Health Technician (Geriatric and Extended Care)

Description:

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 the 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.

Requirements:

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 03/26/2025.

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. For GS-5, you may meet basic requirement with Education and Training: Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree, with major study or at least 24 semester hours in subjects directly related to the position.

IN ADDITION TO MEETING THE BASIC REQUIREMENTS LISTED ABOVE, YOU MUST MEET THE FOLLOWING GRADE REQUIREMENTS TO QUALIFY FOR THIS POSITION.

GS-5 GRADE REQUIREMENTS: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-4 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of Specialized experience are as follows: Basic knowledge of the instruments and procedures commonly used to include basic knowledge of tools and items and their purpose. Ability to position patients for treatment and/or postoperative surgery and basic knowledge of usual alternate positions for patients with common physical disabilities. Knowledge of basic medical terminology to interpret physician instructions. A basic understanding of anatomy and physiology. Knowledge and skill in emergency first aid procedures. Skill to apply such knowledge to perform routine diagnostic or treatment procedures or to assist as a team member during procedures. A basic knowledge of normal and abnormal results to recognize and report obvious abnormalities during periods of observation OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 4 years above high school (Transcripts Required) OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine experience and education to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education as described above.
GS-6 GRADE REQUIREMENTS:
You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-5 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, 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. Entering patient information and vital signs in computerized medical record systems using appropriate terminology.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

• Infection Control
• Interpersonal Skills
• Patient Care
• Technical 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.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-6. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-5 to GS-6.

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.

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.

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/ .