Medical Supply Technician at Charleston

JOB SUMMARY:

Southern charm, hospitality and history imbue Charleston, one of the most well-preserved cities in the United States. 

 

 

Vacancy Identification Number (VIN):  922244 

 

OUR MISSION: To fulfill President Lincolns 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 Americas Veterans. How would you like to become a part of a team providing compassionate care to Veterans?

 

Located in the historic part of the city of Charleston, the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center serves more than 57,000 veterans in 22 counties along the South Carolina and Georgia coastline in our main Medical Center or one of six community-based outpatient clinics.  The main Medical Center provides acute medical, surgical, and psychiatric inpatient care, as well as outpatient primary and mental health care to low country veterans. The Medical Center currently operates 96 beds and a 20 Community Living Center beds.  Charleston VAMC supports the Vet Centers in North Charleston, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia.  Charleston is a DOD/VA Joint Venture Site and has a robust Academic Affiliation with the Medical University of South Carolina.  The Ralph H. Johnson VAMC also has over 100 Researchers with some 300 research protocols.

 

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.

KEY REQUIREMENTS

• You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this job.
• Subject to a background/suitability investigation.
• Designated and/or random drug testing may be required.

DUTIES:Back to top

The Medical Supply Technician is located in the Nursing Service at the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center, Charleston, South Carolina. 

 

• Provide wards, clinics, operating rooms and other hospital facilities with sterile and/or high level disinfected instruments, sets, and equipment. Incumbent processes, disassembles, cleans and decontaminates instruments and equipment.

• Works in all areas of SPS to include but not limited to: Preparation operation of steam and plasma sterilizers, Decontamination, and the O.R (storage-case cart area) and delivery of sterile products, throughout the facility.

• Removes gross contamination by soaking and washing in an approved enzymatic solution, scrubbing with brush as indicated by the product, rinsing with tap or deionized water, placing instruments in ultrasonic irrigator (as applicable) and/or washer disinfector (as applicable) as part of the cleaning and decontamination process for reusable medical equipment (RME) and instrumentation.
• Examines items visually and physically to ensure acceptable condition before packaging for sterilization.
• Visual examination includes inspecting for bioburden, damage, deterioration, or imperfections such as rust, pitting, and cracks.
• Assembles trays or sets according to guidelines and in a logical manner, to permit effective sterilization.

 

Work Schedule:  Various Schedules- 8 hour tours between 6:00 am to 10:30pm.

Relocation Expenses: Relocation expenses are not authorized for this position.

Link to Full Questionnaire:  View Occupational Questionnaire

 

QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED:Back to top

SPECIALIZED EXPEREINCE FOR THE GS-5:  Applicants must document at least one (1) year of specialized experience. Specialized experience may include: experience in processing, assembling, trouble-shooting, preparing, sterilizing, storing, and issuing sterile and unsterile medical supplies and equipment. The applicant must possess knowledge of the technical names, general uses, physical characteristics, and operating conditions of medical supply items; knowledge of decontamination, cleaning, preparation, sterilization, and storage procedures; knowledge of aseptic techniques; and skill in operating a washer-sterilizer, ultrasonic instrument cleaners, and gas and steam sterilizers. This experience must be equivalent to the GS-4 grade level in the Federal service.   Examples of qualifying specialized experience include work as an operating room technician, medical instrument technician, nursing assistant, corpsman, or laboratory worker.  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.  

 

OR

 

SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION FOR EXPERIENCE FOR THE GS-5:  Successfully completed a four (4) year course of study above high school leading to a bachelors degree in an accredited college or university with courses related to this position such as medical supply processing, storage and distribution, sterile supplies, operating room, and surgical technician courses; or other fields related to this position. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED).

 

OR

 

COMBINING EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE FOR THE GS-5:  Equivalent combination of successfully completed post high school education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements. If education is used to meet specialized experience requirements, then such education must include courses directly related to the work of the position. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED )  

 

You will be rated on the following Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and Other characteristics (KSAOs) as part of the assessment questionnaire for this position:

 

· Knowledge of SPS operations; complex machinery (i.e., steam sterilizers, plasma sterilizers, incubators, washer-disinfectors, ultrasonic units, endoscopes preprocessor).

· Demonstrates the ability in the reprocessing of flexible endoscopes; leak testing, manual cleaning and the use of an automated endoscope reprocessor.

· Knowledge of basic surgical instrumentation to include dental instrumentation.  

 

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS: Employee will encounter long periods of standing while processing and assembling instruments and supplies for OR. Recurring lifting up to 50 pounds in the process of pick up, receiving, issuing of supplies. Requires considerable stooping, bending and walking. Employee regularly pushes loaded carts weighing several hundred pounds, aligning them on tracks loading to be sterilized or leading to the automatic transport system.

 

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

 

If you are referred for consideration, you may be asked to submit additional job related information, which may include, but not limited to; responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities; completion of a work sample, and/or contact for an interview.

 

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE . If your resume/application 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 (particularly positions with a positive education requirement.)   Applicants can verify accreditation at the following website:   http://www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/index.html   All education claimed by applicants will be verified by the appointing agency accordingly. 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.

 

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

 

 

 

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 your DD214(s) and/or documentation related to your active duty service which shows dates of service, character of service (honorable, general, etc.)or dates of impending separation. 

Additionally, disabled veterans and others eligible for 10-point preference (such as widows or mothers of eligible Veterans) must also submit an SF-15 "Application for 10 Point Veterans Preference" with required proof as stated on the form.  For more information, please review the information for disabled Veterans in the application checklist or visit http://www.fedshirevets.gov/job/vetpref/index.aspx.

New appointees will be required to serve a probationary period of 1 year.

Drug Testing Designated Positions:  In accordance with Executive Order 12564, Federal employees hired in a drug testing designated position will be subject to random testing for illegal drug use during employment.

Employees must meet qualification standards and other regulatory requirements by the closing date of the announcement.

 

HOW YOU WILL BE EVALUATED:

Once the application process is complete, a review of your application will be made to ensure you meet the job requirements.  To determine if you are qualified for this job, your resume and supporting documentation will be compared against your responses to the occupational questionnaire.  The numeric rating you receive is based on your responses to the questionnaire.  The score is a measure of the degree to which your background matches the knowledge, skills, and abilities required of this position.  If, after reviewing your resume and or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience your score can and will be adjusted to more accurately reflect your abilities.  Please follow all instructions carefully.  Errors or omissions may affect your rating.

 

Applicants responsibility:  It is the applicants responsibility to submit documentation to support his/her application for this position.  Applicant is responsible for ensuring that all experience, education, formal training, award recognition, etc. are documented in the application package.  Experience may include voluntary or other non-paid experience in the appropriate field.  If you feel that your training record contains information pertinent to your qualifications, then you must submit a printed copy of your training record with your application package.  Your training record will become a part of the specific vacancy file and will not be filed in Official Personnel Folder. 

 

This announcement is not intended to cover all aspects of the duties, responsibilities or qualifications of this position.  Request for copies, return of forms or transfer of consideration to another announcement will not be honored.

 

INCOMPLETE APPLICATIONS will receive a rating of IFM (ineligible due to missing forms).  Requests for reconsideration of ratings will not be considered for applicants who fail to submit a complete application package.  We cannot be held responsible for incompatible software, fax transmissions, delays in mail service, etc.

 

Interviews: Management may interview candidates for this position and may elect to use the Performance Based Interviewing (PBI) process. If PBI is used, questions will be job-related, reasonably consistent and fair to all candidates.  You can visit the following website http://www.va.gov/pbi to learn more about PBI, frequently asked questions and aids to prepare for an interview.  Additionally, printed reference material is available at each Human Resources Office.

Country: USA, State: South Carolina, City: Charleston, Company: Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration.