The Acute Mental Health Inpatient Nursing Assistant for Units Birch, Cypress, and Douglas is a key member of the Acute Mental Health Unit team. The role of the Nursing Assistant is to provide patient care, assist staff, patients, and their families during the patients' stay on 520, B, C, and D Units.

Duties

Work Schedule: Multiple schedules, 7:30am to 4:00pm, 3:30pm to 12:00am, or 11:30pm to 8:00am Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position Functional Statement #: 02698F, 02699F, 02700F Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required The Nursing Assistant takes and records vital signs in CPRS assist with morning and evening ADL Activities. The Nursing Assistant escorts patients to appointments, within VA and external, to court hearings. The Nursing Assistant provides close observation per nursing orders. Major duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to: Recognizing and addressing bio-psychosocial and age-specific concerns of patients. Recognizing signs and symptoms of psychiatric illness and responds appropriately. Recognizing when patients require medical treatment and/or staff inventions to control behaviors. Understanding that maintaining a therapeutic relationship with patients promotes stabilization. Providing care to patients with a variety of physical and /or behavior problems. Demonstrates knowledge and basics in communication for the purpose of establishing therapeutic relationships with patient. Performs basic nursing treatments, and functions such as personal care, assistance with ADL's, vital signs, blood glucose monitoring, assigned treatments and specimen collection within established hospital policy and procedure. Performs all job responsibilities in accordance with prescribed safety and infection control procedures including thorough hand washing, use of disposable gloves where indicated, and proper disposal of soiled materials. Documents findings in the patient CPRS record. Escorts patients to their appointments within and outside the VA, an d to court appointed hearings. Functions proactively to prevent potential medical and psychiatric emergencies as part of the team. Recognizes these emergencies and initiates appropriate action. Responds to actual and /or potential medical and psychiatric emergencies. Trained through Level 4 of Prevention Management of Disruptive Behavior techniques and uses them in management of aggressive behavior. Performs patient rounds per hospital policy and procedure to ensure patient safety and participates in hazardous item searches per hospital policy or Standard Operating Procedure. Observes cognitive status and the potential for elopement, withdrawal, intrusion, or potential for danger to self or others. Performs duties per standard operating procedure when assigned to close observation. May perform other duties as required/assigned.

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. English Language Proficiency: Nursing Assistants (NAs) appointed to direct patient care positions must be proficient in both spoken and written English. Education: One year above high school with courses related to the NA occupation. Completion of an intensive, specialized, occupation-related course of study of less than one year as a nursing assistant may also meet in full the experience requirements for GS-3. Basic Life Support Provider Card issued by the American Heart Association (AHA) or Military Training Network (MTN) Grandfathering Provisions: All Nursing Assistants employed in VHA on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the series and grade held that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all the basic requirements required in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it, the following provisions apply: Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed, on a temporary or permanent basis, until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard. If an employee who was retained (grandfathered) under this provision leaves the occupation, the employee loses protected status of the grandfathering provision and must meet the full VA qualification standard basic requirements in effect at the time of reentry to the occupation. Creditable Experience: Knowledge of Current Practice: to be creditable, the experience must have required the use of knowledge, skills, and abilities associated with the current practice. Quality of Experience: to be creditable, NA experience must be documented on the application or resume and verified in an employment reference, or through other independent means. Part-Time Experience: Part-time experience as a NA is creditable according to its relationship to the full-time workweek. For example, a NA employed 20 hours a week, or on a 1/2-time basis, would receive 1 full-time workweek of credit for each 2 weeks of service. Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates. GS-3 (Entry Level): None beyond the basic requirements. GS-4 (Intermediate or Developmental Level): Employees must meet all basic requirements and must possess: Experience: One year of specialized experience as a NA or experience in another medical field (licensed practical nurse, health technician, hospital corpsman, etc.), performing technical and nursing skills requiring knowledge of the human physical and emotional states, therapeutic communication, and technical skills required for basic and intermediate treatments; OR, Education: Successful completion of 2 years above high school in an accredited institution with courses related to nursing care, health care or in a field of study appropriate to the specialization of the position, such as education in a program for psychology, psychiatric, or operating room technicians; AND, Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs): In addition to education or experience, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: Ability to provide a range of patient/resident care and contribute to the completion of the nurse care plan and recovery of patients/residents. Ability to observe patients/residents' or resident's physical or emotional status and refer deviations and/or problems to supervisor in a timely manner. Ability to properly use equipment, materials and supplies in simple diagnostic and treatment procedures such as bladder scan, continuous passive motion device, blood glucose monitoring machine, specimen collection, etc. Ability to communicate effectively with patients/residents, their families and other health professionals. GS-5 (Full Performance Level): In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates. Experience: One year of progressively responsible assignments and experience equivalent to the GS-4 level which demonstrates knowledge, skills, and abilities that are directly related to the specific assignment. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the professional KSAs in subparagraph (c) below; OR, Education: Successful completion of a 4-year course of study above high school leading to a bachelor's degree that included 24 semester hours of courses related to health care or possession of a bachelor's degree; AND, Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs): In addition to education or experience, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: Ability to assist in the full range of nursing care to patients/residents with physical and/or behavioral problems in a hospital, long term care or outpatient setting under the direction of a Registered Nurse and/or Licensed Vocational Nurse/Licensed Practical Nurse. Ability to communicate orally with patients/residents, families, interdisciplinary team and other personnel. This includes serving as a preceptor to new NAs by assisting with the coordination of their orientation and overseeing/assessing their practical experience while in a clinical setting. Ability to recognize and react to emergent patient/resident care situations and intervene while waiting for assistance. For example, recognizing need for basic life support, controlling bleeding and assisting with behavior crisis, etc. Preferred Experience: At least one (1) year of experience as a professional Nursing Assistant At least one (1) year of experience as a professional Nursing Assistant providing comprehensive nursing care for patients in a mental health/psychiatric setting References: VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, Appendix G46 The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-5. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-3 to GS-5. Physical Requirements: This position requires visual acuity, keen hearing, clear distinctive speech, and manual dexterity. This position requires potentially long periods of continued walking, standing, stooping, sitting, bending, pulling, and pushing. Transferring patients and objects may be required. The incumbent may be exposed to infected patients and contaminated materials and may be required to don protective clothing in isolation situations or operative/invasive procedures. The incumbent may occasionally be exposed to patients who are combative secondary to delirium, dementia, or psychiatric disorders. The incumbent must be a mature, flexible, sensible individual capable of working effectively in stressful situations, able to shift priorities based on patient needs. Must complete annual Employee Health requirements, such as annual TB screening or testing, as a condition of employment.

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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Contacts

• Address Palo Alto VA Medical Center 3801 Miranda Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94304 US
• Name: Solmaira Crispaldi
• Phone: 00000000000
• Email: [email protected]