The incumbent serves as Advanced Medical Supply Technician (MST), Sterile Processing Service (SPS) for Veterans Health Administration (VHA), VISN 10, Cincinnati, OH under the Associate Director for Patient Care Services. SPS provides support to the Medical Center and Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs).

Duties

The Advanced Sterile Processing Technician performs a wide variety of duties, including the various cleaning, decontamination and sterilization processes associated Reusable Medical Equipment (RME), which includes medical and surgical instruments reprocessing. Additional responsibilities will include assisting with quality assurance throughout the decontamination and sterilization processing areas. Incumbent will assume continuous training in support of the reprocessing of all types of reusable medical equipment in support of the clinics, wards, dental and other services throughout the Medical Center. The incumbent must determine the proper technique used to decontaminate, disinfect all types of medical equipment, thus destroying microorganisms that present at threat to patient safety, the user and the individual(s) reprocessing. The Advanced MST assembles highly complex instrument sets including, but not limited to, open heart, major orthopedic total joint, cardiovascular, craniotomy, and complex endoscopic instrumentation. Specific duties to include but not limited to: Processes all complex endoscopic instrumentation to include those medical devices used in the gastroenterology laboratory, bronchoscopy laboratory, urology, and operating room. Reviews manufacturer guidelines to ensure the correct methods and parameters are followed when cleaning, decontaminating, and sterilizing reusable medical equipment (RME). Troubleshoots and analyzes mechanical failures and makes necessary adjustments to complex decontamination and sterilization equipment, as well as interprets alarm conditions which may occur while operating the equipment. Informs management and healthcare staff when cleaning and processing standard operating procedures (SOPs) or instruction for use have been changed or updated to assure the changes have been validated to meet all guidelines. In this position, the employee will provide decontamination, preparation, sterilization, and distribution support of critical and semi-critical reusable medical equipment for the medical center. The MST will have advanced knowledge of the processes for reusable medical equipment (RME) as required by this position. The AMST will be required to learn, and maintain current knowledge of the standard operating procedures (SOPs) which document the processes and procedures for cleaning, disinfection, preparation, and sterilization of RME appropriate to this position. The AMST will demonstrate their ability to follow the directions of a written procedure in the processing of RME appropriate to this position. The employee will work as team member with other Medical Supply Technicians of varying experience to carry out the daily work utilizing written standard operating procedures and/or manufacturer's written instructions; in accordance with instructions, policies, procedures, directives, memoranda, previous training, or accepted/standard practices. If there are no Supervisors or Lead MST's scheduled, the Advanced Performance MST will be expected to temporarily fill the leadership position for that tour of duty. This temporary working position will not be expected to perform at the fully functional Supervisory or Lead MST role, but will be expected to perform delegation of duties and complete mandatory reporting

Requirements

Qualifications

Basic Requirements: Citizenship. Citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, Section A, paragraph 3g.) Experience and/or Education. Experience. Six months of experience that demonstrates the applicant's ability to perform the work or provides an understanding of the work; OR, Education. One year above high school that included at least 6 semester hours in health care related courses such as sterile processing, nursing assistant, hospital corpsman, and operating room and surgical technician courses or other courses related to the position; OR, Experience/Education Combination. Equivalent combination of experience and education are qualifying for entry level for which both education and experience are acceptable. Certification. None Grandfathering Provision. All MSTs that are employed in VHA in this occupation on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, 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: (1) Employees grandfathered into the GS-622 occupational series as MSTs may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journeyman) level, or changed to lower grade within the occupation. (2) MSTs 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. (3) MSTs who are converted to title 38 hybrid status under this provision and subsequently leave the occupation lose protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of reentry to the occupation. Foreign Education. To be creditable, education completed outside the U.S. must have been submitted to a private organization that specializes in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education must have been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U. S. programs. English Language Proficiency. MSTs must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j, this part. Grade Determinations: The following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates. Creditable Experience: Knowledge of Current MST Practices. To be creditable, the experience must have demonstrated the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) associated with MST responsibilities. Experience satisfying this requirement may be paid/non-paid employment as a MST. Quality of Experience. Qualifying experience must be at a level comparable to MST experience at the next lower grade level of the position being filled. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher level duties must consist of significant scope, administrative independence, complexity (difficulty) 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. Part-Time Experience. Part-time experience as a MST is creditable according to its relationship to the full-time workweek. For example, a MST 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. GS-07 Advanced Medical Supply Technician: Experience. One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-06). Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate, in their resume, all of the following KSAs: Detailed knowledge of complex surgical instruments used in operating rooms and clinic settings. Ability to assemble specialty operating room and clinic instrument sets. In-depth knowledge of sterilization and cleaning equipment. Ability to communicate both orally and in writing in order to convey information and thoughts to others. Assignment. The Advanced MST assembles highly complex instrument sets including, but not limited to, open heart, major orthopedic total joint, cardiovascular, craniotomy and complex endoscopic instrumentation. Processes all complex endoscopic instrumentation to include those medical devices used in the gastroenterology laboratory, bronchoscopy laboratory, urology and operating room. Reviews manufacturer guidelines to ensure the correct methods and parameters are followed when cleaning, decontaminating and sterilizing RME. Troubleshoots and analyzes mechanical failures and makes necessary adjustments to complex decontamination and sterilization equipment, as well as interprets alarm conditions which may occur while operating the equipment. Informs management and healthcare staff when cleaning and processing standard operating procedures (SOPs) or instruction for use have been changed or updated to assure the changes have been validated to meet all guidelines. References: VA HANDBOOK 5005, Part II, APPENDIX G47

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 Cincinnati VA Medical Center 3200 Vine Street Cincinnati, OH 45220 US
• Name: Heather Bishop
• Email: [email protected]