Health Technician Job in Hines, IL

Vacancy No. HN-12805451-25-KB Department Veterans Health Administration
Salary $50,259.00 to $65,334.00 Grade 6 to 6
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 9/30/2025 Close Date 10/9/2025
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Status Candidates
Locations:
Hines, IL


Summary

This position is located at the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital, Hines, IL and is organizationally aligned under Nursing Service. The primary purpose of this position is to provide direct patient care activities, indirect patient care activities and related supportive services under the general guidance and direction of a Registered Nurse. This role requires the individual to demonstrate keen powers of observation, perception, and judgment; show initiative and pay meticulous attention to details.

This job is open to

Clarification from the agency

OPEN TO CURRENT PERMANENT HINES VA EMPLOYEES ONLY (INCLUDING CBOCS)

Duties

Clinical Support 75%
Establishes helpful relationships with patients and others; interacts in a courteous manner; explains patient care provided. Provides emotional support, friendly assistance, sympathetic understanding, and encouragement to patients/families. Contributes to patient's well-being by aiding with personal hygiene, bowel/bladder care, physical comfort, and a clean and safe environment. Provides appropriate support to patients in meeting their nutritional needs by clearing overbed tables, placing meal trays/nourishments within easy reach, preparing food/beverages, obtaining additional items, feeding patients, recording intake, and clearing trays. Adds prescribed nourishment to existing continuous tube feeding setup. Performs, reports and records measurements, such as vital signs, intake and output, pulse oximetry, bladder scan, glucose finger stick and other parameters. Identifies obvious patient problems, symptoms, behavioral changes, and deviations from normal in a timely manner to the appropriate Registered Nurse. Performs EKG as directed and provides results to Registered Nurse. Attach electrodes on patients for telemetry monitor and identifies proper lead placement. Upon discharge, cleans telemetry monitor and places in appropriate storage area. Collects urine, stool sputum, and blood specimens by phlebotomy using appropriate procedures. Accurately labels all specimens and delivers to laboratory as indicated. Provides selected respiratory care, under the direction of the RN. Applies appropriate principles of body mechanics and patient safety in assisting patients with movement, positioning, ambulation, and transportation. Provides activity orient exercises under direction of the RN and/ or rehabilitation therapist. Uses assistive devices appropriately. Assists nurses/physicians with diagnostic and therapeutic procedures performed on the unit. Safely transports patients to off unit appointments in the absence of escort. Applies principles of infection control when performing direct and indirect patient care assignments. Assists in emergency situations and initiates CPR when indicated. Records care given and objective/subjective patient observations on appropriate medical record forms. Assists in monitoring the Environment of Care for cleanliness, rooms free of clutter, and ensuring patients belongings are within reach. Perform purposeful rounding. Demonstrates competence in the performance of clinical procedures outlined in the approved skills inventory and unit-specific procedures as assigned. Provides care based on physical, psychosocial, educational, safety, and related criteria, appropriate to the age of the patients served in his/her assigned area (i.e., adult, and geriatric patient population). This entails knowledge of human growth and development; ability to assess and interpret age specific data and provide age specific care; communication skills necessary to interpret age specific response to treatment; and ability to involve family/significant others in decision making related to plan of care. The knowledge, abilities and skills needed to provide such care will be refined through continuing education and training and. experience. Reinforces patient health teaching related to self-care. Serves as patient care observer (when necessary) in accordance with established Medical Center guidelines.

Administrative Support and Coordination 25%
Correctly and safely uses equipment and supplies. Cleans and returns equipment to appropriate location and reports needs for equipment repair to the appropriate person. Maintains a safe, clean, and orderly work environment through routine maintenance activities such as ordering and stocking equipment and supplies; cleaning equipment and patient care areas; providing proper containment/ disposal of discarded materials; reporting maintenance and security problems to appropriate personnel. Contributes to creating a work climate that encourages positive staff morale, motivation, and commitment for all who participate in the care of patients. Answers telephone and call lights courteously, and relays messages in a timely fashion. Follows policies and procedures to ensure safety for patients, staff, and self. Identifies and immediately reports safety hazards to supervisors. Seeks guidance/clarification of instructions from appropriate individuals as needed. Completes patient care assignments within reasonable period and keeps Registered Nurse informed. Completes annual mandatory reviews, participates in continuing education at unit/service level, identifies personal learning needs/goals with supervision. Provides instruction to others on correct performance of defined tasks/procedures.

Work Schedule: 7:30PM - 8:00AM; ROTATING WEEKENDS AND HOLIDAYS
Telework: Not Suitable
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Health Technician/PD21231A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

  • You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
  • All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
  • Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
  • Subject to background/security investigation
  • Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
  • Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)
As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:
  • your performance and conduct;
  • the needs and interests of the agency;
  • whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
  • whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.
Upon completion of your probationary period or trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/07/2025.

Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-6 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-5. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade.

Basic Requirements: Specialized Experience: 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.

GS-6 Grade Requirements:
Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-5 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Applying basic knowledge of basic anatomy/physiology and medical techniques to support direct patient care; effectively communicating and providing support to patients and healthcare professionals; utilizing and maintaining medical equipment and instruments; performing safety/emergency procedures related to patient transport, infection control, environmental safety; observing and reporting changes in patients physical and emotional behavior; performing medical tests and duties including phlebotomy, EKG, and CPR; and entering patient information and vital signs in computerized medical record systems using appropriate terminology.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:
  • Infection Control
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Patient Care
  • Technical Competence


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.

Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment.

Physical Requirements: Physical requirements include extensive periods of standing and walking. Patient care activities require regular and recurring bending, lifting, stooping, stretching, pushing and similar activities using appropriate body mechanics and other assistive devices for patient and/or equipment movement and transfer. The employee protects self and others from injury.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Education

There is typically no educational substitution at this grade level.

NOTE: Graduate education or an internship meets the specialized experience required above GS-5 only in those instances where it is directly related to the work of the position. One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study. If that information cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours should be considered as satisfying the 1 year of full-time study requirement. Part-time graduate education is creditable in accordance with its relationship to a year of full-time study at the school attended.

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on 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/. 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. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Additional information

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.

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. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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.

Narrative responses are not required at this time. If you are referred for consideration, you may be asked to submit additional job related information, which may include, but not limited to; responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities; completion of a work sample, and/or contact for an interview. Your resume and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document.

Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Required Documents

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:

  • Resume
  • SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action


NOTE: Effective 9/29/2025 all submitted applications must contain resumes limited to two-pages in length and anything longer is prohibited. Only the first two-pages will be considered for qualification purposes for this announcement.

The following documents are accepted, and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position. Please make sure you have included other documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50's (current/former Federal employees), documentation to support Veterans Preference claims, or ICTAP/CTAP documentation (for displaced Federal employees). You will not be contacted for additional information.
  • Cover Letter
  • Other (1)
  • Resume
  • SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action


SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action (if applicable for Time in Grade and/or Eligibility):
  • Most recent SF-50 if you are a current or former Federal employee
  • An SF-50 showing your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade
  • Award 50's do not provide sufficient information and will not be accepted for the purpose of verifying time-in-grade.
  • Examples of appropriate SF-50's include:
    • Within grade increases at the highest grade held; or
    • Promotions with an effective date more than one year old; or
    • SF-50's at the highest grade held with an effective date more than one year old.

Veterans' preference does not apply for internal permanent agency employees.

Effective September 29, 2025, HR office staff must ensure the two-page resume limit is clearly stated in USAS in the "How to Apply" section of all applicable JOAs (identified in item 3, Scope, of this bulletin), by using the below language:

Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed.

Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement.

Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started.

Helpful Hints for Creating a Two-Page Resume:
  • Prioritize most relevant and recent experience
  • Use concise, results focused language
  • Align language from the job announcement
  • Focus on demonstrating skills and competencies
  • Remove outdated or unrelated experience
  • Use the USAJOBS resume builder

Additional guidance on this new requirement and resume building tools can be found at:

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 questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 10/07/2025 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12805451.

  1. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USA JOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS 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.

The Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified: applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. Information about CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.

During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

Agency contact information

Kiara Braggs
Address
Edward Hines Junior Hospital
5000 South 5th Avenue
Hines, IL 60141
US

Next steps

Once your online application is submitted you will receive a confirmation notification by email. After we receive application packages (including all required documents) and the vacancy announcement closes, we will review applications 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. Referred applicants will be notified as such and may be contacted directly by the hiring office for an interview. All referred applicants receive a final notification once a selection decision has been made.

You may check the status of your application at any time by logging into your USA Jobs account and clicking on Applications. Information regarding your application status can be found in the USAJobs Help Center.

NOTE: Participation in the seasonal influenza program is a condition of employment and a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). It is a requirement that all HCP to receive annual seasonal influenza vaccination or obtain an exemption for medical or religious reasons. Wearing a face mask is required when an exemption to the influenza vaccination has been granted. HCP in violation of this directive may face disciplinary action up to and including removal from federal service. HCP are individuals who, during the influenza season, work in VHA locations or who come into contact with VA patients or other HCP as part of their duties. VHA locations include, but are not limited to, VA hospitals and associated clinics, community living centers (CLCs), community-based outpatient clinics (CBOCs), domiciliary units, Vet centers and VA-leased medical facilities. HCP include all VA licensed and unlicensed, clinical and administrative, remote and onsite, paid and without compensation, full- and part-time employees, intermittent employees, fee basis employees, VA contractors, researchers, volunteers and health professions trainees (HPTs) who are expected to perform any or all of their work at these facilities. HPTs may be paid or unpaid and include residents, interns, fellows and students. HCP also includes VHA personnel providing home-based care to Veterans and drivers and other personnel whose duties put them in contact with patients outside VA medical facilities.


Note: We cannot accept applications on behalf of Federal Agencies. Application instructions are listed within the Job Description.


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