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Summary The Health Technician (Surgical) reports to Nursing Service through the Nurse Manager Operating Room (OR)/ Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) and functions as an integral part of the surgical team of a 1B Tertiary Care Medical Center. Responsibilities Thorough knowledge of appropriate name, uses of, dosages, physical characteristics and adverse effects of all medications used on the sterile field. Handles specimens correctly. Ability to interact effectively and communicate clearly and appropriately with all levels of medical center staff, visitors, patients and students. Able to identify and/or take action to correct actual or potential safety hazards concerning the infection control and equipment malfunction when setting up complex systems. Prepared grafts, suctions, holds retractors, applies staples, prepares prosthetic items and other surgical devices during procedures. Ability to correctly perform the Heimlich maneuver and CPR. Ability to prepare/set-up endoscopic towers, powered equipment and all accessory equipment. Ability to correctly utilize and care for all critical, semi-critical and non-critical. Performs all instrument and sponge counts correctly on all procedures. Utilizes appropriate assistive devices (i.e. lifts, transfer devices, other personnel) to promote safety of patients and staff. Functions as primary scrub for all procedures; implantation/set-up of all surgical procedures. Implement sterile technique, independently set-up instrumentation utilizing sterile technique, maintains sterile technique. Ability to identify any breaks in sterile technique and provide immediate correction of break in technique. Ability to actualize regulatory guidelines and practice standards into work practice Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, rotating shifts 6:30am-3:00pm, 10:00am-6:30pm, subject to change based on the needs of the facility. Position Description Title/PD#: Surgical Technician/PD07205A Physical Requirements: Physical and mental stamina are required, the duties involve frequently working under considerable stress, tense (sometimes life-threatening) situations and with patients who are in a sedated state with loss of orientation. Work involves long, strenuous hours of standing, stooping, bending, and stretching without a break during procedures which require intense concentration. Involves frequent lifting of instrument trays and moving of equipment/carts to position or transport handicapped or anesthetized patients. Requires strenuous physical exertion and agility. Manual dexterity and agility are required to correctly assemble, test or repair instruments. Strain is incurred in staying alert on long cases under difficult situations. Scheduled for on-call for emergency procedures on a rotational basis, including holidays and weekends. Expected to respond, for emergencies, even when non-on-call. Expected to stay beyond shift if more than one room is running.Duties regularly require providing manual assistance in lifting and positioning patients, most of which are stages of unconsciousness. There are extensive periods of regular and recurring standing, walking, bending, lifting, pushing, reaching, and prolonged stretching to provide easy accessibility of instruments and supplies for the surgeon. Incumbent must be dexterous in passing instruments to surgeons without compromising principles of aseptic technique and in a manner requiring little or no effort from the surgeon. Requirements Conditions of Employment Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement. Individual Occupational Requirement: Applicants who meet the Individual Occupational Requirements described below are fully qualified for the specified entry grade and must also meet the specialized experience requirements. Specialized Experience (for positions at GS-4 and above): 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. In addition to meeting the above Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR), applicants must also meet the experience relevant to this position. GS-7 grade level: One year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-6 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: Experience with all Surgical Sub-specialties (General, Laparoscopic, GU, GYN, Ortho, Neuro, ENT, Plastics, Robotic, CV/Thoracic). Experience with scrubbing on Complex Procedures, Robotic Procedures, Open Heart Procedures. Experience with normal and abnormal anatomy and physiology of all systems, and how these systems interact and what impact surgical intervention had on these systems. Skilled in the use of wide range of instrumentation for all surgical specialties: names functions, assembly/disassembly, testing and calibration for safety and accuracy, functioning/troubleshooting if they malfunction during surgery, maintenance, disinfecting and sterilizing. Skilled in the use of draping techniques which will establish and maintain a sterile field, protect the patient's privacy and provide security for delicate instruments; i.e. electrocautery hand pieces, scopes and cameras and laser hand pieces. 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. Education There is no educational substitution for the GS-7 level. Additional Information Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer (TJO). Please visit the Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP), va.gov/EMPLOYEE/docs/The-Fair-Chance-to-Compete-Act.pdf for more information. The following will be communicated to applicants for VA employment in a testing designated position and will also be included in all VA vacancy announcements for such positions: All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drugs use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA. The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be well-qualified, applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors if applicable, and must be proficient in most of the requirements of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website which can be found at https://www.opm.gov/. Receiving Service Credit for 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. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.