I applied and was accepted to be a VALOR Scholar RN at the Richmond Veteran's Affairs Medical Center the summer before my senior year of nursing school. VALOR stands for Veteran's Affairs Learning Opportunity Residency, and it is a very prestigious externship to be selected for--as evidenced by the extensive interviewing process.

I was placed on the surgical floor and working under a registered nurse during my duration as a VALOR student. I provided patient care under the supervision of a registered nurse preceptor including dressing changes, medication administration, assessments, documentation, and care plans. I gained most of my hours on the Surgical floor, with rotations to the Surgical Intensive Care Unit, Operating Room, Spinal cord and disorder unit, Hospice, Hemodialysis, and several other clinics and units including the pain clinic. As part of the program’s requirements, I completed a research project, produced cue-card flashcards, and implemented them on the surgical unit. These cards were to be utilized for patients under anesthesia effects or patients suffering from hearing loss, dementia, or delirium. This research was presented to the leadership team at the Richmond Veterans Affairs Medical Center at the end of my externship.

I gained knowledge and  time management skills during this opportunity. Prior to working as a VALOR RN, I only had clinical experience where we we worked exclusively with our nurse and very rarely were alone with the patient. During my VALOR experience, I was able to provide patient care, hang medications, titrate drips, make phone calls, speak with physicians, and push IV medications. I became more comfortable with the aforementioned skills and took this experience with me to my critical care clinical the Fall 2016 semester. During my time on 2F, I also became familiar with caring for PICC line patients, LVAD patients, post-heart transplant patients, and ostomy patients.

I was also offered the opportunity to return during my winter break to work on the same unit under the same preceptor to gain additional experience. I completed over 100 hours during this VALOR II program. I am very thankful to have been given the opportunity to serve the veteran's of our country,