This position is located at the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital, Hines, IL (578) - a Level 1a Complexity VHA Facility.

Duties

The Major Duties of This Position Include But Are Not Limited To The Following: Assist the surgical team with patient positioning, prepping, and setting up the operative field. Provide guidance to staff regarding infection control and patient safety protocol. Provide emotional support, instruction and transportation to patients before, during and after surgery. Plan/discuss procedures with surgical teams to determine proper positioning and adequate availability of supplies and equipment. Assist the surgeon by performing procedures as preparing skin grafts, suctioning, holding retractors, applying skin staples, and cutting sutures. Prepare prosthesis and other surgical devices during procedures. Assist in training staff in the operation of equipment, sterile technique, handling of instruments, and operating room/surgical procedures. Utilize medical terminology to interpret requests and provide proper documentation for surgical procedures. Clean and sterilize surgical equipment with appropriate methods, germicides and sterilizers and maintain highly complex sterile surgical setups. Set up sterile field with all required equipment, instruments, supplies and devices for each procedure. Anticipate the needs of the surgeon by maintaining a high level of concentration for extended periods of time. Perform sharps, sponge, and instrument counts of surgical items before and after surgical procedures. Monitor proper functioning of instruments and equipment at the surgical field, and respond promptly to each stage of the surgical procedure. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 0700-1530 with on-call responsibility on weekends and holidays. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Surgical Technician - Perioperative/PD09282A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Approved Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/09/2023. 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 GS07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-06. 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. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-07 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: utilizing knowledge of medical instruments, human anatomy, physiology, and aseptic technique to prepare and protect sterile field during surgery; exercising sterile technique to include sterilizer operations and tests to determine the effectiveness of sterilization, packaging, storage, and shelf life; handling medical instruments, supplies and equipment during all surgical procedures; performing proper cleaning techniques, as well as the proper handling and rotation of sterile supplies; handling contaminated items, quality control, and personal hygiene, using knowledge of universal precautions and implementing infection control policies and procedures. NOTE: 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.. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have one (1) full year of graduate education (18 semester hours) or an internship in course matter that must include courses directly related to the work of the Surgical Technician position such as anatomy and physiology, surgical technology, aseptic techniques, etc. This education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university. NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education equal to 6 months of graduate level education and 6 months of work experience. The education portion must include graduate courses directly related to the work of the Surgical Technician position. This education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university. NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Attention to DetailInfection ControlMedical InformationPatient CareTechnical 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: Physical components of the position require lifting of objects and patients from under 15 pounds to 35 pounds, carrying (under 25 pounds),walking, standing, and bending for periods of 7 hours/day. Pushing up to 30-pound force required to move patient carts, to perform CPR, a minimum of 125 pound of force is recommended by the American Heart Association, use of both hands and fingers is required, the ability to reach above the shoulders, neck range of motion sufficient to scan the full sterile field to assess for breaks in sterility, visual acuity with or without corrective devices to allow for visualization of suture needle to size 4.8mm. Must be able to distinguish low range sound and voice in surgical suite environment with competing background conversations, alarms, and equipment noise. Occasional kneeling is required for operating room procedures. 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/.

Education

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on 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. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Contacts

• Address Edward Hines Junior Hospital 5000 South 5th Avenue Hines, IL 60141 US
• Name: Tamesha Rogers
• Email: [email protected]