Health Technician (Phlebotomy)

SummaryOUR 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? If you are not a current permanent VA employee, please apply to announcement NC-10834684-20-CB.ResponsibilitiesThis position is located at McHenry Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) and is administratively aligned with the Primary Care Directorate of the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center (FHCC) in North Chicago, Illinois.The incumbent provides patient care/support services to an adult population of patients that are characterized by a very significant number of older male patients. Within these broad categories, the employee must tailor patient care/support service to meet the needs of individual patients. This includes the responsibility for assessment of each patient's needs, and delivery of services that are responsive to the concerns of individual patient to the extent possible. Major Duties: Draws blood and processes specimens for transport per provider using special drawing techniques such as butterfly needles and syringes Develops and maintains essential speed and accuracy required to complete the blood drawing duties with as little discomfort to patients as possible. Verifies identification of each patient as the individual denoted on the request; ensures tubes are labeled with the patient's name and social security number to ensure proper identification and other required information Adheres to patient safety, infection control and universal precautions as described in current hospital policies at all times Cleaning stocking, inventories, and requests, supplies as needed for use in drawing blood, accessioning, and processing areas Ensures proper patient preparation, sample collection, and sample transport requirements for numerous different laboratory tests. Identifies unusual conditions and discrepancies that may cause erroneous test results Performs and records EKG's and reviews with provider prior to completion of patient appointment. Administrative duties including internal and external communications Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 7:00am to 3:30pmCompressed/Flexible: Not AvailableTelework: Not AvailableVirtual: This is not a virtual position.Position Description/PD#: Health Technician (Phlebotomy)/PD06543-ARelocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not AuthorizedFinancial Disclosure Report: Not requiredRequirementsConditions of EmploymentQualificationsTo qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 06/29/2020. GS-5 SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Must have one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade (GS-4) in Federal service that equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. Specialized experience includes: Working with collection tubes, minimum volume requirements, specimen processing and transportation conditions, testing procedures and requirements and phlebotomy procedures/techniques. Comprehensive knowledge of a wide variety of routine and special specimen testing requirements to collect the patient's specimen. Properly packaging and shipping of laboratory specimens. Working with infection control, aseptic and sterile techniques to prevent cross contamination and spread of infection. Knowledge of medical terminology. Working with the operation and maintenance of the diagnostic equipment utilized. Knowledge of the equivalent of Microsoft Programs, including word processing, spreadsheet applications and electronic mail, and skill to utilize various VHA and DoD proprietary programs/menus, enabling entry of information into patient electronic medical records.OREDUCATION: Successfully completed a full four-year course of study leading to a Bachelor's degree, with a major study or at least 24 semester hours in subjects directly related to this position. Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with application. Education cannot be credited without documentation.ORCOMBINATION EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: A combination of successfully completed post-high school education (beyond the 2nd year) AND specialized experience which meet the total experience requirements for this grade level. Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with application. Education cannot be credited without documentation. 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-05 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-04. 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. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:Follow DirectionsMeasuring InstrumentsReliability And DependabilityWork Practices 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 requires regular and recurring physical exertion such as standing for long periods of time, bending, lifting, walking, stooping and stretching, moving equipment and positioning patients. The work also requires agility and dexterity to handle complex medical instrumentation. 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/.EducationA transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.Additional InformationReceiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed. Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Schedule A, Appointment of persons with disabilities [i.e., intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities], and/or Disabled veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. Contact the Agency Contact for information on how to apply under this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator. The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal/VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified: applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/. Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position. It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members. For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document. If you are unable to apply online view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application.