Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.
Basic Requirements:
- United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
- English Language Proficiency: MSTs must be proficient in spoken and written English.
- Experience and/or Education:
- Experience: Six months of experience that demonstrates the applicant's ability to perform the work or provides an understanding of the work; OR
- Education: One year above high school that included at least 6 semester hours in health care related courses such as sterile processing, nursing assistant, hospital corpsman, and operating room and surgical technician courses or other courses related to the position; OR
- Experience/Education Combination: Equivalent combination of experience and education are qualifying for entry level for which both education and experience are acceptable.
- Foreign Education: To be creditable, education completed outside the U.S. must have been submitted to a private organization that specializes in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education must have been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U. S. programs.
GS 7 Experience: Haveone (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-6)? Examples of specialized experience include but are not limited to: Receiving contaminated critical and semi-critical RME in the decontamination area; disassembling the RME and determining the correct cleaning method, such as but not limited to ultrasonic cleaners, mechanical washers, cart washers and chemical cleaning/decontamination agents, as determined by manufacturer instructions; inspecting, assembling and determining the correct method and packaging for sterilization such as but not limited to steam, Steris and high level disinfecting scope re-processors; performing and documenting daily operational checks and records for all sterilization equipment.
In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:
1. Ability to instruct staff on the correct procedures and protocols for completing assignments.
2. Skill in communicating with staff to ensure compliance with written directives, rules and regulations.
3. Skill in interpersonal relationships in dealing with employees, team leaders, and managers.
4. Knowledge of sterility principles in order to instruct staff on decontamination procedures.
5. Ability to lead individuals, manage priorities, and schedule work assignments.
Preferred Experience: Recent experience ins Sterile Processing
Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit
https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.
Physical Requirements: Work is typically performed in a clinical setting that exposes incumbent to biohazards, hazardous chemicals, and hazardous medications common in a health care environment. Such exposure will be mitigated, in accordance with local policies and operating procedures, as per USP800 standards, OSHA guidance, and local risk assessment practices. Standard safety precautions and PPE are required and specified per local policies.
This work is performed in various settings: decontamination, preparation, clean sterile supply(preparation) and in other services and departments throughout the medical facility/campus. The incumbent may be required to work in areas that are hot, cold, drafty and poorly lighted. The employee is subject to the possibility of falls, scrapes, cuts, bruises, and other injuries from material handling equipment. The work requires standing and walking during the entire workday and frequent bending and lifting of packages (occasionally weighing as much as 25 pounds). The work requires dexterity and visual acuity for manipulating, disassembly and assembly of instrumentation.
On a regular and recurring basis, the employee alternates between a contaminated environment and a carefully controlled clean environment. The employee wears special clothing, hair covers, and personal protective equipment and shoe covers that can be uncomfortably warm. The employee uses insulated gloves to remove carts from sterilizers. The employee is subject to burns from accidentally touching hot items. The hazards of working around minute quantities of sterilizing gasses are unknown. The employee often works around body fluids, mucous, excretions and bits of tissue, some of which may be foul smelling. Strong, unpleasant odors are encountered while decontaminating bloody or grossly contaminated instrumentation or reusable medical equipment. The work area is noisy due to the clatter of metal instruments, rumbling of carts and operation of pre-sterilizing equipment.
In the performance of official duties, the employee must be able to utilize office automation equipment, personal computers, bar code scanners, fax and copier machines and CENSITRAC software programs, and possesses the ability to apply skills to ever changing office/inventory technologies. The employee must be proficient in utilizing the CENSITRAC and other VA automated systems.