Nurse practitioner residency | veterans affairs

GENERAL INFORMATION:  VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System welcomes you to the Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Residency. We invite you to explore the information about VASNHS’ Nurse

Practitioner Residencies and the organization. Throughout the program, residents receive daily one-on-one supervision with carefully selected clinical faculty who are excellent clinicians

and caring mentors. Program faculty and preceptors make every effort to support each resident in their professional and personal wellness.  Residents are encouraged to ask questions, broaden

their knowledge base, and refine their clinical skills in assessment, psychopharmacology, and psychotherapy. They gain ample hands-on experience using their clinical skills with a diverse

population and a range of clinical settings. Each clinical experience will be of substantial duration (minimum of 3 months) so residents can work closely with their clinical faculty, site,

and Veterans. Residents will gain hands-on experience using their clinical skills while providing direct care to Veterans. Residents will serve a diverse population of Veterans in the

Southern Nevada region in the settings of outpatient psychiatry, inpatient psychiatry, and an elective mental health specialty program.  During each clinical experience, mental health nurse

practitioner residents routinely collaborate with colleagues of different professional backgrounds including nursing, medicine, social work, pharmacy, psychology, primary care, as well as

other professions and specialties. Graduates of MSN and DNP psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner programs are encouraged to apply for the residency.  PROGRAM STRUCTURE:  The mental

health nurse practitioner residency program is designed to identify and meet the individual learning needs of new psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners without work experience as a

nurse practitioner. The residency seeks to develop mental health clinicians who are highly skilled in evidence-based practices who are ready to meet the challenge of serving our country’s

veterans.  VASNHS’s Behavioral Health Services has a broad array of programs specializing in treating Veterans affected by severe mental illness, substance use disorders, gambling disorder,

post-traumatic stress disorders, neurocognitive disorders, sleep disorders, and couples and family relationship conflict. Additional services offered through BHS include Cognitive Behavioral

Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Dialectical and Behavioral Therapy, and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, transcranial magnetic stimulation, medication assisted

treatment for opioid and alcohol use disorders.  The residency program structure is based on Jean Watson’s Theory of Human Caring/Caring Science and Dr. Patricia Benner’s theory of Novice to

Expert. At program completion, residents can expect to step confidently into broad range of mental health nurse practitioner positions in complex healthcare environments This 12-month

residency consists of a 40-hour work week. The program is clinically focused 80 percent of the time and includes didactics 20 percent of the time.  SCHOLARLY EVIDENCE BASED PROJECT: The

residency aims to recruit nurse leaders who aspire to improve the healthcare system, patient outcomes and contribute to the advancement of the nursing profession. Residents will develop

leadership skills in preparation for their role as, stakeholder in the shared model of governance at VASNHS. A range of leadership opportunities are incorporated throughout the residency

including leading a evidence based  project and presenting their findings to their colleagues and service line administration in addition to potentially presenting at a professional

conference.  Residents work closely with clinicians throughout the VA of Southern Nevada and there is open communication with the University of Nevada in Las Vegas and Reno.  Upon completion

of this program, graduates will receive a Residency Completion Certificate from the program with the number of documented clinical hours. **If you are interested in submitting your

application and documents during the acceptance time-period, please email the program director and he/she will send you a secure email to submit your personal information.  All required

documents must be submitted at the same time (except for official transcripts) and must be in pdf format including Letters of Recommendation or the application will not be accepted.  CONTACT

THE MH-NPR DIRECTOR: Dr. Candie Cuneo, email: DNP, APRN, PMHNP-BC email: [email protected]  OFFICE CELL: 702-715-1581 or CONTACT PC-NPR PROGRAM DIRECTOR: Michelle Dunne, APRN email:

[email protected] OFFICE CELL: 702-600-5502