Health Technician at Tucson

JOB SUMMARY:

Vacancy ID: 915626 

OUR MISSION: To fulfill President Lincoln’s promise – “To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan” – by serving and honoring the men and women who are America’s Veterans. How would you like to become a part of a team providing compassionate care to Veterans?

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) needs employees who possess the energy, compassion, and commitment to serve those who served our Country. Whatever the job title, every position in VA will give you a chance to make a meaningful and personal contribution to the lives of truly special and deserving people - our Veterans. VA professionals feel good about their careers and their ability to balance work and home life. VA offers generous paid time off and a variety of predictable and flexible scheduling opportunities. Working for VA is one of the most emotionally satisfying and professionally rewarding ways to dedicate the best within you to your Countrys service. If you are transitioning from the military or a Veteran already, we invite you to explore the benefits of continuing your career at the VA. The VA is committed to hiring Veterans.

The VA is much more than just another employer. It is an honorable, open and welcoming community of those who care. Gratitude is our motivation and service is our mission.

The VA has adopted Core Values and Characteristics that apply universally across the Department. The five Core Values define “who we are,” our culture, and how we care for Veterans, their families and other beneficiaries. The Values are Integrity, Commitment, Advocacy, Respect and Excellence (“I CARE”).

Americas Veterans need you! To find out more, go to http://www.va.gov/jobs/.

KEY REQUIREMENTS

• You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this job.
• You will be subject to a background/suitability investigation.
• Designated drug-testing position.

DUTIES:Back to top

This position is located in the Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Service at the Department of Veterans Affairs in Tucson, Arizona. The following is a list (not all-inclusive) of some of the major duties and responsibilities:

• Provide assistance of a technical, specialized, or support nature to health and medical personnel;
• Support medical and health care professionals in tests and procedures;
• Perform a range of diagnostic support duties such as taking blood specimens and labeling specimens for the laboratory;
• Position patients for procedures;
• Provide clerical and administrative support to the work unit;
• Maintain patient records;
• Perform direct patient support work to include collecting information from patients;
• Answer routine questions and make referrals of specimens to other laboratories;
• Report obvious changes in patient behavior to the professional staff;
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: Rotating work schedule to include night, weekend, holiday, and on-call tours.

  ***RELOCATION EXPENSES AND/OR INCENTIVES ARE 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.

NOTE: This is a TERM appointment (not-to-exceed one year and one day). Term appointments are non-status, nonpermanent appointments of limited duration. Term employees are eligible to earn leave and generally have the same benefits as permanent employees including health and life insurance, within-grade increases and Federal Employees Retirement System and Thrift Savings Plan coverage. Term appointments may be extended without further competition.

QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED:Back to top

In order to qualify for this position, you must possess at least one of the following criteria:

Possess six months of general experience AND six months of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-3 level in federal service. General experience is either any type of work that demonstrates your ability to perform the work of this position as a Health Technician; or experience that has provided a familiarity with the subject matter or processes of the broad subject area of Health Technician work. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. Qualifying specialized experience for this position (which should be documented on your resume) is experience performing blood and specimen collection and processing.

~OR~

Possess two years of education above the high school level with at least 12 semester hours in subjects related to this occupation as a Health Technician. This education must have been obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college or university. One year of full-time academic study is defined as 30 semester hours, 45 quarter hours, or the equivalent in a college or university, or at least 20 hours of classroom instruction per week for approximately 36 weeks in a business, secretarial, or technical school. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED - If you do not submit a copy of your transcript, your application may not be processed.)

~OR~

Possess equivalent combinations of experience and education as described above to fully meet the requirements of this position. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED - If you do not submit a copy of your transcript, your application may not be processed.)

~AND~

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~

This position includes a Selective Placement Factor (skill, knowledge, ability or other worker characteristic basic to- and essential for- satisfactory performance of the job). Selective Placement Factors are a prerequisite to appointment and represent minimum requirements for a position. Applicants who do not meet it are ineligible for further consideration. The Selective Placement Factor for this position is: “Do you possess at least 6 months (to 1 year) of experience performing phlebotomy (venipuncture) in a clinical setting?”

You will be rated on the following Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and Other characteristics (KSAOs) as part of the assessment questionnaire for this position: (Narrative responses are not required.)

- Skill in performing blood collections and specimen processing.

- Knowledge of practices to protect against exposure to blood borne pathogens.

- Ability to work under stressful conditions.

- Ability to communicate complex information pertaining to laboratory procedures.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS: the work is primarily sedentary but also requires some standing, walking, bending, lifting and carrying of light items. The work requires above average agility and dexterity. The work may require heavy lifting of equipment or patients. The work environment involves risks typically associated with performance work. Work involves regular and recurring exposure to moderate risks or discomforts that require special safety precautions.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Managements website at http://www.opm.gov/qualifications .

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC.  WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.  If your resume does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s).

APPLICANTS PLEASE NOTE: Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Please refer to this checklist to ensure proper accreditation and for foreign education requirements.

Veterans Preference:

When applying for Federal jobs, eligible veterans should claim preference on the Occupational Questionnaire in the section provided and provide a legible copy of DD-214(s) showing all dates of service as well as character of service (honorable, general, etc.). Additionally, veterans with service-connected disability of 10% or more must also submit a copy of their official statement from the Department of Veterans Affairs, or from a branch of the Armed Forces, certifying their service-connected disability and/or their receipt of compensation for service-connected disability.  If the military member is within 120 days of separation and does not yet have a DD214, the member may instead submit any written document from the armed forces that certifies the service member is expected to be discharged or released from active duty service in the armed forces under honorable conditions not later than 120 days after the date the certification is signed.

Veterans with service-connected disability of less than 10%, non service-connected disability, and Purple Heart recipients, as-well-as those claiming derived preference for a spouse, widow or widower, or natural mother, should refer to and submit a completed " SF15, "Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference," (go to http://www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/SF15.pdf) and required documentation with your application materials. For more information on Veterans Preference, please visit http://www.fedshirevets.gov/job/veterans.aspx.

 

HOW YOU WILL BE EVALUATED:

Applicants will be ranked based on four quality groups, as follows:

• Best qualified - applicants possessing experience that substantially exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are highly proficient in all requirements of the job and can perform effectively in the position;
• Highly qualified - applicants possessing experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the requirements of the job;
• Well qualified - applicants possessing experience that meets the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in some, but not all, of the requirements of the job; and
• Qualified - applicants possessing experience and/or education that meets the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors.

After the vacancy announcement closes, reviewed applications are evaluated against the questionnaire responses and placed in the appropriate quality group.  Qualified veterans will be afforded preference by being placed at the top of the appropriate quality group.  Qualifying veterans with a service-connected disability of 10% or more will be placed at the top of the best qualified group.  The best qualified group is the first to be referred to the hiring facility for further consideration and possible interview.  The remaining groups may be referred based on the number of applicants available.

Country: USA, State: Arizona, City: Tucson, Company: Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration.