Incumbent is a member of the surgical team and provides assistance to the surgeon(s) and other team members during surgical procedures at the Health Care Center at Harlingen. Participates in planning and implementing of simple to complex procedures under the general supervision of the surgeon(s), members of the surgical team and the operation room (OR) nurse manager.

Duties

Duties include, but are not limited to: Functioning as a primary scrub person responsible for handling instruments, supplies and equipment during all surgical procedures. Gathering and preparing sterile surgical field with all required items for specified procedure. Planning and discussing each procedure with surgical team members and assuring that all supplies and equipment are functional and available prior to commencing the surgical procedure. Preparing, organizing and maintaining simple to highly complex surgical fields. Appropriately managing surgical specimens, repeating to the circulating nurse the name and source of the specimen and the desired testing to be done to ensure correct labeling. Assisting the surgeon by performing such procedures as: preparing skin grafts, suctioning, holding retractors, applying skin stables, cutting sutures, preparing prosthetic devices for delivery to the sterile field and preparing dressings. Assuming responsibility for connecting drainage devices to suction. Communicating effectively with all perioperative team members. Performing non-technical maintenance on equipment to ensure proper operation prior to usage. Providing guidance, support and mentoring to new surgical staff, medical students, residents, nursing and surgical technology students. Performing other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Fulltime Monday thru Friday 7:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. (Alternate schedules may be necessary to meet the needs of the organization.) Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Surgical Technician/PD740-0143-O Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required This is a Bargaining Unit position

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/13/2023. 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 GS-07 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. Surgical Technician GS-07 requires the Individual Occupational Requirement be met. Individual Occupational Requirement 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. 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-06 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: gathering and preparing sterile surgical field with all required items for specified procedure; managing and handling over the surgical specimens, repeating to the circulating nurse the name and source of the specimen and the desired testing to be done; planning and discussing each procedure with surgical team members and assuring that all supplies and equipment are functional and available; preparing, organizing and maintaining simple to highly complex surgical fields and labeling medications on/off sterile field correctly by verifying with circulating Registered Nurse. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed one full year of graduate education or an internship that is directly related to the work of this 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 is 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. OR Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. Equivalent combinations of successfully completed post-high school education and experience are also qualifying. If education is used to meet specialized experience requirements, then such education must include courses directly related to the work of the position. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED). You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Patient care Forward thinking Technical credibility Communication Organizational stewardship 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: moderate lifting (15-44 pounds), moderate carrying (15-44 pounds), straight pulling (1/2 hour), pushing (1/2 hour), reaching above shoulder, walking (5.3 hours), standing (5.3 hours), repeated bending (5.3 hours), ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously, near vision correctable at 13" to 16" to Jaeger 1 to 4, far vision correctable in one eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other, depth perception, ability to distinguish basic colors and hearing (aid permitted). 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

Educational substitution only applies to specialized experience, not Individual Occupational Requirement.

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.

NOTE: If your school has changed names, or is no longer in existence, you must provide this information in your application.

Contacts

• Address VA TX Valley Coastal Bend HCS 2601 Veterans Drive Harlingen, TX 78550 US
• Name: VISN 17 SSU USAS Group
• Email: [email protected]