Job opening: Health Science Specialist
Salary: $95 895 - 124 659 per year
Published at: Dec 16 2024
Employment Type: Full-time
This position is located in the Infection Prevention Department reporting to Manager, Infection Prevention. The incumbent of this position is responsible for a high-profile Infection Prevention and Control Program with interaction within all the Medical Center service lines and with institutional oversight for various accreditation, regulatory, agency, and local public health liaison activities.
Duties
***THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION***
Major Duties:
Participates in the ongoing operations of the Medical Center's Infection Prevention and Control Program, working with infectious disease physicians and others as appropriate to develop guidelines, actions items and data collection procedures.
Responsible for the detection, prevention, and prediction of nosocomial infections in the medical center. In addition, the incumbent collaborates with others in the design, conduct and analysis of other epidemiological studies.
Performs preliminary evaluations to determine the nature of unusual healthcare associated infection problems, to assess the magnitude and gravity of the problem and to determine control measures to be taken.
Reviews and recommends products for use in cleaning and disinfection of equipment and environmental surfaces.
Assists in the development of criteria for identifying infections and specific isolation/precautions needed for containment of infections.
Implements developed surveillance techniques to track and predict the occurrence of nosocomial infections.
Independently gathers data on healthcare associated infections and assembles it for presentation including graphic display and analysis based on up-to-date infection prevention and control practice.
Obtains cultures of environment when epidemiologic data suggests a possible role of equipment or physical surroundings in the spread of infection.
Obtains or recommends obtaining cultures on employees who may be responsible for spread of an infectious agent, or who may have become carriers of agents through contact with an infected patient.
Conducts literature searches on pertinent infection prevention and control problems and contributes to the development of the Infection Prevention and Control policies for VA Medical Center.
Performs other duties as assigned
Work Schedule: Monday-Friday; 8:00am-4:30pm
Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved
Qualifications
Basic Education Requirement: Possess a bachelor's or graduate/higher level degree: major study in an academic field related to the medical field, health sciences or allied sciences appropriate to the work of the position. This degree must be from an educational program from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education at the time the degree was obtained. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED)
In addition to meeting the basic education requirement, applicants must also meet the following:
Specialized Experience: Possess at least one (1) full year of specialized experience that equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of this position. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level of (GS-11) in Federal service. Examples of specialized experience would typically include but are not limited to experience as an infection preventionist or an infection control coordinator; understanding National Health Safety Network/Inpatient Evaluation Center standards; performing data collection and analysis; and using data to make plans or recommendations for a medical center. Note: This experience must be demonstrated in your resume to receive credit.
You will be rated on the following Competencies as part of the assessment questionnaire for this position:
Critical ThinkingInfection ControlSystems Thinking
IMPORTANT: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. All experience listed on your resume must include the month and year start/end dates. 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.
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; religious; 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.
Physical Requirements: The position requires walking for completion of a variety of inspections/rounds related to survey readiness and general isolation and policy adherence observations. The position requires completion of inspections/rounds in non-finished construction areas to survey readiness, adherence to appropriate infection prevention controls, and assess areas for occupancy.
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
IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.
There is no educational substitution at this grade level.
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:
Recognition of Foreign Qualifications | International Affairs Office (ed.gov).
Contacts
- Address Ann Arbor VA Medical Center
2215 Fuller Road
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
US
- Name: VHA National Recruitment Center
- Phone: (844)456-5208
- Email: VHANationalRecruitmentCenter@va.gov
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