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.
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
Grandfathering Provision. All MSTs that are employed in VHA in this occupation on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series and grade held, that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all the basic requirements required in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it, the following provisions apply:
1. Employees grandfathered into the GS-622 occupational series as MSTs may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journeyman) level.
Note: This position is above the full performance level.
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.
Physical Requirements. Described in VA Directive and Handbook 5019.
English Language Proficiency. MSTs must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA policy.
GRADE REQUIREMENTS
Creditable Experience:
- Knowledge of Current MST Practices. To be creditable, the experience must have demonstrated the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) associated with MST responsibilities. Experience satisfying this requirement may be paid/non-paid employment as a MST
- Quality of Experience. Qualifying experience must be at a level comparable to MST experience at the next lower grade level of the position being filled. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher level duties must consist of significant scope, administrative independence, complexity (difficulty) and range of variety as described in this standard at the specified grade level and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time.
- Part-Time Experience. Part-time experience as a MST is creditable according to its relationship to the full-time workweek. For example, a MST employed 20 hours a week, or on a 1/2-time basis, would receive 1 full-time workweek of credit for each 2 weeks of service.
Grade Determinations:
The following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates.
GS-08 Supervisory Medical Supply Technician (Sterile Processing)
Experience Requirement:In addition to meeting the basic requirements, to qualify for the GS-08 you must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-7). Examples of specialized experience include but are not limited to: Distributing and prioritizing workload among employees in accordance with established workflow and/or job specializations; assuring an even workflow and distribution of the workload; revising work schedules to meet anticipated and unanticipated changes in the workload; assigning work to staff based on experience and training needs; monitoring and reporting on the status of work; reviewing work in progress or spot checking work not requiring review to ensure completed work meets supervisors' instructions on such things as work sequence, procedures, methods, and deadlines; assessing the quality and quantity of work by reviewing the cleaning, reprocessing, and distribution of technical medical equipment, material and instrumentation.
Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:
- Ability to manage, interact and deal with individuals of varying backgrounds.
- Ability to direct staff and manage tasks to be completed.
- Ability to oversee and supervise all aspects of decontamination, preparation, sterilization, monitoring, and distribution of RME.
- Ability to perform a full range of supervisory duties, including assigning, planning and evaluating work, recommending awards, approving leave, identifying training needs, and resolving staff issues.
Preferred Experience: Advanced medical supply technician who can supervise the night lead MST and night technicians. The ideal candidate would have the experience to assist with the full range of duties essential to receive clean/decontaminate, assemble/prepare, sterilize or high-level disinfect, store and distribute sterilized and high-level disinfected reusable medical equipment (RME) to the operating room and clinics.
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-8.
Physical Requirements/Demands: 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 50 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, 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 presterilizing equipment.