This position is located in the Audiology Service at the VA CBOC located in Peoria IL. The duties and responsibilities are carried out in all clinical and other patient care areas involved with the Audiology service. The health technician supports the function of the clinical programs in Audiology. The incumbent is a staff health technician (Audiology) under the supervision of a GS-12 audiologist or above.

Duties

Duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to: Greeting and escorting patients; Triaging patients to an audiologist; Patient set up for procedures ; Patient instruction and counseling on hearing loss, hearing protection, hearing aids or other assistive listening devices; Conducting hearing puretone air-conduction testing without interpretation; Non-diagnostic otoscopy; Cerumen management; Taking earmold impressions; Hearing aid troubleshooting and repair; Providing basic hearing aid information for patients and caregivers; Performing listening checks on hearing aids; Electroacoustic analysis of devices; Pairing hearing aids and accessories via Bluetooth technology; Programming previously stored settings into hearing aids; Activating remote controls; and Training of employees and patients on personal hearing protection devices and/or hearing conservation education. Receives and screens calls from veterans, completes walk-in or car side repair appointments. Checks malfunctioning hearing aids to determine if problems can be corrected in the clinic. Managing office supplies; Tracking loaner stock hearing aid inventory; Electronic ordering, verifying orders upon arrival; Scheduling appointments; Packaging and mailing hearing aids and accessories; Processing ROES transactions; Management of hearing protection device inventory; Responding to routine inquiries from patients; Assisting patients, visitors, and others requesting information; Management of infection control, patient safety, and clinical supplies for the audiology clinic; Maintenance of clean, disinfected instrumentation, equipment, and work surfaces in the audiology clinic; and Reprocessing reusable medical equipment. Serves as the primary and/or alternate timekeeper for the Audiology/Speech Pathology Department. Incumbent is a purchase card holder and complies with all the acquisition regulations, both Federal, VA and local. Reconciles purchase card charges within the established time limits. Health technicians with specialized training and certification from the Council on Accreditation in Occupational Hearing Conservation (CAOHC) may, under the direct supervision of a licensed audiologist or physician, perform the following services: Biologic checks and calibration of audiometric instrumentation. Ability to conduct employee hearing conservation education and training. Knowledge of the hearing conservation program requirements to manage records and files. Ability to perform otoscopic screening and pure-tone air conduction threshold testing for the purpose of hearing conservation. Provide Basic counseling of employees concerning test results and criteria for employee referral to hearing conservation program Otoscopy and pure tone air conduction testing without interpretation for established patients in regular VA clinic Ability to provide employee hearing conservation education, training and audiologic technical support. Ability to identify a threshold shift and make appropriate referrals for further testing when indicated. Training of employees on personal hearing protection devices. Work Schedule: 7:00am-3:30pm Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized 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: Experience and Education. Experience: Six months of experience comparable to the next lower level which demonstrates the knowledge, skills and abilities related to the duties of the position to be filled. OR Education: Successful completion of two academic years above high school leading to an associate degree or a bachelor's degree with at least 12 semester hours in courses related to the position. OR Experience/Education Combination: Equivalent combinations of experience and education are qualifying. An example of a combination of experience/education is three months of experience comparable to the next lower level which demonstrates the knowledge, skills and abilities related to the duties of the position to be filled and one year above high school with a minimum of 6 semester hours related to the health care industry. Certification: Certification by the Council for Accreditation in Occupational Hearing Conservation (CAOHC) as a Certified Occupational Hearing Conservationist (COHC) is required for the HTA, GS-08 assignment only. Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met for grade determination: Experience: GS-08: Completion of one year of progressive experience and/or experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-7) directly related to the position being filled. Experience includes: completing adjustments to hearing aid settings as outlined in the audiologist's plan of care, preparing patients for advanced diagnostic procedures such as evoked potentials and collaborating with audiology team to develop training programs for patients and staff. Certification: CAOHC certification as a COHC is required for this assignment. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: Ability to conduct employee hearing conservation education and training. Knowledge of the hearing conservation program requirements to manage records and files. Ability to perform pure tone air conduction testing. Ability to provide audiologic technical support to the employee hearing conservation program. Ability to identify a threshold shift and make appropriate referrals for further testing when indicated. References: VA Handbook 5005/143, PART II APPENDIX G70 The full performance level of this vacancy is 8. Physical Requirements: The work is primarily sedentary, but also requires some standing, walking, bending, lifting and carrying of light items. The work requires above average dexterity to manipulate small hearing aid parts.

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 Danville VA Medical Center 1900 East Main Street Danville, IL 61832 US
• Name: Amber Penry
• Phone: 217-554-5961
• Email: [email protected]