Establishing VA Affairs Affiliation Agreements for Clinical Training of Nursing Students
Webinar Details & Objectives
Nursing schools across the nation struggle to expand student enrollment to meet projected nursing workforce demands due to inadequate clinical training capacity and faculty shortages. In recent years, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Academic Affiliations has implemented multiple innovative nursing workforce training programs to enhance nursing education and practice by facilitating a stronger and mutually beneficial partnership between VA and schools of nursing across the nation. In the academic year 2019, more than 25,000 nursing students completed all or part of their clinical training at VA facilities. The purpose of this presentation is to equip participants with an essential information to establish VA Nursing Academic Partnerships.
Objectives
- Provide an overview of the VA education mission, the VA Office of Academic Affiliations, and current nursing training programs
- Discuss the process for establishing VA Affiliation Agreement for clinical training of nursing students
- Share tools and resources for establishing VA Academic Partnerships
Speaker

Director of Nursing Education
Office of Academic Affiliations (14AA)
Department of Veterans Affairs
Dr. Jemma Ayvazian is the National Director of Nursing Education at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington, DC. In this role, she assumes responsibility for all Veterans Affairs academic nursing education programs, including more than 25,000 nursing trainees annually. Dr. Ayvazian received her Doctorate of Nursing Practice degree from Johns Hopkins University. She completed her Masters of Science in Nursing and Post-Master’s Certificate in Teaching at Boston College. She decided to dedicate her professional life to supporting veterans and their families upon completing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Regis College in Weston, Massachusetts.
Dr. Ayvazian is board-certified in Primary Care, Oncology, and Pain Management and served multiple roles at the Veterans Health Administration, with both clinical and administrative responsibilities. She worked at the Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Bedford, Massachusetts, and served as a Pain Management and Traumatic Brain Injury Nurse Practitioner and Program Coordinator in the Polytrauma Clinic at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Dayton, Ohio. She assumed clinical and program coordination responsibilities as an Oncology Nurse Practitioner at the Washington DC Veterans Affairs Medical Center before transitioning to the VA Central Office.Dr. Ayvazian received numerous performance and academic excellence and achievement awards during her career, including Jonas Veterans Healthcare and Bob Woodruff Foundation Scholar Awards.
Pricing and CE Credit
This webinar is free to deans, faculty, staff and students from AACN member schools of nursing. All non-member audiences will be required to pay a $59 webinar fee.
Continuing Education Credits
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation. The Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH) works with the National Board of Public Health Examiners (NBPHE) to provide CPH credits.