The Primary Purpose of the Position is: To accomplish duties related to stocking, delivering, inventory, inspections, assembling ward orders, controlled substances distribution, sterile compounding (including hazardous drugs), unit-dose drug packaging, dispensing, distribution, and any other function related to pharmaceutical practices for inpatient care areas.

Duties

Pharmacy Technician: vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Total-Rewards-of-a-Pharmacy-Technician-Career-Flyer.pdf Major Duties include but are not limited to: Pharmaceutical Care Interprets, fills, and prepares prescriptions with appropriate medications and/or medical supplies for pharmacist verification of outpatient prescription orders, inpatient orders, and clinic orders as required per policy. Dispenses medications to patients and/or other healthcare professionals post final verification by a pharmacist as required per policy. Responds to questions from pharmacy and non-pharmacy personnel about drug distribution. Provides patient education on topics like the refill process and relay questions outside of technician scope to the pharmacist. Ensures adherence to appropriate storage guidelines including high-risk, look-alike sound-alike, and refrigerated items as per USP and VA guidelines. Reconstitutes/prepares oral medications, ensuring accurate calculations and documentation for final pharmacist verification. Operates and maintains automated unit dose dispensing systems, including stocking and ensuring packaged items' accuracy before distribution. Address and report malfunctions and troubleshoot as necessary to ensure functionality. Addresses minor mechanical problems with automated systems (as applicable). Coordinate more complex issues with supervisor, vendor help desk, ADPAC, etc. Efficiently and accurately manages cart fill, pre-exchanges, missing doses, and handle cart fill returns as directed by supervisor. Medication Order Fulfillment: Prepares medication orders properly with the correct drug, strength, dosage form, quantity, auxiliary labels. Assures that the correct medication is filled by using appropriate and established safety measures and checks. Inspects packaged items for accuracy and suitability (to include appropriate labeling and documentation) before submitting for final check by a pharmacist. Ensures appropriate review of medications to be dispensed to hospital areas per service level procedures. Supports automation by manually filling orders not processed through the automation dispensing machine. Assures the timely completion of all medication orders. Ward and Clinic Stock Management: Correctly inventories, assesses, and determines the need for ward and clinic stock replenishment. Performs and documents inspection of assigned hospital areas for medication storage. Removes all expired and deteriorated drugs from the automated dispensing stations. Sterile Compounding: Compounds parenteral admixtures to be delivered in the form of large volume, small volume, infusion syringe or other as required. Competence is demonstrated by utilizing correct application of aseptic technique standards to maintain sterile equipment, sterile working environment, and preparation of sterile products utilizing sterile technique in actual work performance. Correctly interprets physician orders, selects, and measures appropriate ingredients, mixes ingredients in a safe and effective manner by completing accurate calculation and conversion of various medications dosages and strengths and documentation of such on documentation logs. Uses standard protocols to determine an accurate expiration date for each batch prepared. Accurately maintains all quality assurance records in accordance with regulatory requirements and facility standards. Controlled Substances Activities: Documents all controlled substance-related transactions in line with VA and DEA guidelines, ensuring accurate inventory counts during restocking. Always safeguard controlled substances, ensuring they are never left unsecured. Ensures that proper handoff occurs when receiving or delivering controlled substances, always assuring that these medications are never left unsecured. Reports unresolvable discrepancies to immediate area supervisor for resolution. Assist in investigating, witnessing, and resolving discrepancies. Complies with all laws, regulations, directives, policies, and procedures applying to the dispensing, storage, transfer, inventory, and accountability of controlled substances. Administrative and Education/Training: Assists in training and orientation of new technicians, interns, and students. Assumes an active role in the overall pharmacy-training program. Build and maintain productive working relationships across departments, resolving queries and serving as a trusted resource. Completes all National, VISN, local, and Pharmacy Service mandatory trainings in a timely manner. Use VA integrated software and Veterans Health Information and Technology Architecture (VistA) for various clinical and administrative tasks. Work Schedule: Rotating Shifts, Nights/Weekends and Holidays Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 51416F Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

Basic Requirements: Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States. Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with38 U.S.C. § 7407(a). Education or Experience. None required 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). OR National Health career 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. Employees in an occupation that requires a licensure/certification/registration only at higher grade levels must meet the licensure/certification/registration requirement before they can be promoted to those higher grade levels. Employees 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. Employees 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 re-entry to the occupation. Employees initially grandfathered into this occupation who subsequently obtain additional education and/or licensure/certification/registration that meet all the basic requirements of this qualification standard must maintain the required credentials as a condition of employment in the occupation. English Language Proficiency. Pharmacy technicians appointed to direct patient care positions must be proficient in spoken and written English. Grade Determinations: Pharmacy Technician, GS-07 In addition to the Basic requirements to qualify for the GS 07 Candidates must possess one year of experience equivalent to the next lower 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: PTCB as a CPhT. OR NHA as a ExCPT. Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: Knowledge of pharmacy technician principles, practices, concepts and theories providing for sound independent work. Knowledge of the computerized prescription process and input of prescriptions and medication orders or electronic equivalent. Ability to resolve pharmacy/medication issues with other members of the healthcare team, Veterans and external customers. Ability to train developmental pharmacy technicians and students. Ability to dispense medication or sterile products following all regulations, policies and procedures to ensure safe medication distribution. Ability to troubleshoot automated dispensing equipment (ADE) or technology platforms/databases. Assignments. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity and range of variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. Pharmacy technicians at this level are nationally certified and can work autonomously using independent judgement to perform a full range of duties. These pharmacy technicians mentor and train lower graded pharmacy technicians in the practice setting. They assist advanced/ specialized pharmacy technicians and participate in performance improvement initiatives. At this level, pharmacy technicians use independent judgement to perform the full range of duties in the pharmacy. They also function as staff pharmacy technicians in various locations of the pharmacy, including pharmacy contact centers and other non-traditional pharmacy locations, with minimal oversight Reference: VA HANDBOOK 5005/159 For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-07. Physical Requirements: Moderate lifting: (15-44 pounds); Moderate Carrying (15-44 pounds); Straight Pulling (less than 30 minutes); Pushing (less than 30 minutes); Reaching above shoulder; Use of fingers; Both hands required; Walking (up to 6 hours); Standing (up to 6 hours); Repeated bending (up to 1 hour); Ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously; Near vision correctable at 13" to 16"; Hearing (aid permitted).

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/.

NOTE: If your school has changed names, or is no longer in existence, you must provide this information in your application.

NOTE: If your school was accredited by National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS), Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP, formerly CAHEA), or the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES).at the time of graduation but is no longer listed on the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS), Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP, formerly CAHEA), or the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES). website, you must provide documentation of accreditation with your application packet.

Contacts

• Address Dallas VA Medical Center 4500 South Lancaster Road Dallas, TX 75216 US
• Name: VISN 17 SSU USAS Group
• Email: [email protected]