The Pharmacy Technician handles day-to-day operations of the outpatient pharmacy including filling prescriptions, inventory management, ward inspections, answering questions regarding drug distribution, narcotic returns, and destruction, running reports, and supporting inter-service tasks (inpatient operations).

Duties

VA Careers - Pharmacy: https://youtube.com/embed/Fn_ickNBEws The Pharmacy Technician Vault Technician works primarily in Pharmacy Service and the outpatient care area of the Mather location. Duties include but are not limited to the following: Medication Distribution & Inventory Management Reads and interprets prescriptions, obtains proper medication or material in the proper strength and dosage form; determines proper amount and counts, pours, or measures the medications; affixes proper label; and records required data on Pharmacy's copy of prescription/order. After a final check by a pharmacist, dispenses medication in ambulatory care or discharge situations. Possesses proficient clerical skills required for automatic data processing (ADP), prescription information entry, collating prescriptions or refill documents with ADP labels generated, record storage and retrieval. Assists with inventory management and orders during procurement technician absence. Operates and maintains complex pharmacy dispensing equipment. Conducts monthly ward inspections of outpatient primary care areas. Monitor's inventory needs in patient care areas, relays this information to the appropriate Pharmacy personal. Performs tests and reports on laminar hood sterility to pharmacy supervisor and pharmacy quality assurance coordinator. Narcotics Management Assists with narcotic vault inspections and the processing of controlled substance returns and destructions. All Controlled substances are always secured according to applicable laws, rules, regulations, and policies. Prepares, fills, and dispenses inpatient and outpatient orders and requests for controlled substances. Verifies all handwritten CS prescriptions meet the DEA requirement. Orders controlled substances to maintain proper stock levels and compliant with ordering and receiving of CS processes. Maintains perpetual inventory of all controlled substance stock include vault and working stock. Maintains all records pertaining to controlled substance transactions. Performs biennial inventory and maintains proper storage of all controlled substance inventory records. Performs CS inventory twice a week (3 days apart) and maintains all related documentation. Maintains daily log and inventory count of all CS cache medications in compliance with all regulation, rule, and laws of Emergency Cache Controlled Substance. Maintains the cleanliness of the vault. Interacts with controlled substance inspection officials to provide all required documentation. Monitors the security of the controlled substances by enforcing all access restrictions, immediately reporting any shortages or suspected diversions, and ensuring that controlled substances are properly always secured and accounted for. Provides guidance to nursing, pharmacy, and clinic staff on controlled substance use, storage, and accountability. Monitors OMNI- Cell controlled substance dispensing, usage, expiration and discrepancies to ensure compliant with all VHA CS directives. Reports any security issue of the vault and any discrepancies to immediate supervisor. Trains new employees. Training, Education, and Support Maintains currency with all mandatory training/education competencies. Assists patients with telephone care pharmacy applications. Answers questions from pharmacy and non-pharmacy personnel regarding drug distribution. Provides patient education on pharmacy topics such as the refill request process, drug information sheets. Assists in total quality improvement activities. Assists in other patient care areas such as inpatient pharmacy, when needed. Work Schedule: Monday thru Friday, 8:30 am to 6:00 pm Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized Paid Time Off: 37 days of annual paid time offer per year (13 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year) Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience. Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child. Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66. Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement) Telework: Not available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 000000 Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

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. Education or Experience. None required. For all grade levels and positions that accept both education and experience to qualify, equivalent combinations of qualifying education and experience that total at least 100% are qualifying. The combined percentage is determined by adding total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level to the education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level. Certification. For positions above the full performance level, the employee must pass a national certification exam and hold an active national certification through either: Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB), Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT). National Healthcareer Association (NHA), Certified Pharmacy Technician (ExCPT). Grandfathering Provision. Pharmacy technicians employed in VHA on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series and grade held, including positive education and licensure/certification/registration that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all the basic requirements 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 may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journey) level or changed to lower grade within the occupation but may not be promoted beyond the journeyman level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions. This position is above the full performance level. Foreign Education. To be creditable, education completed outside the U.S. must be deemed at least equivalent to that gained in a conventional U.S. program by a private organization specializing in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials. Physical Requirements. TB/Immunization Assessment will be conducted by Employee Occupational Health Service. English Language Proficiency. Pharmacy Technician candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. 7403(f). GRADE DETERMINATIONS In addition to the basic requirements for appointment, the following criteria must be met. Creditable Experience. To be creditable, a candidate must possess the required knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) associated with the scope of pharmacy technician practice. The candidate's experience must be evidenced by active professional practice. (Active professional practice means paid/nonpaid employment as a professional pharmacy technician.) Part-Time Experience. Part-time experience is creditable according to its relationship to the full-time work week. For example, one week of full-time credit is equivalent to two weeks of half-time work. Quality of Experience. Qualifying experience must be at a level comparable to pharmacy technician experience at the next lower grade level. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, administrative independence, complexity and range of variety as described in this standard at the specified grade level and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. Pharmacy Technician, GS-08 Experience. Candidates must possess one year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level, GS-7. Certification. For positions at this performance level, the employee must pass a national certification exam and hold an active national certification through either: Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB), Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT). National Healthcareer Association (NHA), Certified Pharmacy Technician (ExCPT). Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: Comprehensive knowledge of concepts, principles, methodology and policies in a specialized area or section of pharmacy (such as sterile compounding, controlled substances, automation, clinical pharmacy, contact center, etc.) Note: Specialized Area is within pharmacy that require advanced knowledge, skills and abilities to ensure a high level of accountability for patient safety, quality of care and/or VHA or other regulatory requirements. Examples include, but are not limited to compounding sterile products, controlled substance dispensing, research, automation, clinical informatics, quality assurance, hazardous medication compounding/management, immunizations and clinical pharmacy assignments. Skill in training and orienting new and existing pharmacy facility employees and students on proper policies and procedures. Ability to evaluate, analyze and coordinate workflow and work activities within a specialized area or section of the pharmacy. References: VA HANDBOOK 5005/159, PART II APPENDIX G28, November 07, 2023 The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-8. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-8.

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 VA Northern California Health Care System 10535 Hospital Way Mather, CA 95655 US
• Name: Marisella Souza
• Phone: 925-356-4088
• Email: [email protected]