Health Technician

Summary

This position is located at the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital - Hines - IL (578) - a Level 1a Complexity VHA Facility - and is organizationally aligned under Nursing Service. The primary purpose of this position is to provide direct patient care activities - indirect patient care activities - and related supportive services under the general guidance and direction of a Registered Nurse.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position - applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement. 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-6 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-5. 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.

Basic Requirements:

• Specialized Experience: Positions in this series range widely in type and include support duties to medical or health personnel such as audiologists - speech pathologists - medical officers - and optometrists
• Therefore - technician experience is experience that required application of the knowledge - methods - and techniques of the position to be filled
• You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: GS-6 Grade Requirements: One year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-5 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: but are not limited to: Applying basic knowledge of basic anatomy/physiology and medical techniques to support direct patient care
• effectively communicating and providing support to patients and healthcare professionals
• utilizing and maintaining medical equipment and instruments
• performing safety/emergency procedures related to patient transport - infection control - environmental safety
• observing and reporting changes in patients physical and emotional behavior
• performing medical tests and duties including phlebotomy - EKG - and CPR
• and entering patient information and vital signs in computerized medical record systems using appropriate terminology
• 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
• Physical Requirements: Physical requirements include extensive periods of standing and walking
• Patient care activities require regular and recurring bending - lifting - stooping - stretching - pushing and similar activities using appropriate body mechanics and other assistive devices for patient and/or equipment movement and transfer
• The employee protects self and others from injury
• Work Environment: Responsibilities are performed in a health care environment
• The Health Technician practices principles of aseptic technique - "infection control - and environment safety
• Precautions are required when working with movable equipment - wet floors - and potential exposure to diagnosed/undiagnosed contagious diseases
• 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
• For more information on these qualification standards - please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at

Duties

• The Health Care Technician provides a diverse range of clinical services supportive of the delivery of quality patient care
• The position combines duties that aid licensed nursing personnel and other medical technicians
• Under the general guidance and supervision of registered nurses - the Health Care Technician carries out specific direct and indirect patient care assignments and supportive functions to assist in providing total patient care services
• The Health Care Technician reports to the Nurse Manager
• Establishes helpful relationships with patients and others
• interacts in a courteous manner
• explains patient care provided
• Provides emotional support - friendly assistance - sympathetic understanding - and encouragement to patients/families
• Performs - reports - and records measurements - such as vital signs - intake and output - pulse oximetry - bladder scan - glucose finger stick - and other parameters
• Identifies obvious patient problems - symptoms - behavioral changes - and deviations from normal in a timely manner to the appropriate Registered Nurse
• Performs EKG as directed and provides results to the Registered Nurse
• Assist nurses/physicians with diagnostic and therapeutic procedures performed on the unit
• Safely transports patients to off-unit appointments in the absence of an escort
• Serves as patient care observer (when necessary) in accordance with established Medical Center guidelines
• Assists in monitoring the Environment of Care for cleanliness - rooms free of clutter - and ensuring patients' belongings are within reach
• Follows policies and procedures to ensure safety for patients - staff - and self
• Identifies and immediately reports safety hazards to supervisors
• Maintains a safe - clean - and orderly work environment through routine maintenance activities such as ordering and stocking equipment and supplies
• cleaning equipment and patient care areas
• providing proper containment/ disposal of discarded materials
• and reporting maintenance and security problems to appropriate personnel
• Provides instruction to others on the correct performance of defined tasks/procedures
• Assists in emergencies and initiates CPR when indicated
• Work Schedule: 7:30 PM - 8:00 AM - Rotating holidays and weekends Telework: Not Suitable Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Position Description Title/PD#: Health Technician/PD21231A Preferred Experience: 2 Years of Geriatric/Long Term Care experience Physical Requirements: Physical requirements include extensive periods of standing and walking
• Patient care activities require regular and recurring bending - lifting - stooping - stretching - pushing - and similar activities using appropriate body mechanics and other assistive devices for patient and/or equipment movement and transfer
• The employee protects themselves and others from injury.

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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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