The Supervisory Dental Hygienist is responsible for the supervision, administrative management, and direction of dental auxiliary staff to include Dental Hygienists and Dental Assistants. The incumbent may be delegated full administrative and professional responsibility for planning and directing the dental auxiliary staff activities for the service. Incumbent has full supervisory responsibility over the dental hygienists' and dental assistants.

Duties

Duties include but may not be limited to: Supervises a team of employees performing at the GS-10 level or below. Provides guidance and technical direction necessary for accomplishing the work of the team. Plan and assigns work, then makes adjustments in accordance with established priorities. Sets and adjusts short-term priorities. Approves leave for subordinates. Evaluates the individual performance, progress, and training needs of subordinate employees. Prepares performance appraisals and performance improvement plans when problems are identified. Issues minor disciplinary actions, such as warning and reprimands. Recommends other action on more serious cases. Interviews candidates for dental assistant positions, recommends appointment, promotion, or reassignment. Recommends awards or recognitions of performance. Monitors work in progress to ensure the staff dental hygienist's clinical performance meets the dentist's instruction. Confers with the Deputy Chief of Dental if unable to resolve key issues or problems. Oversees the Systems Redesign Program to identify ways to improve production or improve quality. Identifies developmental and training needs of employees for specific tasks and job techniques. Trains employees in computerized dental patient record systems including generating patient consults, storing, and viewing digital images, entry of diagnostic data and preparation of treatment planning. Provide assistance to customers with questions or concerns and performs service recovery. Delivers care the reflects the Veteran's and family's personal goals, personal preferences, and freedom of choice. Sets up operatory for planned dental procedures and cleans dental unit for timely turnover. Provides routine oral prophylaxis, gross debridement, soft tissue curettage, deep scaling and root planning procedures to patients with complex periodontal/restorative conditions and complex medical/psychiatric issues. Performs all other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position Functional Statement #: Supervisory Dental Hygienist, GS-0682-11 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. Applicants must possess an Associate degree or higher from an accredited dental hygiene program. The degree must have been obtained from an institution whose accreditation was in place for the year in which the course of study was completed. Approved programs are: (1) Dental hygiene programs accredited by the American Dental Association's Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA). (2) Education completed outside of the United States must be considered at least equivalent to that gained in CODA accredited United States programs and would enable the candidate to sit for the National Board Dental Hygiene Examination, which is administered by the Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations. Licensure/Certification Licensure. Applicants must be currently licensed to practice as a dental hygienist with a full, current and unrestricted license in a State, Territory or Commonwealth of the United States, or the District of Columbia. Certification. P.L. 97-35, Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981, requires persons who administer radiologic procedures meet the credentialing standards in 42 C.F.R. Part 75, Standards for the Accreditation of Educational Programs for and the Credentialing of Radiologic Personnel. To meet this requirement, they must have successfully completed an educational program that meets or exceeds the standards described in that regulation and is accredited by an organization recognized by the Department of Education and be certified as radiographers in their field. Accredited dental hygiene programs contain curriculum addressing radiologic procedures meets the requirement for certification as dental radiographers. Exceptions for Non-Certified Dental Hygienist. (a)Non-certified applicants who otherwise meet the eligibility requirements for licensure, may be given a temporary appointment as a graduate dental hygienist under the authority of 38 U.S.C. § 7405(c)(2)(B), Temporary Full-Time Appointments, Part-Time Appointments and Without-Compensation Appointments for a Period Not to Exceed Two Years. (b) Non-certified individuals shall only provide care under the supervision of a certified dental hygienist at or above the full performance level. (c) Non-certified individuals may only be appointed at the entry level and may not be promoted/converted until certification is obtained. (d) Temporary appointments of non-certified dental hygienist may not be extended beyond two years or converted to a new temporary appointment. Failure to Obtain Certification. In all cases, dental hygienist must actively pursue meeting requirements for certification starting from the date of their appointment. At the time of appointment, the dental hygienist supervisor will provide the dental hygienist with the written requirements for licensure/certification, including the time by which the licensure/certification must be obtained and the consequences for not becoming certified by the deadline. Management officials will remove dental hygienists from their positions who fail to obtain licensure/certification during this time period, which may result in termination of employment. Loss of Credential. Management officials will remove dental hygienists from their positions who fail to maintain the required licensure/certification, which may also result in termination or employment. 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. English Language Proficiency. Dental hygienist candidates May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria). Supervisory Dental Hygienist, GS-11 Experience. At least one year of experience at the next lower grade level (GS-10) that demonstrates the clinical competencies described at that level. GS-10 experience includes: Advanced knowledge of dental hygiene and/or dental assisting across multiple types of dental practice to provide guidance and training to dental auxiliary staff. Skill in coordinating clinical workflow and work assignments. Ability to develop policy, manage equipment requests and provide workload analysis in Dental Clinic operations. Demonstrated leadership and managerial skills, including skill in interpersonal relations and conflict resolution to deal with employees, team leaders, and managers. Ability to analyze clinically appropriate data and make recommendations to optimize quality, efficiency, performance, and productivity within service. Ability to perform the full range of supervisory duties which would include responsibility for assignment of work to be performed; competency assessments; performance evaluations; selection of staff; and recommendation of awards, advancements, and when appropriate, disciplinary actions. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to meeting the KSAs for the GS-10 level, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs and demonstrate the potential to acquire the assignment specific KSAs designated by an asterisk (*). Ability to work independently to set priorities, delegate tasks, meet multiple deadlines, analyze organizational problems, and develop and implement effective solutions to optimize quality, efficiency, performance, and productivity within the service. Ability to develop policy, manage equipment requests, and provide workload analysis in Dental Clinic operations. Demonstrated leadership and managerial skills including skill in interpersonal relations and conflict resolution to deal with employees, team members, managers or other departments; and *Ability to perform the full range of supervisory duties which would include responsibility for assignment of work to be performed; competency assessments; performance evaluations; selection of staff; and recommendation of awards, advancements, and when appropriate, disciplinary actions. Preferred Experience: At least one year of supervisory experience as outlined in the VA dental hygienist qualification standards References: VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G37 The full performance level of this vacancy is 11. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is a 11. Physical Requirements: Long periods of standing, walking, sitting and bending are required. Pushing dental instrumentation and equipment on a cart down hallways and into elevators is necessary in order to deliver items to the central sterilization area within the medical center. It is necessary to climb onto lifts in order to retrieve or store supplies, or to help the dentist carry out a surgical or dental procedure. Lifting of patients from gurneys or wheelchairs into the dental chair is required in order to position them for radiographs or dental examination and treatment.

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 Huntington VA Medical Center 1540 Spring Valley Drive Huntington, WV 25704 US
• Name: Mewael Teklehaimanot
• Phone: 4106057000
• Email: [email protected]