This Medical Instrument Technician (EKG) position is located in the Specialty Care Service, located at the Brockton and West Roxbury campuses. This is a part time position 16 hours per week.

Duties

Duties for the position include but are not limited to: Medical Instrument Technician in EKG section is responsible for acquiring EKGs and performing the full range of electrocardiograph procedures to include signal average, right sided and posterior EKGs; applying Holter, 14 day and 30 day event monitors, analyzing Holter monitor recordings and assisting in the performance of Exercise Tolerance Testing of various protocols. Requests for all these procedures are received in from all campuses of VABHS and its CBOCs as well as interfacility requests and their CBOCs. Incumbent will utilize MUSE cardiology storage system which includes reconciling patient information with CPRS, collating transmitted EKGs and distribute to Cardiologist for interpretation. Employee recognizes tracings of poor quality, deletes redundant EKGs within a short time frame and appropriately serial compares EKGs after deletion. The incumbent is familiar with acronyms used in the MUSE system to edit and confirm interpreted EKGs from VABHS and Bedford VA and its CBOCs. EKG techs will participate in teaching nursing and medical student personnel in the acquiring of EKGs through one-on-one teaching and Skills Workshop. Incumbent performs MIT work with Holter/Event Monitoring specialty. This specialty area requires experience in applying, operation and instructing in Holter and event monitoring equipment, uploading of recorded data into analyzing equipment and revising computer-generated reports and completing reports for physician review. Incumbent instructs patient pre-procedure to assure compliance, cooperation and understanding of procedure about to be performed. Independently explains various procedures including need for positions on table or treadmill, monitoring equipment and reporting symptoms and adverse reactions to stressing agents. Incumbent explains requirements for accurate monitoring and necessity of diary entries. Technician will answer questions of patient and/or family members. Performance of Medical Instrument Technician work with stress test specialty requires experience in operating, supervising the operation of instructing in the operation of specialized equipment related to the specialization of the position. Work Schedule: Weekends, part time, 16 hours, 8:00am-4:30pm or 6:00am-3:30pm. Telework: Maybe be authorized at manager's discretion. Compressed/Flexible: Not Authorized. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: F1717 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized. Financial Disclosure Report: Not required. NOTIFICATIONS: This position is a NAGE Bargaining Unit position. This position is covered by locality-based comparability pay. Due to a critical staffing shortage, 38 U.S.C. § 7412 waives the requirement to apply Veterans' preference for this job announcement. This position is in the Excepted Service. The incumbent may be required to travel to other VA campuses and CBOC's. Veterans' preference does not apply for internal or other current permanent Federal agency employees. Current and former Federal employees must submit copies of their most recent SF-50, (Notice of Personnel Action). The SF-50 must identify the position title, series, grade, step, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). In some cases, more than one SF-50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held.

Requirements

Qualifications

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. Education. There are no specific educational requirements for this occupation. Education may be substituted for experience only at the GS-4 and GS-5 levels. See the grade requirements part of this standard for information regarding educational substitutions. Licensure or Certification. Licensure or Certification is not required for this occupation; however, it is strongly desirable at GS-6 or above as evidence of possession of the essential knowledge, skills, and abilities. For all specialties identified in this standard, Basic and Advanced Cardiac Life Support certifications are desirable. Training which does not result in official certification does not meet this definition. English Language Proficiency. Medical Instrument Technicians must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with chapter 2, section D, paragraph 5a, this part. Electrocardiograph Technicians (EKG) operate instruments used to record electrocardiograms, exercise tolerance tests, 24-48 heart monitoring and scanning, and pacemaker evaluations. Certification is offered by Cardiovascular Credentialing International (CCI) as a Certified Cardiographic Technician (CCT).May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria). Experience. At least 1 year of experience comparable to the next lower grade level which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics related to the duties of the position to be filled. Six months of this experience may have been in medically related fields such as nursing assistant, practical nursing, or similar fields. The remaining six months must have been in operating diagnostic and therapeutic equipment covered by this occupation. Experience gained in the operation of equipment for animal diagnosis or treatment may be credited at this level; OR, Education. Successful completion of two years of education above high school or an associate's degree with a major field of study directly related to the medical instrument technician occupation. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: 1. Knowledge of basic medical terminology. 2. Ability to learn the components, operating characteristics, and settings of the equipment to be used. 3. Ability to learn typical patient reactions to the basic procedures involved and ability to recognize signs of distress. 4. Ability to learn the standard positions for the procedure being conducted. 5. Ability to communicate orally and in writing. GS-6 Medical Instrument Technicians (Electrocardiograph Technician (EKG): Experience. At least 1 year of experience comparable to the next lower grade level which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics related to the duties of the positions to be filled. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: 1. Ability to recognize special patient needs such as disabilities, impaired mobility, and complicating medical conditions in order to prepare and position the patient for the prescribed procedure. 2. Knowledge of the specialized equipment and accessories appropriate to Holter monitoring and ability to perform such tests. 3. Knowledge of universal precautions and sterilization techniques and ability to follow CDC guidelines in cleaning equipment. 4. Ability to monitor the patient for adverse reactions and take appropriate action. 5. Ability to operate the equipment to perform standard and routine highly specialized procedures including exercise stress testing. Certification. No certification is required; however, it is desirable that employees at this level have BCLS (Basic Cardiac Life Support) certification. GS-7 Medical Instrument Technicians (Electrocardiograph Technician (EKG): Experience. At least 1 year of experience comparable to the next lower grade level which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics related to the duties of the positions to be filled. This would be experience which provided knowledge of the equipment, standard tests and procedures, and typical readings including arrhythmias and abnormalities. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: 1. Knowledge of typical patient reactions and signs of distress including the ability to recognize, report and treat potentially lethal arrhythmias. 2. Knowledge of common equipment settings and standardized procedures plus knowledge of common errors and corrective measures. 3. Ability to modify procedures/positions to obtain the correct results with patients with complicating conditions such as amputations, Parkinson's disease, structural defects, and scar tissue. 4. Ability to act as a mentor or preceptor to lower graded technicians. 5. Ability to conduct in-service training on the EKG equipment and related instrumentation. Certification. No certification is required; however, it is desirable that employees at this level have BCLS (Basic Cardiac Life Support) and ACLS (Advanced Cardiac Life Support) certifications. References: VA HANDBOOK 5005/54 PART II APPENDIX G27 MEDICAL INSTRUMENT TECHNICIAN QUALIFICATION STANDARDGS-649 Veterans Health Administration. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-7. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-06 thru GS 07. Physical Requirements: Light lifting, under 15 lbs., moderate carrying, 15-44 lbs., reaching above shoulder, use of fingers, standing 4-6 hours; hearing, aid permitted. Duties require extensive use of fingers to perform keyboarding and the ability to hear requests by phone and in person. Version must be adequate to read and prepare documents.

Education

IMPORTANT: 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 VA Boston Healthcare System 940 Belmont Street Brockton, MA 02301 US
• Name: Diane McClure
• Phone: 774-826-4912
• Email: [email protected]