This position is located in the Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Service (P&LMS) at the Saginaw Aleda E. Lutz VA Medical Center. The incumbent is a Health Technician performing a variety of clinical and administrative functions.

Duties

Duties: Safely collects blood from patients for requested laboratory tests. This includes special drawing techniques and assuring proper tubes are used and the correct amount of blood is drawn. Verifies patient as the individual denoted on the request and labels all tubes with the patient's name, social security number, date and time to insure proper identification. Performs glucose Tolerance Tests and other specialized blood collections as indicated. Incumbent has direct patient contact and must treat all patients with the utmost courtesy and respect. Performs all types of specimen collection in a courteous manner. Provides for patient comfort. Adheres to safety, infection control, and universal precautions always while drawing specimen samples. This includes such things as removing tourniquets and wearing gloves. Must be proficient in phlebotomy, being able to work with even the most difficult patients and follows proper procedures for redrawing blood. In addition, must develop the essential speed required to complete the blood drawing duties. Assists in teaching laboratory and CBOC personnel theoretical and practical aspects of phlebotomy, a variety of specimen collections, and urine/blood specimen requirements. Must be able to respond to, report and assist in emergency situations. Must know basic life support procedures for the care of patients who become sick or faint while having blood drawn. Observes and interprets adverse reactions and reports any physical or mental changes while patients are being drawn. Performs and exhibits knowledge and skills specific to the adult and geriatric patient. Provides care based on psychosocial, educational, safety and related criteria, appropriate to the age of patients served. Work Schedule: Monday- Friday 11:30am-8:00pm Position Description Title/PD#: Health Technician- Phlebotomist/PD91101A Physical Requirements: The work requires extensive and recurring physical exertion such as standing for long periods of time, bending, lifting, walking, stooping and stretching. The work requires manual dexterity and a large degree of concentration. Work Environment: The work is performed in a medical laboratory with daily exposure to patients and materials carrying infectious diseases and hazardous chemicals. Proper precautions are practiced. The employee has the potential to be exposed to communicable disease. The work involves regular and recurring moderate risks or discomforts which require special safety precautions, e.g., working around carts, or machines; with bio-hazardous samples, contagious diseases or irritant chemicals, and some risk of needle stick. Employees are required to use protective clothing or gear such as masks, gowns, coats, goggles, gloves or shields to biohazard risks.

Requirements

• You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this job
• Subject to a background/suitability investigation
• Designated and/or random drug testing may be required
• May serve a probationary period
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• A complete application package; Resume, Transcripts, etc
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement. English Language Proficiency - In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), No person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English. You must be proficient in basic written and spoken English in order to meet the requirements of this position. GS-05 grade level: One year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-04 grade level in the federal service); experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA's) and other characteristics to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled, in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience includes: knowledge of the technical methods and procedures for correctly performing a variety of specimen collections, processing orders and computer accessioning of laboratory samples. This variety of technical duties is common to the specimen acquisition area and is carried out alone or as a fully functioning team or crew member. OR Education: Successfully completed post-high school education is qualifying for grades GS-3 through GS-5. This education must have been obtained in an accredited business or technical school, junior college, college or university for which high school graduation or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite. One year of full-time undergraduate study is defined as 30 semester hours, 45 quarter hours, or the equivalent in a college or university or at least 20 hours of classroom instruction per week for approximately 36 weeks in a business or technical school. OR Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at the GS-05 level. For GS-5 level positions, only education in excess of the first 60 semester hours of a course of study leading to a bachelor's degree is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirements. Two full academic years of study, or 60 semester hours, beyond the second year is equivalent to l year of specialized experience. Determine the applicant's total qualifying experience as a percentage of the year of specialized experience required at the GS-5 level. Then determine the applicant's education as a percentage of the education that meets the requirements for GS-5. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify an applicant for GS-5. To calculate, first identify the percentage of required education you have earned (when substituting, you cannot use the first 60 semester hours that you earned). Then identify the percentage of required experience you possess. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify at the GS-05. For example, an applicant who has 9 semester hours of graduate level education (i.e. 50% of graduate education required) and 6 months of creditable specialized experience (i.e. 50% of the required experience) would equal 100% of the required experience for the position A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

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. Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer (TJO). Please visit the Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP), va.gov/EMPLOYEE/docs/The-Fair-Chance-to-Compete-Act.pdf for more information.

Contacts

• Address Aleda E Lutz Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center 1500 Weiss Street Saginaw, MI 48602 US
• Name: Kevin Littler
• Phone: 740-804-6938
• Email: [email protected]