VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare

The VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System operates two main campuses: the Nashville campus adjacent to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and the Alvin C. York campus in Murfreesboro roughly thirty miles southeast. The two divide responsibilities, with Nashville carrying acute inpatient and surgical care and Murfreesboro handling substantial extended care, rehabilitation, and mental health work. Community-based outpatient clinics extend access across middle Tennessee and into southern Kentucky. A longstanding affiliation with Vanderbilt University School of Medicine makes the system a teaching site for residents, fellows, and health professions students.

Services include inpatient medical and surgical care, intensive care, surgery, primary care, and a broad range of outpatient specialty clinics, alongside mental and behavioral health programs covering outpatient treatment, PTSD care, substance use treatment, and outreach to veterans experiencing homelessness. Extended care through a community living center and rehabilitation services support an aging veteran population, with the Murfreesboro campus carrying much of that load. Nurses practice across critical care, medical-surgical, perioperative, outpatient, mental health, and long-term care settings, with roles differing considerably by campus. Nursing positions fall under federal employment, so pay and advancement follow VA structures rather than the terms at Vanderbilt or HCA.