The following nurses joined the NOVA family in January 2021. Welcome! Please visit the member benefits page here to see all that NOVA has to offer.

LPN/LVN 

RN

APRN

Nurse Emeritus

Leslie Hodges-Jackson
Nora Krick
Janette Elliot
Laura Minor

*New members that have signed up via payroll deduction in the month of January, should expect a delay. Payroll deduction takes two to three pay periods for a member to appear in the database.

Call For New Members - WE WANT YOU!

Do you have ideas to improve the NOVA newsletter/blog and to increase member engagement on social media?

Calling all LPN, RN, APRN and Nurse Emeritus Members. We need your help!

If you answer "yes" to any of the following questions, you should join a NOVA committee.

• Do you enjoy being creative and brainstorming with others?

• Do you often think, “NOVA should’ve said or done THIS….?” 

• Do you get a thrill out of seeing your work in action and getting to actually measure the results? 

• Do you enjoy writing (blogging, especially) and participating in social media?

• Do you want to have a genuine impact on NOVA?

We invite you to join us!

WHAT WE DO!

Interested? Please join us for the next committee meeting!

This year NOVA will be trying something new. Each quarter we will be focusing on a different membership category to draw attention to all the benefits NOVA provides. This quarter NOVA would like to focus on our Nurse Emeritus members.  

Are you a current NOVA member who is willing to reach out to your colleagues to help promote the value of NOVA? 

Given the attention that this quarter is on the Nurse Emeritus members, we call all NOVA Nurses to encourage those who already have or are preparing to retire to join the Nurse Emeritus group. This certainly includes active or retired LPNs/LVNs, RNs or APRNs.

The individual who recruits the most Nurse Emeritus members by the end of March will win a NOVA embroidered fleece vest from LL Bean!

Recruit new members and you could earn prizes!

NOVA will hold weekly drawings to win NOVA branded prizes! Each time you recruit a member, you will be entered for a chance to win! For example: Refer 3 new members and get 3 chances to win!

Prizes:

• Grand Prize: The top recruiter who recruits the most Nurse Emeritus members at the end of the quarter will receive a NOVA embroidered fleece vest.
• Second Place Prize: The top recruiter at the end of the quarter who recruits the most non-Nurse Emeritus members will receive a NOVA Goodie Bag.
• Monthly Prize: The top recruiter for each month will receive a NOVA beverage tumbler.
• Weekly Prizes: Names of all recruiters will be entered for a chance to win NOVA pens, pins and masks. 

All recruiters for NEW memberships from January through March are eligible to win. Prizes will be announced on social media and will be listed in the NOVA News e-newsletter.

• Email names of the recruited new members to nova@vanurse.org for record keeping and verification.

• The email should include the following: recruiter's name, names of new members, recruiter's chapter and hardcopy application (if the new member didn't sign up online).

• Email names of the recruited new members daily by 4:00 pm.

If you have any difficulty, please contact NOVA Headquarters at nova@vanurse.org where a team member will be happy to help you!

Steven Powell, MSN, RN, RN-BC, CRRN
NOVA Director
Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, Houston, TX
NOVA Chapter 388

Steven Powell

Hello NOVA Colleagues! I am happy for the opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Steven and I serve as a Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Registered Nurse & People With Disabilities Program Manager at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center (MEDVAMC) in Houston, TX. I have been working at MEDVAMC since 2013, where I started  with the Veterans Affairs Learning Opportunity Residency (VALOR) Program in SCI. After graduation I accepted a position on a medical-surgical telemetry floor until 2017 when I returned to SCI. I have served in numerous auxiliary roles for my facility, with notable current roles including Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and high yield Explosives (CBRNE) Decontamination Instructor and Disaster Emergency Medical Personnel System (DEMPS) Volunteer. Through DEMPS, I was deployed January 2020 to Puerto Rico in response to their 6.4 earthquake, one of my most rewarding experiences as a nurse.

My path to nursing was rather atypical. Nursing was not the first career that I chose, nor was anyone in my family in the healthcare industry. Originally, I worked in the music industry of New Orleans, and I wore many different hats from show production to DJing. The most notable position I had was with Sony Music as a College Marketing Representative. I was quite effective in this role, earning a gold record through Columbia Records for my efforts on the debut album of MGMT titled "Oracular Spectacular". While the work was fun, there was something missing. Thus, I left music as a career to do some soul searching in Houston. In the process, I began volunteering at a hospital and knew I wanted to be a nurse. I attended the Kramer School of Nursing at Oklahoma City University. I fully credit my graduation to my grandparents, who I lived with during the course of the program. My grandfather is a Marine Corps Veteran, and he has been my inspiration in serving as a nurse with the Department of Veterans Affairs. The love I have for the VA is what led me to choose Duke University in pursuing a Master of Science in Nursing. 

As I grew in my career as a nurse, I began to understand the value of professional organizations and became a member of NOVA. One of my favorite things about NOVA has been the opportunity to serve on the Legislative Committee. I'm looking forward to co-chair this committee with Ceci McVey alongside Teresa Morris, Director of Advocacy & Government Relations. For those who have not interacted with Teresa, she is one of the best on the Hill. I encourage everyone to read her updates on what is happening in Congress, or even take that next step and join the Legislative Committee. If you have never worked in the world of legislation, now is a perfect time to become involved as the 117th Congress begins. It is my hope that NOVA continues to grow in membership, and that the valuable voice we have to offer continues having a seat at the table on VA legislation.

Nancy Claflin, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, CENP, CCRN-K, CPHQ, FNAHQ

Nurse Emeritus

NOVA Chapter 110

Nancy Claflin

NOVA presents webinars every month, giving you the opportunity to gain knowledge and ask questions of presenters, as well as obtain nursing continuing education/continuing professional development credits. The Nurses Organization of Veterans Affairs (NOVA) is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation. 

There are seven steps in the registration process, and you have to complete each step in order to be registered. You will receive an email notification from NOVA telling you about the upcoming webinar.  On the email that you receive from NOVA, click the "Register Now" button to get started.  You have completed the first step in the registration process.

Next, you will see the following information. It’s important to note that once you complete the registration on the NOVA website, there is an additional link that you need to click to complete your registration.  

Click the "Next" button at the bottom and you will see the next screen, again notifying you that you need to click an additional link following your registration form to complete registration.  You have completed the second step in the registration process.  

Click "Save & Finalize Registration" and you will receive the Checkout, which has two parts. You have completed the third step in the registration process.  

Click "Proceed to Confirmation". You have completed the fourth step in the registration process.

Click "Complete Order". You have completed the fifth step in the registration process.

Be sure to click on this page as noted. You have completed the sixth step in the registration process.

Click on the "Register" button. You have completed the seventh step in the registration process. You will see the following notice that you are registered and can add the registration to your calendar.

You will know that you have successfully registered when you receive the following email.