The Health Technician is located in the Urgent Care Center at the Tennessee Valley Healthcare System (TVHS). The Health Technician will be assigned to Nursing Service and work under the general supervision of the Urgent Care Center, and will function under the direct leadership of a registered professional nurse.

Duties

The core duties for this position include but are not limited to: Adjusting and adapting specialized equipment for difficult procedures. Operating and maintaining vital sign equipment safely and efficiently and connecting patients to cardiac monitor appropriately. Performing timely ECGs and routine maintenance of ECG and/or other monitoring equipment as per unit policies and designated performance measures. Performing skin puncture for blood glucose checks and monitors glucometer controls according to hospital policy. Recognizing abnormalities and bringing them to the attention of the appropriate staff. Sets up, maintains, and cleans reusable medical equipment according to standard operating procedures and manufacturer's instructions. Responding to emergency situations. Transporting specimens to laboratory or specified location. Prepares patient for and assists medical/nursing professionals with procedures including intubation, central line placement, lumbar puncture, chest tube insertion, and thoracentesis. Assists RN with IV starts and maintenance of IV line patency. Performing direct patient support work. Work Schedule: Various; based on the needs of the service. Position Description Title/PD#: Health Technician (Urgent Care)/PD07618A Virtual: This is not a virtual position

Requirements

• You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this job.
• Subject to a background/suitability investigation.
• Designated and/or random drug testing may be required.
• You may be required to serve a probationary period.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• A complete application package; Resume, Transcripts, etc.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.
• 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.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza and Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Vaccination programs are requirements for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement. INDIVIDUAL OCCUPATIONAL REQUIREMENT (IOR): An IOR is a basic requirement that must be met in order to qualify for entry into this job series, and it is something that can't be waived. The Individual Occupational Requirement for the Health Technician position is: 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. In addition to the IOR, you must meet the specialized experience or education requirement below: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE at the GS-06 grade level: Applicants must have one (1) full year of experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level, GS-04, in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience is defined as: Assisting medical staff with or performing diagnostic procedures. Arranging and passing medical instruments and materials to medical and health professionals for a variety of diagnostic tests and procedures. Notifying physician of test results. Performing health care procedures such as collection of specimens, applying dressings, and adjusting simple supportive equipment. OR SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION: 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.. (Copy of Education Transcript is Required) OR COMBINATION: You must have a combination of specialized experience and education beyond a bachelor's degree. (Copy of Education Transcript is Required). To calculate, first identify the percentage of required education you have earned (when substituting, you cannot use the first 60 semester hours that you earned). Then identify the percentage of required experience you possess. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify at the GS-06. For example, an applicant who has 9 semester hours of graduate level education (i.e., 50% of graduate education required) and 6 months of creditable specialized experience (i.e., 50% of the required experience) would equal 100% of the required experience for the position. A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. 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. PHYSICAL REQUIREMENT: The work requires extensive periods of standing. It also requires regular walking, bending, lifting, and carrying of items that my exceed 45 pounds. The work requires above agility and dexterity. The employee may be scheduled to work varying hours/tours of duty and my be required to work overtime to complete the daily schedule. WORK ENVIRONMENT: The work is performed in a hospital setting (Urgent Care Center) where regular and recurring exposure to contagious and infectious diseases is present that requires special safety precautions. Special gloves, gowns, masks, and use of aseptic techniques may be required.

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.

Contacts

• Address Tennessee Valley HCS - Nashville 1310 24th Avenue South Nashville, TN 37212 US
• Name: Caitlin Clabough
• Email: [email protected]