The Clinical Perfusionist's main responsibility is to manage the physiologic and metabolic needs of the surgical patient while on Cardiopulmonary Bypass ( or Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation ( He/she is independently responsible for the conduct of perfusion and ensuring the safe management of cardio respiratory function of the patient during those procedures so deemed by the cardiac surgeon.

Duties

Program Philosophy Our philosophy is that the management of clinical perfusion is best accomplished using a team approach. It is the expectation that at the Durham VAMC the clinical perfusion care team will operate cohesively to provide the safest possible patient care. Clinical Perfusionist Functions - Perform clinical perfusion practice independently and with varying levels of complexity and/or difficulty, utilizing perfusion principles and techniques to maintain best practices. - Assesses and creates a pre-surgical evaluation and plan, presents his/her findings and recommendations to the surgeon and/or the anesthesiologist of the patient before surgery to ensure proper quality and timeliness of care for the patient. This may require instant and continuous modification to limit and alleviate surgical side effects and complications. - Operates, manages, troubleshoots, and evaluates parameters of the heart lung machine to ensure best practices of perfusion for patient care. - Manages life support systems other than the heart lung machine, including, but not limited to LVAD, RVAD, and ECMO. - Instructs/aids other perfusionists, students, and other medical professionals on perfusion related equipment, perfusion principles and techniques by providing educational programs and material. - After concurrence with the plan by the cardiothoracic surgeon, initiation of the planned clinical perfusion support and technique(s) which may require instant and continuous modification to limit and alleviate surgical side effects and complications. - Induction of complete perfusion support ensuring circulatory and ventilator support are adequate. - Adjustment of anesthetic drugs, anticoagulation therapy, pressor support and techniques utilized during the cardiothoracic surgical procedure. - Manages emergence from complete circulatory support after discussion and concurrence from cardiothoracic surgeon and anesthesiologist. - May provide emergency perfusion case management throughout the facility, i.e. ER, Cath Lab, SICU. - Participation in staff meetings, cardiothoracic multi-disciplinary conferences and other committees as assigned by the Chief Cardiothoracic Surgeon or Chief Anesthesiologist. - Maintains perfusion equipment in constant readiness and cleans equipment in accordance with hospital guidelines, SOPs, manufacturer's recommendations and CDC guidelines. - Prepares pharmacologic agents properly for use in clinical perfusion casework administration. - Attends in-service and continuing education programs. Assists in in-service educational programs regarding perfusion care. - Precepts students - Adheres to OR/clinical perfusion safety regulations/procedures and infection control policies. - Complies with Joint Commission National Patient Safety Goals - Fully complies with medical center Correct Site/Universal Protocol requirements, including pausing activities during pre-operative time-out. - Complies with VA and Joint Commission documentation requirements. - Performs all aspects of perfusion documentation, both paper and electronic, to include creation, update, implementation, and maintenance of perfusion records, charts, databases, policies/procedures, preference cards and storage of documents according to established guidelines, requirements and protocols. - Instructs/aids other perfusionists, students, and other medical professionals on perfusion related equipment, perfusion principles and techniques by providing educational programs and material. - Provide in-service and didactic teaching to ensure competency of staff. - Aptitude of operation of all perfusion equipment, including quality control and troubleshooting as needed. - Support, maintain and share evidence-based and goal directed perfusion to improve clinical practice and utilize pertinent medical literature to enhance patient care to the cardiothoracic team. - Expert level of knowledge of current perfusion best practices and familiar with standard of care in the perfusion field. - Perform quality control and internal reviews as required on all lab equipment utilized by the perfusion team. - Perform improvement studies on all perfusion equipment as needed. This shall be done by collecting metrics in databases and analysis with software for quality performance of perfusion devices. - Participation in staff meetings, cardiothoracic multi-disciplinary conferences and other committees as assigned by the Chief Cardiothoracic Surgeon. - Maintains perfusion equipment in constant readiness and cleans equipment in accordance with hospital guidelines, SOPs, manufacturer's recommendations and CDC guidelines. - Prepares pharmacologic agents properly for use in clinical perfusion casework administration. The above list is not all inclusive Work Schedule: 6:30 am to 3pm with rotating on-call duties Telework: Ad Hoc Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

Basic Requirements: Citizenship. Be a Citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3.g., this part.) See 38 U.S.C. § 7401(3); 38 U.S.C. § 7405(a)(1)(B); 38 U.S.C. § 7407(a). Education. Candidates must hold a degree in perfusion as described below in paragraphs (1) and (2) that has been accredited by either CAAHEP or EQualTM Canada at the time the program was completed. (1) Bachelor's or master's degree in perfusion from a program in the United States or Canada accredited by the CAAHEP or EQualTM Canada. OR, (2) Bachelor's or master's degree in addition to a post-baccalaureate certificate in perfusion from a program accredited by CAAHEP or the EQualTM Canada. NOTE: The degree must have been obtained from an institution whose accreditation was in place for the year in which the course of study was completed. The degree is to be verified by submitting a request to [email protected]. The request must include the name of the school, city, state, and graduation date of individual. Board Certification. Persons hired or reassigned to CP positions in VHA must be board-certified in the field of clinical perfusion as a Certified Clinical Perfusionist by the ABCP. The board certification must be current, and the applicant must abide by the certifying body's requirements for continuing education. Exception for Non-Board-Certified, Entry-Level Candidates. CPs who possess a letter of provisional certification from the certifying agency (e.g., ABCP), who otherwise meet the eligibility requirements, may be given a temporary appointment as a CP under the authority of 38 U.S.C. § 7405(a)(1)(D). The appointing official may waive the requirement of certification for a period not to exceed two years for a CP who provides care under the supervision of a board-certified CP at or above the full performance level. This exception only applies at the entry levels (GS-5 and GS- 7). For grade levels at or above the GS-9 level, the candidate must be board certified. Loss of Board Certification. Once board certified, a CP must maintain a full, valid and unrestricted board certification to remain qualified for employment. Loss of licensure, credential, or required certification will result in removal from the GS-0601 CP occupation and may result in termination of employment. Licensure. None required, but a license or license eligibility or State required credential is strongly preferred. Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service. English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f). GRADE REQUIREMENTS. Grade Determination. In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates. Clinical Perfusionist, GS-12 Experience, Certification and Education. In addition to the basic requirements, candidates must have at least one year of CP experience equivalent to the next lower grade level and have obtained their ABCP certification as a CCP. License is preferred, but not required. Assignment. This assignment is the full performance level. CPs at this level perform at the highest level of perfusion clinical practice and independently perform task of unusual difficulty or complexity. The CP assesses, plans and evaluates the clinical perfusion program to ensure proper coordination of care. CPs oversee all aspects of perfusion documentation for the clinical perfusion department. CPs evaluate the delivery system of patient care within the area of assignment, present findings, and recommendations, and contribute to changes that enhance the quality and timeliness of care. At this level they provide clinical oversight and consultation for lower graded perfusionists and medical center staff within the CP's scope of practice and its potential applications in other medical, surgical and specialty areas. Individuals in this role create, implement, update and maintain all perfusion related documents and databases (policies/procedures, functional statements, perfusion records, paper and/or electronic). Individuals in this role implement and manage the proper storage of perfusion related documents according to established guidelines, requirements and protocols. The CP at this level instructs perfusionists, students and other facilities on perfusion related subject matter, provides educational opportunities and serves as an educational resource. Individuals in this role develop, implement, execute, and coordinate education programs to provide the appropriate resources to meet the training needs of staff. Individuals in this position perform clinical teaching, didactic teaching and provide recurring in service training to ensure the competency of staff. CPs support evidence-based and goal directed practice with the overall goal of improving clinical practice. They also share other pertinent medical literature research findings with colleagues to enhance patient care delivery. CPs may be responsible for the development and maintenance of a system of internal reviews, direct quality control, and performance improvement studies. This includes the collection and tracking of metrics in a database and analytic software and oversight of the quality performance of perfusion devices. Their duties may include conduction and/or participation in collaborative research/adjunctive therapies and communication of findings through reports, abstracts, presentations, and publications. CPs at this level may serve as the clinical education coordinator for perfusion students; establishing, negotiating and maintaining perfusion student agreements; coordinating clinical training rotations; and designing, conducting and evaluating educational experiences with the affiliated university. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all the following KSAs: i. Ability to apply the principles of program management and oversight required to develop program goals and objectives, administer and monitor programs, evaluate program outcomes/accomplishments, set, and redefine priorities and implement effective solutions as needed to present findings and recommendations to the appropriate management officials. ii. Ability to provide oversight, judgement, and management of the application of clinical perfusion to patient care, organization processes and/or systems and long/short range goals, with a focus on delivering patient care and achieving program outcomes. iii. Expert level of knowledge of best practice in the perfusion profession. iv. Ability to validate or identify barriers to safe effective care, and manage all aspects of clinical perfusion, technical, fiscal, and administrative including daily assignments and call schedule preparation. v. Ability to serve as a liaison, interfacing with other departments to incorporate the expertise of all disciplines in a comprehensive, integrated approach to patient care. vi. Ability to develop, coordinate, review organizations and accrediting agencies, and manage a perfusion regulatory program including follow-up actions to ensure departmental compliance with regulatory agencies as required. References: VA Handbook 5005/131 Part II Appendix G63 July 2, 2020 The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-12 Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service.

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 Durham VA Medical Center 508 Fulton Street Durham, NC 27705 US
• Name: Gary Byles
• Phone: 919-286-0411 X4949
• Email: [email protected]