The Surgical Technician (ST) is a member of the surgical team at the Biloxi campus and provides assistance to the surgeon and other team members during surgical procedures. The ST participates with the surgical team members in planning and implementing complex procedures under the general supervision of the surgical team. To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/28/2024. 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 GS7 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-6. 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 may qualify based on your experience as described below: Individual Occupational Requirement: 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 specialized experience. 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. Use of medical instruments, human anatomy, physiology, and aseptic technique to prepare and protect sterile field during surgery Exercising sterile technique to include sterilizer operations and tests to determine the effectiveness of sterilization, packaging, storage, and shelf life Use of handling medical instruments, supplies and equipment during all surgical procedures Use of performing proper cleaning techniques, as well as the proper handling and rotation of sterile supplies Handling contaminated items, quality control, and personal hygiene, using knowledge of universal precautions and implementing infection control policies and procedures. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Attention to Detail Infection Control Medical Information 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. Physical Requirements: 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 ease accessibility of instruments and supplies for the surgeon. Surgical Tech 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. 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/. ["Assists the surgical team with patient positioning, prepping, and setting up the operative field. Provides transportation of patients to and from the surgical/operating room. Prepares, organizes, and maintains highly complex surgical setups. Recognizes changes in patients conditions and takes appropriate actions in response to the situations. Utilizes universal precautions and follows all infection control policies and procedures when handling specimens, supplies, and equipment. Utilizes universal precautions and follows all infection control policies and procedures when handling specimens, supplies, and equipment Assists the team members with care of the patients, i.e., positioning, prepping, and obtaining supplies. Plans and discusses each procedure with surgical professionals to determine proper positioning and assurances of all supplies/ equipment are available. Assists the surgeon by performing such procedures as preparing skin grafts, suctioning, holding retractors, applying skin staples, and cutting sutures. Prepares prosthesis and/or surgical devices during procedures. Assists in training staff in the operation of equipment, sterile technique, handling of instruments, and operating room/surgical procedures. Utilizes medical terminology when interpreting requests and provide proper documentation for surgical procedures. Prepares, organizes, and maintains highly complex sterile surgical setups. Utilizes universal precautions to protect patients and staff form exposure to any infectious materials. Follows all infection control policies and procedures when handling specimens, supplies, and equipment. Monitors and maintains sterile practices throughout surgical procedures. Cleans and sterilizes surgical equipment using appropriate methods, germicides and sterilizers. Handles instruments, supplies and equipment during a variety of surgical procedures. Sets up sterile field with all required items(equipment, instruments, supplies and/or devices)for each procedure Anticipates the needs of the surgeon by maintaining a high level of concentration for extended periods of time. Understands and follows protocols for handling various specimens. Performs sharps, sponge, and instruments counts of surgical items before and after surgical procedures. Assists surgical team members to identify and implement performance improvement measures. Monitors proper functioning of instruments and equipment at the surgical field. Determines the effectiveness of sterilization, packing, storage and shelf life. Observes and responds promptly to each stage of the surgical procedure. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 07:30am-04:00pm; Subject to change based on service needs to work schedule Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Surgical Technician/PD02975A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved"]
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.