Michael Zychowicz, professor, and Angela Richard-Eaglin, assistant professor, are working with the VA Office for Academic Affiliation (OAA) to develop a standardized national VA competency-based curriculum for Primary Care and Mental Health NP residency programs in partnership with other NP faculty members from across the US who lead VA-based postgraduate NP residency programs. As the number of these residencies has expanded, there is now a need to reduce the variability among training sites. Their work will provide a uniform and systematic framework for achieving residency program goals, outcomes, and practice competencies as well as develop milestones to assess the NP resident’s progression along the developmental pathway while engaged in a residency. In the end, they will be strengthening the VA’s ability to prepare a workforce to deliver quality care to Veterans and improve capacity to address systemic health care access challenges.

Both are going to the VA headquarters for a few face-to-face meetings during the year. During the December meeting at VA Headquarters, their group of NP faculty was invited to meet with James Byrne, Deputy Secretary for the VA (at left in the photo) and his senior advisor, Christine Bader, RN, PhD (at right in the photo).