Each year the US Department of Veterans Affairs selects students to participate in its highly competitive Veterans Affairs Learning Opportunity Residency (VALOR) program. Over the summer, two Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) students from Seton Hall University (SHU) were selected to participate in the ten-week program at the VA New Jersey Health Care System East Orange and Lyons campuses.

VALOR is a program designed to provide nursing students with a designated registered nurse preceptor who helps the student develop the competencies necessary for working as an RN caring for our nation’s veterans. The SHU College of Nursing was honored to have two students selected to participate, Kristin Donadio and Daisy Acevedo.

During the program, Donadio and Acevedo rotated through multiple units including intensive care, psychiatry, same day surgery, and long term care. As VALOR students, they also participated in the Nurse Practice Council, weekly educational programs, and delivered capstone presentations to the VA nurses and staff at the end of their ten weeks.

Donadio and Acevedo were thankful for the opportunity to improve their competence and confidence in providing nursing care through VALOR. In only ten weeks, the students developed personally and professionally, resulting in future plans to pursue professional careers in the critical care setting, ideally within the VA Health System. Both students noted that the values at the VA and at SHU are the same – nursing is all about ‘giving back,’ and showing kindness and respect to patients and staff.

Christina Morgan
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Nurse Practitioners: Meeting the Needs of Rural Veterans
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