timely access to high quality healthcare is critical.

Keep advocating for yourselves, Veterans, and the VA System!

As May comes to a close, I hope you were able to spend time during nurse’s week to recognize and celebrate the hard work that VA nurses do every day. Nursing continues to be recognized as the most trusted profession but I also believe that nurses are the most resilient group of professionals.

During the fall of 1980, the nationwide shortage of registered nurses reached crisis proportions. Nurses were leaving the profession in droves, enrollment in nursing schools was decreasing, and discontent was widespread. This unfortunate situation was no more pronounced than in the VA system.  When PL 96-330 was passed by Congress without direct input from VA nurses, a small group of dedicated nurses at the Hines VA Hospital in Illinois decided that it was time for action.  This decision marked the birth of the Nurses Organization of Veterans Affairs.

It has been 45 years since the founding of NOVA yet we continue to face challenging and stressful times in the VA. 2025 has been an ever-changing landscape yet as nurses you come to work every day ready to care for the veterans that we serve. Being resilient means that you are flexible and adapt to the never-ending changes we are facing this year.

NOVA is also resilient and this year we have faced challenges due to the environment we find ourselves in.  We are working hard to maintain the only professional organization for VA nurses!

As you are aware NOVA has been impacted by executive orders. Payroll dues have been discontinued and as a result members of NOVA have been impacted. Your membership may have been discontinued if your dues were paid through payroll deduction. We have been working very hard to move to automatic payments to ensure our members continue to receive the benefits they deserve.

If you have not renewed your membership through automatic payments, now is the time!

More than ever, it is important for NOVA to meet the mission of advocating for VA nurses legislatively. 

Don’t forget to register for the 45th Annual Conference in beautiful Nashville!  Register today to ensure you are part of NOVA’s Annual Conference. Come and meet other VA nurses, make new friends and network with VA nurses across the country!

Join Us for NOVA's 45th Annual Conference in Nashville! 
 
Celebrating 45 Years of Advocacy, Empowerment and Healing: NOVA Nurses Committed Through Innovation and Leadership!

Nancy Claflin DNP MS RN NEA-BC CENP CNEcl CCRN CPHQ FNAHQ
Chair, NOVA Education Committee

NOVA provides live webinars every month. The webinars are available on the NOVA website after the presentation.  NOVA is in the second year of its 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 12:30 pm ET.   On June 17, NOVA members from NOVA Chapters in Boston, Hampton, Iowa City, and Richmond will present a webinar on “NOVA Chapters – Sharing NOVA’s Vision.”  On June 26, Kayla Atlija and Shannon Jensen will present “Guarding the Frontline: A Powerful Approach to Preventing Workplace Violence.”  On July 10, Rachel Sprunger BA MSW LCSW will present “Depression.”  On July 24, Teresa Morris BS will present “Contacting Your Congressional Representatives During August Recess.”  On August 12, Carol Ebert MA BSN RN CHES CWP will present “Exhausted No More! ‘Waking Up’ to New Science on Why You Can’t Sleep and What You Can do About it.”  On August 21, Michella Savoy-Carter MSN RN-BC CDCES will present “Primary Care Virtual Diabetes Clinic.” 

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.  Ask people to sign an attendance sheet, and send it to nova@vanurse.org after the webinar so those 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.  Clinical topic webinars currently available include:  A Look into VA Community Care; Acute Pain Management;  Adjustment Disorders; Addressing Homelessness and the HUD-VASH Program; Aromatherapy in Nursing; Breast and Cervical Screening Updates; Caring for Veterans with Rehabilitative Needs; Eligibility for VA Care, Compensation, and Pension; Empowering Seamless Transitions:  Enhancing Care Coordination Through the VA Consult Toolbox; Gulf War Illness; Hospice and Palliative Care; Military Sexual Trauma/Intimate Partner Violence; Organ, Eye, and Tissue Donation; Phototherapy; Providing Equitable Healthcare for LGBTQ+ Veterans; Safe Patient Handling; Substance Use Disorders; Suicide Prevention Strategies; VA Community Care Quality Improvement Program Train the Trainer:  Veteran Specific Population; Veterans Justice Outreach; Visually Impaired and Blind Veterans and Blind Rehabilitation Services; What is PTSD and How Do You Address it with Veterans?; Whole Health, Caregiver Support Program; and Wound Care.  Professional development webinars currently available include:  Evaluating Your Self-Assessment for Promotion to Nurse II with Educational Waiver,  Evaluating Your Self-Assessment for Promotion to Nurse III, and SAAs, SAPs, Nurse Safety Proactive Personal Protection, and Cash Awards.