Join the Advanced Heart Failure Specialty Unit at Sentara Heart Hospital!

Sentara Heart Hospital, located on the campus of Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia, is hiring a Registered Nurse to join our Advanced Heart Failure Specialty Unit. Build your nursing career alongside a collaborative team delivering specialized care to patients with complex cardiac conditions.

Position: Full-Time Nights

New graduate nurses are welcome to apply!

Compensation

  • New graduate RNs: Starting at $36.00 per hour.
  • Experienced RNs: $41.93–$61.01 per hour, based on years of experience.
  • Up to $20,000 sign-on bonus available for qualified candidates.

About the Advanced Heart Failure Specialty Unit

Our 24-bed specialty unit provides high-acuity cardiac care to patients with severe heart failure, pre- and post-heart transplant needs, Total Artificial Heart support, and pulmonary hypertension.

  • Develop specialized skills using advanced technology, including mechanical circulatory support devices such as LVADs and BiVADs, along with telemetry monitors.
  • Collaborate with an interdisciplinary team in an environment built on consistent, around-the-clock communication.
  • Care for 3–4 patients per assignment, based on patient acuity.

The Advanced Heart Failure Unit is an AACN Gold Beacon Award recipient, recognized for excellence in patient care and a work environment that supports teamwork, collaboration, and positivity.

Sentara Heart Hospital is a 112-bed facility ranked #2 in Virginia for Cardiology and Heart Surgery and #24 nationally for best heart programs.

Registered Nurse Responsibilities

The Registered Nurse (RN) provides competent nursing care using critical thinking and the nursing process. Standards of practice include assessment, diagnosis, outcomes identification, planning, implementation, coordination of care, teaching and health promotion, and evaluation.

Professional performance standards include ethics, culturally congruent practice, communication, collaboration, leadership, education, evidence-based practice and nursing research, quality, evaluation, resource utilization, and environmental health. The RN maintains the clinical knowledge and skills necessary to meet the standards of the specific clinical area.

Education

  • Associate degree or diploma in Registered Nursing required.
  • Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) or Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) preferred.

Certification and Licensure

  • Virginia RN license or Compact/Multi-State eligibility.
  • BLS required within 90 days of hire for all direct-care RNs.
  • ACLS required within one year of hire for Critical Care/IMCU.

Experience

  • No experience required.
  • Previous healthcare experience preferred.
  • New graduate nurses welcome!

Start Your Nursing Career with Support

Sentara’s Transition to Practice Program supports new graduate nurses as they transition from the classroom to clinical practice. Through hands-on learning, professional development, and mentoring, the program helps nurses build clinical skills, strengthen critical thinking, and grow in confidence as they begin their nursing careers.

Keywords: Cardiac, Cardiac Specialty Unit, Heart Transplant Unit, Talroo-Nursing, AHFU, IMCU, New Graduate Nurse, Medical Unit, PCU, ER

We provide market-competitive compensation packages, inclusive of base pay, incentives, and benefits. The base pay range for full-time employment is $41.93 – $61.01 hourly. Additional compensation may be available for this role, such as shift differentials, on-call pay, overtime, shift premiums, extra-shift incentives, or bonus opportunities. Compensation within the range may vary based on qualifications, experience, location, market conditions, and business needs. Sentara offers a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, vision, life and disability insurance; 401(k)/403(b) with employer match; paid time off (vacation, sick time, and holidays); paid parental and military leave; educational assistance or student loan repayment; and voluntary benefits.

Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, located in Norfolk, VA, is a 525-bed tertiary care facility that is home to the only Level I Adult Trauma Center and burn trauma unit in Hampton Roads, and also serves as the primary teaching hospital for Eastern Virginia Medical School. In addition to the high-quality heart program at Sentara Heart Hospital, our facility is home to Nightingale Regional Air Ambulance and several other dedicated facilities and specialized services. As a recognized accredited Comprehensive Stroke Center, and Magnet hospital for nursing excellence, our hospital specializes in heart and vascular, neurosciences, neurosurgery, urology, oncology, spine care, advanced imaging, behavioral health, maternity, and women’s health, including a state-of-the-art neonatal intensive care unit.ed Imaging Center at Sentara Princess Anne Hospital is conveniently located in the heart of Virginia Beach and offers high-speed digital diagnostic equipment that provides faster and more precise results. The center provides one of the region’s most advanced imaging technologies interpreted by board certified radiologists specializing in various areas of imaging.

Sentara Health, an integrated, not-for-profit health care delivery system, celebrates more than 135 years in pursuit of its mission – “we improve health every day.” Sentara is one of the largest health systems in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic and Southeast, and among the top 20 largest not-for-profit integrated health systems in the country, with 34,000 employees, 12 hospitals in Virginia and Northeastern North Carolina including 10 hospitals with the prestigious Magnet® recognition, and the Sentara Health Plans division which serves more than 1 million members in Virginia and Florida. Sentara is recognized nationally for clinical quality and safety, and is strategically focused on innovation and creating an extraordinary health care experience for our patients and members. Sentara was named a Health Quality Innovator of the Year (2024), was recognized by Forbes as “America’s Best-In-State Employer” (2024), “Best Employer for Veterans” (2022, 2023), and “Best Employer for Women” (2020), and named to IBM Watson Health’s “Top 15 Health Systems” (2021, 2018).

Learn more

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A woman smiling as a healthcare worker helps her with arm exercises in a bright, sunlit room.
A woman smiling as a healthcare worker helps her with arm exercises in a bright, sunlit room.

Our Culture

At Sentara, our differences are our strengths. The unique backgrounds, skills, and experiences that each Sentara colleague brings to work make Sentara special and allow us to deliver excellent service and care to our patients, members, and communities.

Our Benefits

We are committed to consistently enhancing our training, advancement tracks, work-life benefits, and more. Our goal is to make you feel more excited to be here every day!

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Two female doctors in lab coats smiling and chatting in a hospital hallway.
Two female doctors in lab coats smiling and chatting in a hospital hallway.
Two nurses in scrubs smiling and chatting during a break, one holding a coffee cup in a bright hospital setting.
Two nurses in scrubs smiling and chatting during a break, one holding a coffee cup in a bright hospital setting.

The Sentara Nursing Experience

Making a meaningful impact on health requires compassion, dedication, continuous learning, teamwork and collaboration. At Sentara, we also recognize that in valuing the professional and personal well-being of our nurses, we build a stronger, more supportive workplace for our nurses. And that’s making us healthier from the inside out. These principles unite our nurses across various roles and locations.

Two nurses in scrubs smiling and chatting during a break, one holding a coffee cup in a bright hospital setting.
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The Sentara Clinical Experience

No matter where you choose to join us, in an inpatient or outpatient setting, you will be part of an interdisciplinary Clinical team passionate about quality care and patient safety. You will have access to the tools and technologies you need to succeed and the chance to learn and grow through training and educational programs so you can advance your career as a Clinical professional.

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The Sentara Support Services Experience

Each day, the Sentara Support Services team helps improve healthcare at more than 300 Virginia and Northeastern North Carolina sites. We perform various patient care activities, provide multiple services, and handle administrative functions that support our patients and their families. These vital functions include assisting the medical team in all aspects of medical care, such as treatments, procedures, and diagnostic and laboratory testing.

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The Medical Group Experience

As part of Sentara Health, Sentara Medical Group providers have diverse opportunities across regions and inpatient and outpatient locations. For those providers based in one of 12 hospitals, we have close working relationships with the administration, ensuring a collegial and collaborative environment where all can come together around shared initiatives.

Guided by a dedicated board of providers, Sentara Medical Group not only offers leadership opportunities for its providers but also underscores the group’s crucial role in fulfilling Sentara’s overarching mission to meet the needs of our diverse patient populations, some of our most vulnerable communities. Our physicians and APPs enjoy opportunities for both personal and professional career growth through a network of resources aimed to cultivate an environment suitable for a lifelong career home.

Your Perspective Matters

Nurses are the heartbeat of our exceptional team. Our approach empowers nurses to actively participate in decision-making. Our nurses have a stake in shaping their workplace as well as their own career growth; one of the benefits of our focus on supporting and valuing team members. This framework encompasses our nursing mission, vision, values, philosophy, and the essential elements of our Professional Practice Model.

This image illustrates the Sentara Nursing Professional Practice Model. Read more about it on The Sentara Nurse Experience page.

Visual representation of the Sentara Nursing Professional Practice Model.

We Are an Equal Opportunity Employer

Sentara Health is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to the hiring, advancement, and fair treatment of every individual. Sentara and its affiliates do not discriminate against any individual or group of individuals on the basis of race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, marital status, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, physical or mental disability, pregnancy, medical condition, veteran status or any other legally protected characteristics.

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We Are an Equal Opportunity Employer

Sentara Health is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to the hiring, advancement, and fair treatment of every individual. Sentara and its affiliates do not discriminate against any individual or group of individuals on the basis of race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, marital status, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, physical or mental disability, pregnancy, medical condition, veteran status or any other legally protected characteristics.

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