Summary
The Health Technician works as a member of the Primary Care Service (PACT), under the guidance of the PACT/CBOC Clinical Nurse Manager. PACT provides comprehensive outpatient services to eligible veterans who present or are referred for preventative/routine care & urgent medical conditions. The Health Technician assists medical and nursing staff through technical, specialized or support services for the diagnosing or treatment of patient illnesses or medical conditions.
This job is open to
Clarification from the agency
ALL US CITIZENS.
DIRECT HIRE AUTHORITY: This position is being filled using Direct-Hire Authority (5 CFR 337.201) for this occupation.
Duties
The Health Technician duties include:
- Skill and precision in using phlebotomy needles, tools, materials and equipment is required to perform major duties of the position.
- Performs a wide range of diagnostic support duties such as taking, recording, and reporting vital sign deviations to provider obtaining specimens and labeling specimens for the laboratory.
- Makes gross visual observations and identifies subtle changes regarding the patient's condition, documents observations and communicates to practitioners.
- Performs a variety of specialized tests and procedures such as monofilament testing, and doppler exam of the extremity artery.
- Gather's diagnostic information using specialized equipment such as (but not limited to) pulse oximetry, bladder scanner, and ECG machine.
- Monitors patient for adverse reactions, recognizes abnormalities and brings them to the attention of the appropriate medical health care professionals.
- Independently performs direct patient care activities including intake, obtaining vital signs, ECGs, clinical reminders, and medication reconciliation.
- Identifies and reports data relative to more complex, non-routine patient situations including subtle changes in patient's behavior or condition or variations related to neurological signs, vital signs, or other parameters.
- Assist medical personnel in emergent situations as well as performing occasional minor to moderate de-escalation of agitated Veterans.
- Responds to medical urgencies/emergencies, initiates BLS and activates emergency medical system.
- Performs patient care procedures such as collection of specimens, applying dressings, adjusting simple supportive equipment.
- Performs direct patient support work to include collecting information from patients, providing personal patient care, and educating patients on pre-testing and post procedure activities.
- Performs test on patients such as Snellen and Ishihara's Color Deficiency.
- Takes tissue cultures or specimen samples. Fits patients for medical devices such as compression hose, blood pressure machines and braces/splints.
- Obtains release forms, assists patients' visitors and others requesting information guidance or referral for special assistance.
- Orders and maintains supplies for the clinic.
- Orders and maintains specialized supplies pertaining to instruments used for procedures in the clinic.
- Performs administrative tasks such as maintaining control records for specimens and tests and documenting measurements taken.
- Test patients, takes measurements, collects, and organizes data from follow up visits, reports result to provider.
- Performs patient check in, including obtaining and recording demographic data, vital signs, height, weight, chief complaint, brief history, current medications, and measurements for specific age groups.
- Prepares patient and treatment area and assists health care professionals with minor surgical, diagnostic, and therapeutic clinic procedures. Performs pre-procedure set-up, and dispositions Non-RME per facility standard operating procedures.
- Monitors patient during and after procedures and reports observations to nurse and provider.
- Documents workload and billable care data (encounter) into EMR.
- Maintains examination rooms with medical equipment by ordering and replenishing supplies, and cleaning and organizing between patients
- Answers telephone inquiries regarding services available and eligibility to provider accurate information and maintains good public relations.
- Performs other related duties as assigned.
Work Schedule: Monday-Friday; 7:30am-4pm.
Position Description Title/PD#: Health Technician/PD93071A and PD93072A
Physical Requirements:
This position requires visual acuity, keen hearing, clear distinctive speech, and manual dexterity. This position requires an ongoing mix of potentially long-periods of continued walking, standing, stooping, sitting, bending, pulling, pushing, and reaching over head. All patient care activities require PC keyboard and mouse use for data entry in the electronic patient record. Occasional heavy lifting will be required, particularly for patient transfers. The incumbent may be exposed to infected patients and contaminated materials and may be required to don protective clothing in isolation situations or operative/invasive procedures. The incumbent may occasionally be exposed to patient who are combative. In some instances, interaction with patients, caregivers, and staff can become intense, and the employee may be placed in a position of stress. The incumbent must be a mature, flexible, sensible individual capable of working effectively in stressful situations, able to shift priorities based on patient needs.
Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level.
Requirements
Conditions of Employment
- You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this job
- Subject to a background/suitability investigation
- Designated and/or random drug testing may be required
- May serve a probationary period
- Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
- A complete application package; Resume, Transcripts, etc
- Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process
Qualifications
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement.
Individual Occupational Requirements: Specialized Experience (for positions at GS-4 and above): Positions in this series range widely in type and include support duties to medical or health personnel such as audiologists, speech pathologists, medical officers, and optometrists. Therefore, technician experience is experience that required application of the knowledge, methods, and techniques of the position to be filled.
OR,
Education and Training For GS-5: Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree, with major study or at least 24 semester hours in subjects directly related to the position.
GS-05
- Specialized Experience: Applicants must have 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least GS-4 that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA's) to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled to be eligible for the GS-5 level.
OR,
- Education: Applicants may substitute education for the experience required. Four-year course of study above high school leading to a bachelor's degree with courses related to the occupation, if required. The applicant must have successfully completed post-high school education is qualifying for grades GS-3 through GS-5. This education must have been obtained in an accredited business or technical school, junior college, college or university for which high school graduation or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite. 1 year of full-time undergraduate study is defined as 30 semester hours, 45 quarter hours, or the equivalent in a college or university or at least 20 hours of classroom instruction per week for approximately 36 weeks in a business or technical school. At grades GS-4 and above, a portion of the education is usually directly related to the work of the position to be filled. Examples of related courses are provided in the individual occupational requirements where applicable. However, agencies may require other courses if they are considered to be more related to the position to be filled.
- Training: Completion of appropriate training such as inservice training programs, training acquired while serving in the Armed Forces, and government-sponsored developmental training programs will be allowed credit on a month-for-month basis, generally through the GS-5 level. Such training meets general or specialized experience requirements depending upon its applicability.
OR,
- Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at the GS-05 level. Equivalent combinations of successfully completed post-high school education and experience are also qualifying. The combinations described below are those most typical for these positions, i.e., for grades GS-3 through GS-5. If education is used to meet specialized experience requirements, then such education must include courses directly related to the work of the position. For GS-5level positions, only education in excess of the first 60 semester hours of a course of study leading to a bachelor's degree is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirements. Two full academic years of study, or 60 semester hours, beyond the second year is equivalent to 1 year of specialized experience.
GS-06
- Specialized Experience: Applicants must have 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least GS-5 that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA's) to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled to be eligible for the GS-6 level. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level. Applicants who have the 1 year of appropriate specialized experience, as indicated in the table, are not required by this standard to have general experience, education above the high school level, or any additional specialized experience to meet the minimum qualification requirements.
To calculate, first identify the percentage of required education you have earned (when substituting, you cannot use the first 60 semester hours that you earned). Then identify the percentage of required experience you possess. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify at the GS-XX. For example, an applicant who has 9 semester hours of graduate level education (i.e. 50% of graduate education required) and 6 months of creditable specialized experience (i.e. 50% of the required experience) would equal 100% of the required experience for the position A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.
Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.
Education
Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/.
Transcripts must be official or unofficial college transcripts. A copy of your certificate/degree or screenshot of your current classes are not a replacement of your transcript and they will not be used in the qualifying process. Your transcript must include your name and the name and full address of the institution.
If the position has an education requirement or you are qualifying based on education, you need to list your education history including the type of degree and your major of study. If the position requires a certain number of credit hours, you are strongly encouraged to list the relevant courses in your resume.
If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education.Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer (TJO). Please visit the Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP), va.gov/EMPLOYEE/docs/The-Fair-Chance-to-Compete-Act.pdf for more information.
Benefits
A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
Review our benefits
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
How You Will Be Evaluated
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Applicants will be referred in the order in which they were received.
Do not copy and paste duties, specialized experience, or information from the assessment questionnaire from this announcement into your resume as that will not be considered a demonstration of your qualifications.
Your resume must thoroughly describe how your skills and experiences align to the criteria defined in the "Qualifications" section of this announcement and must support your responses to the assessment questionnaire. We cannot assume you have performed the necessary experience required for this position regardless of your employment history or academic career. To ensure all the essential information is in your resume, we encourage you to use the USAJOBS online Resume Builder. If you choose to use your own resume, ensure it contains all required information and organize it so we can associate the following information for each experience/position:
- Job title
- Name and address of employer
- Beginning and ending dates of employment (month/day/year format)
- Hours worked per week. Part-Time or PRN experience will be pro-rated.
- Detailed description of job duties, accomplishments, related skills, and responsibilities to include any supervisory/managerial responsibilities and number of staff supervised, etc.
- Series and grade or equivalent (if a federal position)
Do not include photographs or video of yourself, sensitive information (age, date of birth, marital status, protected health information, religious affiliation, social security number, etc.) on your resume or cover letter. We will not access web pages linked on your resume or cover letter to determine your qualifications.
Required Documents
Documents Accepted:
- Cover Letter
- DD-214/ Statement of Service
- Disability Letter (Schedule A)
- Disability Letter (VA)
- Professional Certification
- Resume
- Separation Notice (RIF)
- SF-15
- SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
- Transcript
Documents Required:
Please review the above list(s) to ensure you have included all necessary documents required for your application. Not every applicant will require the same documents, therefore it is the applicants responsibility to ensure that their application package includes all necessary documents to determine qualifications and eligibility for appointment, such as a copy of your SF-50, transcript, ICTAP/CTAP documentation (for displaced Federal employees). You will not be contacted for additional information. Applicants will be deemed ineligible if supporting documentation is not submitted.
Veterans' Preference: Since the Direct-Hire Recruitment Authority is being used, traditional Veterans' Preference rules do not apply. Qualified veterans will, however, be given full consideration for this position.
Applications are accepted online. Applying online will allow you to review and track the status of your application.
If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:
Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from
schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
How to Apply
All applicants are encouraged to apply online.
To apply for this position, you must complete the occupational questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 09/20/2024 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12532080.
1. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USAJOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USAJOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire.
2. Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package.
NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date. To verify your application is complete, log into your USAJOBS account, https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login, select the Application Status link and then select the More Information link for this position. The Details page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and any correspondence the agency has sent related to this application. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process.
To return to an incomplete application, log into your USAJOBS account and click Update Application in the vacancy announcement. You must re-select your resume and/or other documents from your USAJOBS account or your application will be incomplete.
Next steps
After the vacancy announcement closes, applicants are evaluated to ensure qualification and eligibility requirements are met. After the review is complete, a referral certificate(s) is issued and applicants will be notified of their status by email.
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