This position is located in the Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Unit of Community Living Center at VA New Mexico Health Care System - Raymond G. Murphy VA Medical Center in Albuquerque, NM. The Therapy Assistant is responsible for understanding the leisure needs of a variety of patient populations and coordinating and assisting in implementing other program elements, which would include but not limited to: Tai Chi, Yoga, Pet Therapy, Creative Writing, Pool Therapy and Arts & Crafts Festivals.

Duties

***THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION*** The Therapy Assistant's work involves professional work requiring application of knowledge on the concepts, principles, and practices of recreation therapy, and the use of recreational modalities to treat the physical, mental, emotional, and social needs of individual patients, groups of patients and families; maintain or rehabilitate patients' physical and/or mental health; or palliate symptoms related to chronic and/or terminal illness. The occupation requires the application of professional medical rehabilitative, therapeutic, and palliative principles based on a medical prescription, medical referral and/or the integration of recreation therapy within the total health care plan for the patients. Major duties and responsibilities include but not limited to: Carrying out a full range of Therapeutic Recreation programs and interventions inclusive of recreation treatment modalities and general recreation (diversional) activities, as defined and assessed or assigned by the Recreation Therapist Developing and implementing diversional/recreational programs and working independently with patients while minimizing all potential risks to patients and following safety policy/procedures Working with patients on an individual basis, in small groups or in large groups depending on the patient's physical and mental status and individual needs for treatment Developing specific activities and routines to maintain or improve patient's general state of physical and/or mental health based on the therapeutic recreation assessment completed by the Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS) Conducting on-station and off-station general (diversional) activity programs for various types of disabilities which include psychiatric diagnoses, dementia, neuro-muscular disorders, orthopedic conditions, AIDS, amputation, paralysis, spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, respiratory disorders, chronic cardiovascular diseases, and patients with multiple diagnoses Identifying each patient's requirements relative to his or her age-specific needs and to provide the care needed as described in the unit's policies and procedures Working with professional CTRS to select, adapt, and/or adjust recreation therapy modalities in accordance with treatment goals Modifying techniques and developing new approaches as necessary to ensure the realization of patient treatment goals are met in noncomplex cases Making modification of techniques in complicated or high-risk cases after conferring with the CTRS assigned to the cases and providing feedback to the Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist and/or other team members as appropriate Applying frequent and or extensive changes in events and approaching to enable a patient or group of patients to overcome their age, disability, and/or other conditions allowing for continued treatment. Exercising originality in making alterations in treatment procedures and solving problems that may not be covered by service guidelines Soliciting support and involvement of volunteers in specialized programs Following up on activities involving these individuals or groups for confirmation, supplies needed and other details pertinent to the activity Supervising volunteers, veteran work-study students and Incentive Therapy patients, who support activities Driving and/or escorting patients to community activities Giving instructions on expectations and observing patients for unpredictable behavior Assisting individuals with physical disabilities (ambulatory or non-ambulatory) in getting into and out of the vehicle and around in the community environment Assisting in maintaining the Recreation Therapy Department activity areas, offices, fishing areas, outdoor activity areas by performing periodic on-site inspections and reporting any problems Managing all supplies and equipment used in assigned area(s)/program(s) by inventory, storage, issue, service, and repair Work Schedule: Monday to Friday; 07:30 a.m. to 04:00 p.m. including Alternate weekends; Flexible weekdays Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required

Requirements

Qualifications

Minimum Requirement: The following are minimum requirements for appointment as a Therapy Assistant in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), which all applicants must met. Specialized Experience (GS-06): You must have one (1) year of specialized experience that equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA's) to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (i.e., GS-05). Examples of qualifying specialized experience include work as an assistant to one of the specialized therapies such as occupational, physical, manual arts, corrective, or educational therapy; or experience gained as an assistant or aid in patient care, social work, or psychology where the duties involved actual participation in physical medicine and activities of a hospital or clinic. (CLEAR DETAILS OF EXPERIENCE REQUIRED: Your resume must show complete information for each job entry, such as beginning and ending dates of employment, duties performed, and/or total hours worked per week.) OR, Education (GS-06): Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed half year (i.e., 9 semester hours) graduate education in those instances where it is directly related to the work of the position. NOTE: 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. (UNOFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED: If you do not submit your transcript, your application may not be reviewed.) OR, Combination (GS-06): Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education, as indicated. (UNOFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED: If you do not submit your transcript, your application may not be reviewed.) AND ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY: In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), No person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English. You must be proficient in basic written and spoken English in order to meet the requirements of this position. You will be rated on the following Competencies as part of the assessment questionnaire for this position: ClericalPatient CareUse Shop Drawings IMPORTANT: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. All experience listed on your resume must include the month and year start/end dates. 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. 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; religious; 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 Requirements: In some assignments, the work involves regular and recurring physical exertion such as prolonged walking or standing, bending, moderately heavy lifting or moving of equipment, positioning severely disabled patients, and assisting patients in ambulation and with wheelchair mobility. The work requires specific, common physical characteristics and abilities, such as above average agility and dexterity, as well as skill and ability in leisure activities, maneuvering wheelchairs and driving wheelchair accessible vehicles. The work is primarily very active in nature with some sedentary work involved when performing administrative tasks. The work involves irregular tours of duty. 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

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 Raymond G Murphy Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center 1501 San Pedro Drive, Southeast Albuquerque, NM 87108 US
• Name: VHA National Recruitment Center
• Phone: (844)456-5208
• Email: [email protected]