Nursing Employment

At Virtua, our nursing orientations are designed to help you hit the ground running. Orientation begins at the Center for Learning in Mount Laurel and constitutes the first week of your orientation experience. Unit-based orientation begins the following week when you reach your unit of hire. Your orientation is overseen by an assigned preceptor and a Master’s prepared nurse. And depending on your past experience and competency levels, orientation can last either a few days or up to 12 weeks.

Clinical Regulatory Class:

• Patient safety guidelines from The Joint Commission and The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
• HIPAA/Confidentiality
• Patient Rights

• Nursing competency related to patient care, medication administration and vascular access
• Computer documentation classes (e.g., CIS/Soarian, IBEX, ORIS)
• Simulation

PCT Orientation:

• Patient care basics
• Phlebotomy competency for one week in a Virtua laboratory
• ECG Review
• Body mechanics
• Computer documentation

It's an exciting time for nursing professionals at Virtua. Our organization has embarked on a multi-year plan to transform the clinical environment via automation of patient medical records to enhance patient safety and outcomes, care delivery and clinical quality.

Clinical Transformation at VirtuaThe success of this journey to date has been due to the passion, commitment and dedication of a core group of front line clinicians (i.e., design team members) representing all clinical specialty areas working with Information Service and vendor teams. These professional nurses, respiratory therapists and many other clinicians rendered their clinical expertise throughout the multiyear journey to support the design and build, testing, and finally implementation of the clinical modules in the patient care areas. Goals during the design and build phases of the project included timely data capture, support of best clinical workflows and clinical best practices, efficient care delivery, and patient and staff satisfaction.

Many external quality and regulatory bodies are contributing to the impetus across the healthcare industry to leverage technology to improve patient care delivery and clinical quality. Virtua is well on its way to transforming the clinical care environment with technology automation in the inpatient and outpatient care settings.

Here, we’re committed to ensuring you have access to a variety of technologies, e.g., Workstations on Wheels (WOWs) and electronic medical records, to empower you to achieve excellence every day. That’s why our state-of-the-art systems and technologies provide remarkable efficiencies and clinical excellence. You’ll receive the technology learning you need to do and be your best.

Virtua is an approved provider of continuing education in nursing by the New Jersey State Nurses Association. NJSNA is an accredited approver of continuing education in nursing by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation. Virtua’s continuing education department provides over 400 programs annually for more than 3,500 credited hours of continuing nursing education.

As a Virtua nurse, you’ll have access to accredited programs for RN, BSN, MSN and more, with attractive discounts and tuition reimbursement through Thomas Edison State College and Drexel University.

As a Virtua nurse, we offer you the opportunity to become a preceptor. A preceptor holds the key to providing quality experiences and guidance, which are critical to achieve success. In order to be successful in this role, a preceptor must possess the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to assist in bridging the gap between his or her current and new knowledge, gaining the confidence and competence to practice safely and independently.

The Preceptor Workshop will provide you with an opportunity to learn more about the role of preceptor, consider adult learning styles and learning theory, and enhance the necessary knowledge and skills to provide quality leadership in this role. Simulated experiences are a highlight of the workshop, resulting in thought-provoking discussions for dealing with difficult situations. A written competency is also included. The program is targeted for nurses who have at least one year of clinical experience and who currently serve as a preceptor or are considering serving in this role.

Staff nurses from across the health system collaborated to create this philosophy:

Virtua nurses are caring professionals committed to excellence. We support the values of the organization and play a key role in the development, planning, integration and evaluation of organizational goals. We utilize our specialized skills to meet the healthcare needs of the citizens of our community with caring and compassion through the continuum of services.

We are committed to caring for our neighbors across their life spans, recognizing that they are members of a family, culture, community and society. We collaborate with individuals and their families in developing a holistic plan of care. We respect their right to knowledge, privacy, confidentiality and active participation in decisions regarding their healthcare needs.

We are committed to excellence in practice through nursing autonomy and the utilization of critical thinking. We encourage creativity and risk taking in achieving optimal outcomes for each individual. Our scope of practice extends beyond the walls of the institution into the community, through the promotion of health and wellness.

We are committed to the advancement of evidence-based nursing practice and professional growth through participation in and utilization of research and the attainment of continuing education and certification. We foster an environment for mentoring that promotes independent decision making, accountability, and learning while recognizing and supporting each nurse's style and approach.

We are committed to working in a collaborative environment that promotes respect, positive communication and teamwork among all members of the healthcare team. We demonstrate our commitment to leadership in our active participation in local and state nursing communities.

Council initiatives include:

• Policy & Procedure development & communication
• Clinical Practice changes
• Standardizing nursing practice by specialty areas
• Investigating and establishing best practices
• Developing guidelines for nursing and ancillary educational processes
• Creating communication plans for new medications and products
• Supporting ongoing initiatives surrounding electronic medical records
• Constructing a superior nurse work environment
• Generating safety initiatives