Major Duties include, but are not limited to:

Diagnostic Testing and Therapeutic Processes:

• Supports professional, licensed providers, both nurses and physicians in designated clinical area using diagnostic and therapeutic medical instruments and equipment to perform non-invasive Electrocardiograms and Bladder Scans according to established procedures.
• Applies basic orthopedic splints and performs dressing changes in designated areas.
• Performs phlebotomy in designate Point of Care (POC) testing using glucometer and I-Stat devices and CLI authorized, according to established unit procedures.
• Documents treatment and/or telemetry identification conducted by the incumbent in the electronic medical record.

Care and treatment of patients with critical and emergent conditions:

• Assists professional, licensed providers, including nursing staff and physicians, in the care and treatment of the critically ill and those with emergent needs.
• Observes and reports to the provider changes in patient behavior, attitude, bodily complaints, and appearance.
• Reports observations of the condition of acute or chronic phase patients such as excessive vomiting, bleeding, type and amount of drainage; deviation in baseline cardiac rhythm, pulse, skin tone and integrity, respiration, temperature, blood pressure, protection and patency of airway; and changes in wounds.

Care and treatment of patients with acute and chronic mental health conditions:

• Provides non-professional nursing care to patients experiencing extremes of behavior on a regular and recurring basis.
• Intervenes by utilizing techniques per established procedures to keep the patient safe, and maintain personal safety, while awaiting assistance when patients express or display suicidal ideation.

Personal Patient Care:

• Performs a wide variety of duties aimed at increasing the comfort and spirit of the patient.
• Transports patients via wheelchair or gurney, accompanying ambulatory patients who need assistance reporting to various areas within the hospital including clinics, diagnostic areas, and treatment areas.
• Performs simple personal care duties such as bathing; demonstrates nursing standards for patient hygiene including bathing, oral, nail, and hair care. Assists patients with physical limitations such as swallowing disorders with meals.
• Assists patients with toileting needs, providing incontinent care as necessary.

Patient Communication:

• Empowers patients and their families, encouraging them to acknowledge and address personal healthcare issues and embrace recommended follow up as well as self-care.
• Enhances the customer experience with positive human interactions and therapeutic alliances, promoting the coordination, continuity and integration of care.

Documentation and Record Keeping:

• Performs administrative tasks and manages various support functions for clinic or practice such as maintaining control records for specimens and tests and documenting measurements taken. Initiates work orders, following up to ensure the work is completed.
• Orders and maintains supplies for unit.
• Coordinates with Medical Support Assistants to ensure patient tracking is initiated during check-in, scheduling of appointments for procedures, provider evaluations, etc., from other services.

Medical Equipment/Supplies.

• Works with SPS, Logistics and nursing staff to establish par levels of supplies for assigned unit and ensures supplies are readily available for patient care.
• Monitors and plans equipment inventory and routine equipment maintenance.
• Places orders and maintains specialized supplies needed for equipment and instruments used in assigned unit.
• Assists with stocking and room turnover to ensure the patient care environment is prepared to receive and care for patients.

Promotion Potential: This position is at the full performance level.

Work Schedule: Full time, Day Shift, 7:30 AM - 8:00 PM (6x per pay period) and 7:30 AM - 4:00 PM (1x per pay period) with rotating weekends and holidays
Compressed/Flexible: Authorized
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Health Technician - Patient Care Service/PD92902A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized

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
• You may be required to serve a probationary/trial period
• 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 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, 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, 11/04/2025.

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.

Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.

Interchange Agreement: Applicants must be eligible under the VA Interchange Agreement, having served continuously for at least one year in the other merit system under this interchange agreement. For more information regarding the VA Interchange Agreement please visit: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-authorities/competitive-hiring/.

You may qualify based on your experience as describe below.

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-05) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to:
  • At least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-5) in the Federal Service that has given me the particular knowledge, skills and abilities required to successfully perform the duties of a Health Technician.
  • Specialized experience includes but not limited to;
    • support professional, licensed providers, both nurses and physicians in designated clinical area using diagnostic and therapeutic medical instruments and equipment to perform non-invasive Electrocardiograms and Bladder Scans according to established procedures.
    • Performs phlebotomy, testing using glucometer and I-Stat devices.
    • Observes and reports to the provider changes in patient behavior, attitude, bodily complaints, and appearance.
    • Experience in duties aimed at increasing the comfort and spirit of the patient.
    • Experience in patient ambulatory care.
    • Experience in assisting in personal care duties such as bathing; demonstrates nursing standards for patient hygiene including bathing, oral, and hair care.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

• Critical Thinking
• Interpersonal Effectiveness
• Patient Care
• Technical Competence
• Technical Competence
• 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: Provides non-professional nursing care to patients experiencing extremes of behavior on a regular and recurring basis. Responds to emergency mental health situations, where danger of physical attack by patients requires special training. When patients express or exhibit suicidal ideation, the incumbent intervenes by utilizing techniques per established procedures to keep the patient safe, and maintain personal safety, while awaiting assistance. The incumbent must be able to lift 35 lbs., perform the following: pulling, pushing, reaching above the shoulders and laterally, use of fingers, both hands, arms, and legs, sitting, walking, and standing for long periods. Also, he/she must able to hear whispered voices (with or without a hearing aid), kneeling, repeated bending, ability for rapid mental/muscular coordination simultaneously, visual requirements for monitoring observation, depth perception, and ability to distinguish shades of color due to equipment wiring.

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/.

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.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.

Area of Consideration

Eligible applications will be reviewed and referred in the following order:

1. Current permanent VA employees of the facility.
2. All other VA employees.
3. Current permanent Federal employees of other agencies.
4. All other applicants.

Note: Veterans' Preference is not applicable to VA employees or employees of other Federal agencies.

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

• Resume

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
• DD-214/ Statement of Service
• Disability Letter (Schedule A)
• Disability Letter (VA)
• Other (1)
• Other (2)
• Other (3)
• Professional Certification
• Proof of Marriage Status
• Resume
• Separation Notice (RIF)
• SF-15
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

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: When applying for Federal Jobs, eligible Veterans should claim preference for 5pt (TP), 10pt (CP/CPS/XP), or for Sole Survivor Preference (SSP) in the questionnaire. You must provide a legible copy of your DD214(s) which shows dates and character of service (honorable, general, etc.). If you are currently serving on active duty and expect to be released or discharged within 120 days you must submit documentation related to your active duty service which reflects the dates of service, character of service (honorable, general, etc.), and dates of impending separation. Additionally, disabled veterans and others eligible for 10-point preference (such as widows or mothers of eligible Veterans) must also submit an SF-15 "Application for 10 Point Veteran Preference" with required proof as stated on the form. Documentation is required to award preference. For more information on Veterans' Preference, please visit Feds Hire Vets - Veterans - Job Seekers - Veterans' Preference.

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