Nursing Assistant

Clarification from the agency

All qualified candidates encouraged to apply. Open to U.S. Citizens, but non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens. NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

The Nursing Assistant in Home-Based Primary Care provides direct patient care to Veterans in the home setting who require assistance with
Activities of Daily Living (ADL)s and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL)s such as bathing, dressing, grooming, light housekeeping duties, and meal preparation. Under supervision of a Registered Nurse (RN), the Nursing Assistant is accountable for adhering to the standards of care, standards of practice and maintaining competencies with roles and responsibilities, while adhering to Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center policies and procedures.

Such responsibilities include, but are not limited to the following:

• Provides assistance with personal hygiene duties which include:
  • Bathing, partial bathing
  • Oral hygiene
  • Hair care
  • Shaving
  • Hand and foot care
  • Intact skin care
  • Dressing
• Assists with range of motion (ROM), ambulation, positioning and turning Veterans.
• Utilizes principles of body mechanics in Veteran lifting, equipment handling, and Veteran care related to activities.
• Applies slings and braces as needed.
• Provide simple/light meal preparation/assistance, clean up and report any nutritional concerns to the RN.
• Incumbent may be asked to provide simple/light housekeeping tasks to include dust, vacuum, sweep, straighten up, wash dishes, clean the bathroom and kitchen, do laundry, dispose of trash, change linens and making beds.
• Observes, reports, and records Veteran bowel and bladder function. Assists with bladder and bowel elimination which may include:
  • Assistance with bedpan, bedside commode, urinal, toilet
  • Application of condom catheters
  • Incontinent or involuntary care
  • Emptying urine/stool collection and colostomy bags
• May apply topical creams (not pharmacy dispensed)
• Simple dressing changes
• Performs diagnostic support duties, such as collection of specimens: stool, urine, sputum
• Serve as a responsible member of the nursing team requiring interaction with Veterans, family members, professional personnel, supportive personnel and members of other services; responding to concerns of Veterans and family in a manner that is effective and improves customer satisfaction.
• Observes and reports current observations such as Veterans' physical condition, emotional response, observes skin condition, variations in vital signs, urine, stool or sputum; personal habits of Veteran, and listens for clues to Veteran's reaction to illness and treatment, and reports observation to RN.
• Ability to recognize and react to emergent patient/resident care situations and intervene while waiting for assistance. For example, recognizing need for basic life support, controlling bleeding and assisting with behavior crisis, etc.
• Identify and report health and safety hazards in the work area and practice safe work habits. Incumbent must have the ability to recognize safety in the home that includes environmental, emotional, and spiritual aspect and be a mature, flexible, sensible individual capable of working effectively in stressful situation, able to shift priorities based on Veteran, environmental and program needs.
• Practices universal precautions and follows blood borne pathogen and other potentially infectious material standards.
• Incumbent is required to complete and maintain VA approved Basic Life Support (BLS); initiates and performs CPR.
• Responsible for charting into designated templates of the electronic health record (EHR) for assigned Veterans daily.
• Flexibility in schedule and assignments is required, must be self-motivated in the pursuit of meeting professional work standards. Willing to work cooperatively as a member of a team or as an individual in all assignments.
• Completes mandatory reviews and in-service(s) education in a timely manner.
• Maintain skills as identified by unit specific competencies. The incumbent may be required to participate in the Interdisciplinary Team meetings (IDT).
• Maintains valid driver's license and pass the Incidental Drivers Exam given by Occupational Health. The incumbent is an incidental operator who is required to operate a government owned or leased motor vehicle to properly carry out his or her assigned duties.

Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 7:00 am to 3:30 pm, No weekends, No Holidays
Compressed/Flexible: Not Authorized
Telework: Not eligible for Telework
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 93436-A, 93437-A, 93438-A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
VA Careers - Medical Support Assistant: https://youtube.com/embed/EE9c4XkaELo

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the 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.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• 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 identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Must pass pre-employment physical evaluation.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 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 trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

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. In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), no person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English.
• Experience, Education or Training. You must meet one of the following to meet the basic requirements for a Nursing Assistant (NA):
  1. Six (6) months of general experience. Experience must demonstrate the ability to acquire the knowledge and skills to perform the work of a NA; OR,
  2. One year of education above high school with courses related to the NA occupation; OR,
  3. Completion of an intensive, specialized, occupation-related training course of study or program of less than one year as a NA may also meet in full the experience requirements for GS-3.

Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements stated above, the following qualification criteria must be met for each grade. The candidate's qualifications must clearly demonstrate the level of competence required for the grade.

GS-03 - None beyond the basic requirements. NAs at this grade NAs are considered entry-level and are closely supervised.

GS-04 - To qualify at the GS-4 level you must meet the following:

• EXPERIENCE: One (1) year of experience as a Nursing Assistant or in another medical field (licensed practical nurse, health technician, hospital corpsman, etc.), performing technical and nursing skills requiring knowledge of the human physical and emotional states, therapeutic communication, and technical skills required for basic and intermediate treatments. OR,
• EDUCATION: Successful completion of two (2) years above high school in an accredited institution with courses related to nursing care, health care or in a field of study appropriate to the specialization of the position, such as education in a program for psychology, psychiatric, or operating room technicians.

AND, in addition you must demonstrate the following Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs):

1. Ability to provide a range of patient/resident care and contribute to the completion of the nurse care plan and recovery of patients/residents.
2. Ability to observe patients/residents' or residents' physical or emotional status and refer deviations and/or problems to supervisor in a timely manner.
3. Ability to properly use equipment, materials and supplies in simple diagnostic and treatment procedures such as bladder scan, continuous passive motion device, blood glucose monitoring machine, specimen collection, etc.
4. Ability to communicate effectively with patients/residents, their families and other health professionals.

GS-05 - To qualify at the GS-5 level you must meet the following:

• EXPERIENCE: One (1) year of progressively responsible assignments and experience equivalent to the GS-4 level which demonstrates knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) that are directly related to the specific assignment. Specialized experience includes but is not limited to functioning as a member of the nursing care team and assisting licensed nursing staff and other members of the care team in the full range of nursing care of patients/residents receiving outpatient care, home, or community living care or other patients/residents who are receiving preventative, acute, sub-acute, chronic, maintenance, and hospice care. OR,
• EDUCATION: Successful completion of 4-year course of study above high school leading to a bachelor's degree that included 24 semester hours of courses related to health care or possession of a bachelor's degree.

AND, in addition you must demonstrate the following Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs):

1. Ability to assist in the full range of nursing care to patients/residents with physical and/or behavioral problems in a hospital, long-term care or outpatient setting under the direction of a Registered Nurse and/or Licensed Vocational Nurse/Licensed Practical Nurse.
2. Ability to communicate orally with patients/residents, families, interdisciplinary team and other personnel. This includes serving as a preceptor to new NAs by assisting with the coordination of their orientation and overseeing/assessing their practical experience while in a clinical setting.
3. Ability to recognize and react to emergent patient/resident care situations and intervene while waiting for assistance. For example, recognizing need for basic life support, controlling bleeding and assisting with behavior crisis, etc.

Preferred Experience: Home Care

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-5. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-3, to GS-5

Physical Requirements: Driving, standing, walking, lifting, assisting patients with positioning and transfers, emotional stability, mental stability, working closely with others, and working with biohazardous materials.
(See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service for requirements.)

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 MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.
Your application, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following Competencies for this position:

• Attention to Detail
• Customer Service
• Flexibility
• Integrity/Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Reading Comprehension
• Self-Management
• Stress Tolerance
• Teamwork

• NOTE: You must include qualifying specialized experience employment periods in mm/yyyy to mm/yyyy format on your resume and indicate Full-Time or Part-Time (if Part-time, must include # of hours worked per week). AND, if you have held a Government position, that position's grade level MUST be listed on your resume; Failure to include all requirements in your resume will result in disqualification.
• Please refer to USAJOBS Help Center - What should I include in my federal resume? for additional information on resume requirements.

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.

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.

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.

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

• Resume

Special Note for Applications: To complete your application, please use the following link https://vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Resume.docx to download the standard Clinical Resume Document. This one-page document does not need to be modified and must be uploaded into the two-page restricted 'Resume' document upload field.

• Your full resume/CV may be uploaded without page limitation into the 'Other' document upload field.
• If you are a current federal employee you must provide a copy of your most recent SF50.

The following documents are accepted, and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position. Please ensure you have included all documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50's (current/former Federal employees), etc.

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

Veterans Preference
Although Hybrid Title 38 occupations follow Title 5 Veterans' preference rules, as required by the Merit Systems Protection Board (Graves v. A, 117 M.S.P.R. 697 (2012)), 38 U.S.C. § 7412 waives the requirement to apply Veterans' preference to external applicants for appointments made during the fiscal year to hybrid title 38 occupations reported among the occupations with the largest staffing shortages. This announcement occupation(s) is reported to be among the largest staffing shortages. Veterans preference does not apply to this job announcement per the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014 (PL 113-146, dated August 7, 2014)

Therefore, Veteran's Preference will not be applied to this posting's applicant scores and selection process.

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