The position is located in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Mid-Atlantic Health Care Network (VISN 6), Fayetteville NC. Incumbent serves as a Health Technician in the core laboratory sections, outpatient areas and CBOC's locations. Performs duties in the receiving, accessioning and specimen processing area including collecting chain of custody drug screens, reference laboratory specimen processing, clerical functions, patient testing, and phlebotomy.

Duties

Duties and responsibilities for this position include, but not limited to the following: Phlebotomy Duties properly identified patients utilizing the full name and social security number before collecting, processing and /or hospital computer entry of requests. Compares orders from multiple physicians and request the medical technologist to combine the orders. Properly identifies, labels and collection blood bank specimens for STAT and routine testing while next to the patient bedside or chair side. Must be proficient in phlebotomizing patient in varying debilitation (i.e., paralysis, stroke, mentally unstable, spinal cord injuries in fetal position and contractures). Performs phlebotomy using specialized techniques for cleansing the blood collection site to prevent bacterial contamination that's critical to patient care, to ensure the contamination rate of blood cultures remains with in guidelines with blood culture contamination. Draws the blood tests ordered by providers for inpatients, outpatients, CBOC patients and for requested drug screens. When required, the incumbent draws blood from patients for requested laboratory test. Supervisor Duties: Position performs the full range of supervisory duties and is responsible for the overall supervision of the section(s) specified. This includes conducting interviews, recommending appointment, evaluating work performance, counseling of employees whose performance is marginal or unsatisfactory, and initiating disciplinary actions when necessary, hearing and resolving complaints from employees. Collaborates with other supervisors in completing the laboratory scheduling process and adjusts staffing levels or work procedures. This position assures that all employees under supervision are aware of and abide by the appropriate hospital and laboratory safety regulations. Responsible for maintaining the work area in a clean environment appropriate for the section. Supervises the clinical training experiences of technical and professional level phlebotomy training programs to fulfill education and professional requirements. Ensures staff members complete the current mandatory hours of continuing education. Trains lower grade phlebotomy health technicians in the use of new procedures and instrumentation. Assists employee in obtaining continuing education and determining their training needs. Assures orientation, training, and competency assessment of staff upon initial test performance and annually thereafter. Specimen Receipt and Processing Responsible for receiving and preparing requests for testing and specimens into the clinical laboratory and evaluates the acceptability of each specimen, documents discrepancies, and resolves potential problems. Screens telephone calls and routes inquiries to appropriate personnel. Ensures proper processing and accession of specimens; especially those requiring special handling, and clearly communicates requirements to the laboratory staff. Contacts Medical Center staff for additional information to ensure that proper testing and interpretive data are received. Sorts specimens based on testing location, needs, and priority for turnaround time. Performs specimen processing and plating in microbiology. Able to cope with quick deadlines and uses knowledge of processing procedures to identify and resolve specimen errors. Patient Care Testing Duties Performs CLIA-waived Fecal Occult Blood and other CLIA-waived rapid testing on patients while recording, reagent lot numbers, quality control, and reports and verifies test results. Maintains accurate rejection records. Prints incompletes report in VISTA and resolves any discrepancies. Point of Care Testing. Duties include collecting the specimen, receiving, labeling, and loading specimens, loading reagents on the instrument, recording reagent lot numbers, performing and recording daily and weekly maintenance, quality controls, and performing patient testing. Troubleshoots error messages and notifies Team Leader or Technologist when maintenance or quality controls do not perform as expected. Maintains instrument print outs, completes accurate quality assurance forms, and reconciles pending testing after each run. Cleans the instruments and work area after testing to ensure a safe presentable work environment. All other assigned duties. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm. Occasional weekends and holidays. Position Description Title/PD#: Supervisory Health Technician/PD083450 Compressed/Flexible:Not available Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

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. IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Preferred Experience: Experience performing phlebotomy/blood draws on human patients. 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-6 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include but are not limited to: Knowledge of DHHS standards for chain of custody drug screen collection and is certified to collect the specimens. Knowledge of specimen collection and specimen handling requirements for a wide array of analytical tests. Knowledge of human anatomy, aseptic and sterile techniques and phlebotomy equipment to select phlebotomy site and skill in using collection systems, syringes, butterfly needle devices and capillary puncture techniques. Knowledge of the laboratory regulatory and legal requirements involved in processing and testing various laboratory specimens and the Code of Federal Regulations requirements to certify/transport infectious or bio-hazardous material. Knowledge of various precautions to prevent the spread of infections. Knowledge of general safe work practices, physical security, and incident reporting. Knowledge of pre-analytic processing procedures, including the identification and resolution of specimen errors. Knowledge of federal and state laws and regulations, laboratory accrediting and regulatory requirements sufficient to understand procedures in the areas of safety, phlebotomy/specimen collection, and accessioning and processing. Technical proficiency in the safe operation of specialized and common laboratory equipment and the established normal values of each test. Skill in oral communication in explaining testing procedures to patients and put them at ease and clarify test requests with hospital staff members. Knowledge of regulatory requirements for shipments, including infection control regulations, and the handling, storage, packaging, and disposal of biohazardous materials. Thorough knowledge of and skill in using various software systems including LIS, Cerner, VISTA, CPRS, Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook for input/retrial of medical information; Ability to conduct interviews, recommend appointment, and evaluate work performance; Collaborate with other supervisors in completing the laboratory scheduling process and adjusts staffing levels or work procedures. OR Education: One full year of graduate education meets the requirements for GS-7. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Computer SkillsCustomer Service (Clerical/Technical)Lead or SupervisePatient CareQuality AssuranceSpecimen Collection Physical Requirements: Work is performed in a laboratory atmosphere and requires regular and physical exertion such as walking, bending, recurrent standing and moderate lifting. The work requires specific physical characteristics and abilities and dexterity needed to perform intricate analytical and technical procedures. The position may also require assisting geriatric and/or disabled patients. The incumbent must have normal color vision, pass mask fit testing, and complete Heart savers/BLS training.

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.

Contacts

• Address Fayetteville NC VA Medical Center 2300 Ramsey Street Fayetteville, NC 28301 US
• Name: Ltanya Walker
• Phone: 919-503-8223
• Email: [email protected]