Employee will be assigned to Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Service, at the VA Illiana Health Care System, in Danville, Illinois. IN ORDER TO QUALIFY FOR THIS POSITION AT THE GS-4 LEVEL YOU MUST MEET THE FOLLOWING: ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY: In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), No person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English. You must be proficient in basic written and spoken English in order to meet the requirements of this position. ~AND~ SELECTIVE PLACEMENT FACTOR: Selective Placement Factors (SPF) are a prerequisite to appointment and represent minimum requirements for the position. Applicants who do not meet the SPF are ineligible for further consideration. The Selective Placement Factor for this position is: Experience performing phlebotomy/blood draws on human patients. ~AND~ GENERAL AND SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: You must possess 6 months of general experience and 6 months of specialized experience, equivalent to the GS-3 level in the Federal service, that equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA's) needed to successfully perform the duties of the position and that is typically in or related to this Medical Technician position to be filled. General Experience is: (1) Any type of work that demonstrates the applicant's ability to perform the work of the position, or (2) experience that provided a familiarity with the subject matter or processes of the broad subject area of the occupation. Specialized experience for the position includes performing routine blood draws; (a) Technical medical laboratory support work such as performing laboratory tests and examinations (chemical, microbiologic, hematologic and blood banking) and preparing reports of findings or (b) technical support work in a closely related field, e.g., biological laboratory technician work that required application of the methods and techniques for the position to be filled. (THIS EXPERIENCE MUST BE SUPPORTED BY YOUR RESUME TO BE CREDITABLE.) ~OR~ SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION FOR EXPERIENCE: You must have successfully completed (a) an associate-degree course of study of which the 2nd year of the 2-year program included successful completion of a training course of approximately a year's duration in a certified laboratory assistant school approved by a nationally recognized accrediting agency; (b) 1 year of study that included 6 semester hours in chemistry and/or the biological sciences, plus successful completion of the training course of approximately a year's duration in a medical or clinical laboratory assistant (or technician) school that included instruction in chemistry, hematology, blood banking, and microbiology (including serology) and that, in addition, included supervised laboratory practice incident to the diagnostic process and the treatment of patients; or (c) 2 years of study that included at least 12 semester hours of chemistry and/or biological science course work that must have been directly related to the specialization of the position to be filled. (COPY OF TRANSCRIPTS ARE REQUIRED AT TIME OF APPLICATION) ~OR~ COMBINATION OF EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION: You must possess equivalent combinations of successfully completed post-high school education and experience to meet total qualification requirements at the GS-4 level. (THIS EXPERIENCE MUST BE SUPPORTED BY YOUR RESUME TO BE CREDITABLE AND COPY OF TRANSCRIPTS ARE REQUIRED AT TIME OF APPLICATION) You will be rated on the following Competencies as part of the assessment questionnaire for this position: Computer Skills Customer Service (Clerical/Technical) Patient Care Quality Assurance Selective Placement Factor Specimen Collection 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/Working Conditions: Approximately 60% of the work performed is accomplished in a standing or "bending" position while performing phlebotomy/processing procedures. Lifting and carrying of trays, specimens and supplies weighing up to 20 pounds is required. Approximately 40% of the time is spent sitting, reaching, and walking in the performance of phlebotomy and processing duties. Computer typing skills are required to appropriately input patient test requests, properly queue reports and collection labels, and for the monitoring of CR T's and printers for proper operation. The proportion of time spent standing, bending, stretching, and walking versus sitting, varies depending on the assigned tasks at any time (i.e., phlebotomy, clerical, or specimen processing). The work involves moderate risks of discomfort associated with working in a clinical laboratory environment with regular and recurrent exposure to hazards such as infectious materials, hazardous chemicals, electrical and diagnostic equipment, and other hazards generally associated with laboratory work. The employee must wear Personal Protective Equipment that is provided (e.g., gloves, appropriate laboratory covering, eye protection, etc.) and use chemical fume hoods as applicable, during phlebotomy, while handling specimens, during disposal of laboratory wastes, and while handling hazardous chemicals. The position requires periods of time at a computer terminal for processing and accessioning of specimens. There is some physical discomfort, as the incumbent must deal directly with patients in wheelchairs and on stretchers when performing phlebotomies. 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/. ["***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 and responsibilities include: Verifies proper patient preparation, specimen collection and specimen transport requirements for laboratory tests; Performs phlebotomy by venipuncture on patients; Reacts appropriately and timely to the physical distress of any patient exhibiting an adverse reaction during or post-phlebotomy; Complies with procedures related to the care and treatment of the patient to ensure their safety; Collects urine specimens from designated candidates for employment and/or employees who are randomly being tested or there is reasonable suspicion of drug use; Trains new hires, students and current employees; Maintains competency by drawing blood specimens and by attending required phlebotomy training to include special procedures such as glucose tolerance tests and aseptic blood culture collections: Records workload statistics as required; Maintains lab files and records; Perform other related duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Full-time, Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm or 6:00am - 2:30pm with rotating Weekends and Holidays. Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized DESIGNATED DRUG-TESTING POSITION: Applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA. Applicants will not be appointed to the position if a verified positive drug test result is received."]
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.