The Salt Lake City VA Medical Center is looking for a Health Technician for the Acute Care. The incumbent will report to the Nurse Manager and serve as an advanced technician for patients who present for treatment. The Health Technician assists acute care licensed staff with the delivery of complex and specialized patient care in possibly life-threatening situations. This position may also assist with the ICU, Stepdown, PACU, Telemetry, Medical/Surgical and Inpatient Psychiatric Units if needed.

Duties

Duties include, but are not limited to the following: Performing observation-based screening, collecting patient information in collaboration with licensed personnel. This may involve obtaining patient health/medication history, and information about health-related or high- ill complete approved templates and tools. Participates in the admission of patients by obtaining information, orienting patients to the unit and treatment team, obtaining vital signs and weight and checking patients and their belongings for hazardous items. Obtain patient vital signs, document in the EHR, and report any vitals outside of normal range to licensed staff member. Observations and interventions. Examples: oxygen therapy, thermal regulation, ambulation, oral/trach care, IV insertion/removal. Point-of-care testing such as I-STAT and glucometer. Operates specialized equipment such as defibrillators, electrocardiographs, bladder scans, electrocardiographic monitors, and oxygen apparatus according to training/competencies and national/local policy. Wound care such as bandaging, applications of dressings and wound measurements. Specimen collections and Preparation such as collecting and labeling venous blood and samples, urine, stool, wound and mucous specimens. Patient transport such as transporting patients with cardiac monitor or assisting licensed staff with patients on cardiac monitoring, chest tube, or other complex medical support devices to and from diagnostic tests or between hospital units. Setting up equipment and passing instruments in the event of defibrillation, cardioversions, 2 insertion of chest drainage tubes, insertion of thoracostomy tubes, lumbar puncture, electroconvulsive therapy, rapid sequence intubation, or initiation of mechanical ventilation to restore normal physiological function or prevent deterioration of condition. Applies non-sterile hot/cold compresses, packs, and soaks and utilizes equipment that provides heating or cooling as directed by provider. Assists in behavioral/psychiatric situations within the acute care setting. This can include assisting licensed personnel with crisis intervention, assisting with observation and documentation of aggressive or suicidal psychiatric patients by providing one-tone observations and applying Prevention and Management of Disruptive Behavior (PMDB) techniques. Medication administration will comply with national directives and local policies utilizing Bar Code Medication Administration (BCMA) as required and whenever applicable. Administration methods may include intramuscular, oral, topical, eye drops, ear drops, intranasal, intraosseous, rectal suppositories, normal saline IV push, local anesthetics, nebulized medications, subcutaneous, and intradermal. Demonstrates acceptable behavior as a role model for patient behavior. Encourages patient and family to actively participate in the individualized treatment plan. Encourages positive patient-family relationships. Teaches patients and family members the necessity of continuing proper health care. Provides general clerical administrative support coordination work for the unit. Maintains patient records/charts. Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. Work Schedule: Full-time, hours and days of the week vary. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Health Technician/PD12975A Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 12/04/2024. GS-06 Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-06 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Progressively responsible analytical or administrative, or clinical management or supervisory experience in the health care field. This work may have been performed in an operating health care facility or a higher organizational echelon with advisory or directional authority over such facilities. Work must have involved a close working relationship with facility managers and analysis and/ or coordination of administrative, clinical, or other service activities, and provided knowledge of the following: Missions, organizations, programs, and requirements of health care delivery systems; Regulations and standards of various regulatory and credentialing groups; and Government-wide, agency, and facility systems and requirements in various administrative areas such as budget, personnel, and procurement.. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have one full year of graduate education in course of study in an accredited college or university that included a major field of study in hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration. OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond 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. GS-07-Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-06. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-06 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Progressively responsible analytical or administrative, or clinical management or supervisory experience in the health care field. This work may have been performed in an operating health care facility or a higher organizational echelon with advisory or directional authority over such facilities. Work must have involved a close working relationship with facility managers and analysis and/ or coordination of administrative, clinical, or other service activities, and provided knowledge of the following: Missions, organizations, programs, and requirements of health care delivery systems; Regulations and standards of various regulatory and credentialing groups; and Government-wide, agency, and facility systems and requirements in various administrative areas such as budget, personnel, and procurement. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have one full year of graduate education in course of study in an accredited college or university that included a major field of study in hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration. OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond 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. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Applies Technology to TasksConflict ManagementListeningTechnical Competence 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. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Physical Requirements: The work involves extended periods of heavy moving and lifting of patients. Generally, the work requires recurring bending, lifting, stooping, stretching, and positioning of patients. Must be able to lift and/or move heavy objects over 45 pounds. Must be able to carry objects over 40 pounds for distances of at least 200 feet. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Education

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 VA Salt Lake City Health Care System 500 Foothill Drive Salt Lake City, UT 84148 US
• Name: VISN 19 HR Contact Center
• Phone: 719-227-4600
• Email: [email protected]