Job opening: Medical Supply Technician (Sterile Processing)
Salary: $35 499 - 58 915 per year
Published at: Sep 05 2024
Employment Type: Full-time
Medical Supply Technician (Sterile Processing) for Veterans Health Administration (VHA). The incumbent will be responsible for accurately completing work performed in all work areas of the department, including but not limited to, decontamination, instrument preparation/assembly, high-level disinfection, sterilization and case cart preparation (instrumentation), in support of the Operating Room (OR), clinical areas throughout the facility and outlying clinics.
Duties
Total-Rewards-of-an-Allied-Health-VA-Career-Brochure.pdf
Medical Supply Aide and Technician: vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Total-Rewards-of-a-Medical-Supply-Aide-Career-Flyer.pdf
Duties include but are limited to:
Accurately completes all department required documentation to include, but not limited to, documentation of biological indicator results, signatures where applicable, time and temperature, load control sticker with correct sterilizer number, cycle and date of reprocessing.
Completes sterilization and high-level disinfecting of Reusable Medical Equipment by following manufacturer instructions, VHA directives, AAMI/ANSI ST 79, IAHCSMM and facility standard operating procedures.
Maintains annual competency requirements associated with more than 100 Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for SPS. Competencies, depending on the instrument/equipment, may have greater than 30 steps that must be successfully completed and accurately applied each time that item is reprocessed.
Demonstrates a working knowledge of the use of biological indicator controls and testing, as well as the principles and methods of sterilization/high-level disinfecting and packaging.
Responsible for identifying, assembling and packaging hundreds of instruments and sets in preparation for sterilization and/or high-level disinfection.
Customer Service/Satisfaction:
Demonstrates a professional and courteous attitude while in contact with internal (coworkers, clinic, CBOC and OR personnel) and external customers (visitors, vendors and others).
Demonstrates appropriate telephone courtesy by identifying self when answering calls and responds to callers in a polite and courteous manner. If unable to satisfy the caller's need, takes a message, including the caller's name and telephone number. Incumbent will ensure the message is communicated with the intended recipient as soon as possible.
Ensures instruments gathered during scheduled pick-up and delivery, are accounted for, minimizing the need to purchase replacement instruments due to loss or damage to instruments while in SPS's possession.
Quality Assurance:
Completes all sterilization/high-level disinfection documentation correctly. This includes and is not limited to: biological indicator (BI) lot numbers and results (control and test), DART (dynamic air removal test) and leak test results, minimum effective concentration levels for high-level disinfection chemicals, incubator temperature readings, All sterilization and high-level disinfecting documents must be completed as indicated on the forms/cards, as applicable.
Performs second (quality assurance) checks on instrument sets/case carts for assembly accuracy and completion.
Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 7:00am - 3:30pm or 9:00am - 5:30pm; subject to changed based on the needs of the facility.
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized
Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases
Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year)
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 #: 502-00081F, 00082-F, 00083-F, 00084F
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
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.
English Language Proficiency: MST's must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j,
Experience and/or Education: Six months of experience that demonstrates the applicant's ability to perform the work or provides an understanding of the work; OR 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 an equivalent combination of experience and education are qualifying for entry level for which both education and experience are acceptable.
Certification: None.
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).
Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates.
Medical Supply Technician, GS-03 (Entry Level)
Experience or Education. None beyond the basic requirements.
Medical Supply Technician, GS-04 (Developmental Level)
Experience. Six months experience as a MST, operating room or surgical technician or other position that demonstrated knowledge of sterile processing in a clinical setting; or
Education. Two years of education above high school that includes at least 12 semester hours in courses related to the occupation.
NOTE: Successful completion of a course for medical technicians, hospital corpsmen, medical service specialists, or nursing assistants obtained in a training program given by the Armed Forces, the U.S. Maritime Service, or hospitals under close medical and professional supervision, may be substituted on a month-for-month basis for up to 6 months of experience.
Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills and Abilities. In addition to the experience or education above, the candidate must demonstrate the KSAs below:
Knowledge of universal precautions for safety and prevention of cross contamination.
Basic knowledge of medical terminology in order to assemble specialty operating room/clinic instrument sets.
Basic knowledge of sterilization and cleaning equipment.
Ability to communicate both orally and in writing.
Medical Supply Technician, GS-05 (Developmental Level)
Experience. One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level; or
Education. Four academic years above high school leading to a Bachelor's degree with at least 12 semester hours in courses related to the occupation or a Bachelor's degree.
Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills and Abilities. In addition to the experience or education above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:
Basic knowledge of surgical instruments used in operating rooms and clinical settings.
Basic knowledge of event-related packaging in regards to sterility.
Knowledge of sterilization and cleaning equipment.
Medical Supply Technician, GS-06 (Full Performance Level)
Experience. One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level.
Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:
Knowledge of surgical instruments used in operating rooms and clinic settings.
Knowledge of universal precautions for safety and prevention of cross contamination.
Working knowledge of medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, microbiology, medical conditions and procedures.
Knowledge of sterility principles in regards to instrumentation.
Ability to read and interpret written instructions and procedures.
Preferred Experience:
Previous experience in sterile processing including sterilization and decontamination.
Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.
The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-6. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-3 to GS-6.
Physical Requirements: May require standing, lifting, carrying, sitting, stooping, bending, pulling, and pushing. May be required to wear personal protective equipment and undergo annual TB screening or testing as conditions of employment.
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 Alexandria VA Medical Center
2495 Shreveport Highway
Pineville, LA 71360
US
- Name: Teri Bankhead
- Phone: 2057719942
- Email: [email protected]
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