Therapy Assistant

Summary

This position is located in Community Living Center of the Inpatient Geriatric Services Department of the Nursing Services Directorate. In cooperation with and under the direction and guidance of the assigned Recreation Therapist - plans and implements a variety of Recreation Therapy modalities - making frequent and comprehensive changes in procedures and modalities to assist the patient in overcoming social/emotional and physical disabilities.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position - applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement - 05/29/2026. 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. Rehabilitation Therapy Assistant Series 0636 Individual Occupational Requirements Experience Specialized Experience (for positions at GS-4 and above): Examples of qualifying specialized experience include work as an assistant to one of the specialized therapies such as occupational - physical - manual arts - corrective - or educational therapy; or experience gained as an assistant or aid in patient care - social work - or psychology where the duties involved actual participation in physical medicine and activities of a hospital or clinic. OR Education and Training: For GS-3: Successful completion of l year of study. For GS-4: Successful completion of 2 years of study in a program directly related to the specialized field of therapy. 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 is physically active and requires walking - standing - lifting - pushing - and driving of vehicles. Moderate lifting (15-44 pounds) - Moderate carrying (15-44 pounds) - Straight pulling (1.5 hours) - Pulling handover hand (2.5 hours) - Pushing (2.5 hours) - Reaching abo e shoulder - Use of fingers - Both hands required - Walking (2.5 hours) - Standing (4 hours) - Crawling (0.75 hours) - Kneeling (0.75 hours) - Repeated bending (3.5 hours) - Climbing legs only (0.5 hour) - Both legs required - Ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously. For more information on these qualification standards - please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at

Duties

• Duties include and are not limited to: Cooperation with and under the direction and guidance of the assigned Recreation Therapist - plans and implements a variety of Recreation Therapy modalities
• working together in planning and coordinating activities and community outings for their veterans
• The Recreation Therapist will provide direction and guidance to the Assistant concerning the best ways to implement these programs
• One of the primary duties of Recreation Therapy Assistant is to help the Recreation Therapist in providing quality patient care on the units they are assigned
• The Recreation Therapist maintains overall responsibility for the programs and services delivered by Recreation Therapy Assistants
• Provides routine and complex procedures to facilitate the achievement of individual goals for patients
• Works with different diagnostic categories to include Dementia - Psychiatric Disorders - Stroke - Amputations - and a wide range of neurological disorders including paralysis
• Works with orthopedic patients - cancer patients - Alzheimer patients - general medical and surgical patients - substance abuse patients - and other classes of patients found in the extended care wards
• Also - Utilizes a wide range of treatment modalities
• including: music therapy - leisure counseling and education - adapted sports and games - movement therapy - and art therapy
• Provides exposure to a variety of cultural - artistic - and educational events - both on and off-station
• Provides data to the team on the patient's response and progress
• Participates in clinical conferences - staff meetings - team meetings - and other multidisciplinary meetings
• Assists the therapist to provide technical instructions and supervision to students - temporary employees - and volunteers on the proper methods of delivering clinical services Prepares reports - statistical summaries - patient attendance rosters - patient schedules (i.e
• individual and wall calendars) and other required written summaries
• Responsible for routine duties such as ordering/purchasing of supplies - stocking of storage and kitchen areas - and keeping these areas well organized - clean - and inventoried
• Ensures that patients are safe and that the immediate environment does not present a health risk in any way to the patient - including patient transportation on and off - station to and from activities
• Maintains and monitors recreation activity rooms - kitchens - and outdoor facilities
• VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package: HR Specialist Total Rewards Work Schedule: Sunday-Thursday 9:00-5:30 - one shift being PM 10-6:30 p.m
• With rotating holidays Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Position Description/PD#: Therapy Assistant/PD02656A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

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The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is the largest integrated health care system in the United States, providing care at 1,321 health care facilities, including 172 VA Medical Centers and 1,138 outpatient sites of care of varying complexity (VHA outpatient clinics) to over 9 million Veterans enrolled in the VA health care program. VHA Medical Centers provide a wide range of services including traditional hospital-based services such as surgery, critical care, mental health, orthopedics, pharmacy, radiology and physical therapy. In addition, most of our medical centers offer additional medical and surgical specialty services including audiology & speech pathology, dermatology, dental, geriatrics, neurology, oncology, podiatry, prosthetics, urology, and vision care. Some medical centers also offer advanced services such as organ transplants and plastic surgery.

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