The surgical technician (ST) is member of the surgical team supporting the Joint Ambulatory Care Clinic and the Pensacola Navy Hospital VA ORs and providing assistance to the surgeon and other team members during non-OR and OR surgical procedures. The ST participates with the surgical team members in planning and implement complex procedures under the general supervision of the surgical team.

Duties

DUTIES: Assists the surgical team with patient positioning, prepping, and setting up the operative field. Provides transportation of patients to and from the surgical/operating room. Prepares, organizes, and maintains highly complex surgical setups. Recognizes changes in patient condition and takes appropriate actions in response to the situation. Utilizes universal precautions and follows all infection control policies and procedures when handling specimens, supplies, and equipment. Assists the team members with care of the patient, i.e., positioning, prepping, and obtaining supplies. Plans and discusses each procedure with surgical professionals to determine proper positioning and assurances of all supplies/equipment are available. Assists the surgeon by performing such procedures as preparing skin grafts, suctioning, holding retractors, applying skin staples, and cutting sutures. Prepares prosthesis and/or surgical devices during procedures. Assists in training staff in the operation of equipment, sterile technique, handling of instruments, and operating room/surgical procedures. Utilizes medical terminology when interpreting requests and provide proper documentation for surgical procedures. Prepares, organizes, and maintains highly complex sterile surgical setups. Utilizes universal precautions to protect patients and staff from exposure to any infectious materials. Follows all infection control policies and procedures when handling specimens, supplies, and equipment. Monitors and maintains sterile practices throughout surgical procedures. Cleans and sterilizes surgical equipment using appropriate methods, germicides and sterilizers. Handles instruments, supplies and equipment during a variety of surgical procedures. Sets up sterile field with all required items (equipment, instruments, supplies and/or devices) for each procedure. Anticipates the needs of the surgeon by maintaining a high level of concentration for extended periods of time. Understands and follows protocols for handling various specimens. Performs sharps, sponge, and instrument counts of surgical items before and after surgical procedures. Assists surgical team members to identify and implement performance improvement measures. Monitors proper functioning of instruments and equipment at the surgical field. Determines the effectiveness of sterilization, packing, storage, and shelf life. Observes and responds promptly to each stage of the surgical procedure. Work Schedule: Full-Time; Monday through Friday, 7:30AM - 4:00PM, subject to change based on the needs of the agency. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description Title/PD#: Surgical Technician/PD02975A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required Physical Requirements: Duties regularly require providing manual assistance in lifting and position patients, most of which are at stages of unconsciousness. There are extensive periods of regular and recurring walking, standing, bending, lifting, pushing, reaching and prolonged stretching to provide easy accessibility of instruments and supplies for the surgeon. Incumbent must be dexterous in passing instruments to surgeons without compromising the principles of aseptic technique and in a manner requiring little or no effort from the surgeon.

Requirements

• You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this job
• Subject to a background/suitability investigation
• Designated and/or random drug testing may be required
• May serve a probationary period
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• A complete application package; Resume, Transcripts, etc
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement. 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-7 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-6. 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 as described below: Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR): Applicants who meet the Individual Occupational Requirements described below are fully qualified for the specified entry grade and must also meet the specialized experience and/or education requirements. Specialized Experience: 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. In addition to meeting the IOR above, candidates must demonstrate they meet the following grade requirement: You may qualify based on your experience as described below: Specialized experience includes: Independently reviews future surgery schedule daily to determine availability of specialized instruments, equipment and implants. Working in an operating room and setting up highly complex surgical set-ups and sterile fields with all required items for surgical procedures, supplies and equipment. Uses proper sterilization and cleaning and storage techniques on instruments and equipment. Independently functions as a primary scrub person responsible for handling instruments, supplies and equipment during all surgical procedures. Recognizes and responds to a variety of critical situations. Assists the team members with care of the patient (i.e., positioning, transporting, prepping, draping and obtaining supplies). Assembling and testing of instruments to insure optimal functioning. 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.

Education

There is no educational substitute at this grade level.

Contacts

• Address Biloxi VA Medical Center 400 Veterans Avenue Biloxi, MS 39531 US
• Name: Lesa Lang
• Phone: 804-675-5000
• Email: [email protected]