Respiratory Therapist (Registered)

About the role

This position is located in the Critical Care Therapy and Respiratory Care Section of the Critical Care Medicine Department, Clinical Center. This section is currently seeking an exceptionally talented Registered Respiratory Therapist to add to their team. Ensure to describe your experience in your resume.

What you will do

• Interpreting physician orders, providing specialized therapy to critically ill patients that usually require adaptation of established technical procedures.
• Participating with the physician in planning, instituting, evaluating and devising a patient care plan for pulmonary hygiene.
• Assisting the physician in determining therapeutic objectives/goals of respiratory treatments/therapy and evaluating the physician order for appropriateness and adjusts the order if necessary.
• Administering various specialized modes of ventilation to patients with endotracheal tubes and tracheotomies and other complex medical problems requiring frequent adjustments in ventilator parameters based on patient response.
• Observing the patient closely during treatments/procedures, and, as required, takes blood pressure, pulse, obtains blood gas samples reporting vital signs and obvious changes in patient condition.
• Processing specimens using equipment, instruments, or techniques that are necessary to prepare them for specific analysis (pH, hematocrit, oxygen saturations, etc.).
• Assisting in the examination and observation of patients by performing such duties as taking diagnostic histories, conducting physical examinations, and performing diagnostic screening tests, i.e., ventilatory mechanics and obtaining blood gases.

Education

If you qualify based on education in lieu of specialized experience, you are strongly encouraged to submit a copy of your transcripts or a list of your courses including titles, credit hours completed and grades. Unofficial transcripts will be accepted in the application packages. Official transcripts will be required from all selectees prior to receiving an official offer.

Click here for information on Foreign Education.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents) and your responses to the assessments required for this position.

You will be assessed on the following competencies: Attention to Detail Customer Service Decision Making Flexibility Integrity/Honesty Interpersonal Skills Learning Reading Comprehension Self-Management Stress Tolerance Teamwork Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration.

Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

If you meet the minimum qualifications for this position, your application and responses to the online questionnaire will be evaluated under Category Rating and selection procedures for placement in one of the following categories: Best Qualified - for those who are superior in the evaluation criteria Well Qualified - for those who excel in the evaluation criteria Qualified - for those who meet the minimum qualification requirements The Category Rating Process does not add veterans' preference points but protects the rights of veterans by placing them ahead of non-preference eligibles within each category.

Applicants determined to be Best Qualified will be referred for further consideration. Preference eligibles in the Best Qualified category are referred before all other applicants.

How You Will Be Evaluated To be considered well qualified for the purposes of the Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) and the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP), you must be able to satisfactorily perform the duties of the position upon entry and substantively exceed the basic qualifications by scoring at least an 80 on the assessment and meet all eligibility, physical, medical, suitability, and all other requirements.

Documents you must provide

• Your resume must clearly demonstrate, in two pages or less, how your skills and experiences align with the "Qualifications" section and support your questionnaire responses.
• While cover letters provided with your application will be shared with hiring officials, they will not be used for initial qualification determinations.
• We cannot assume required experience based on your work or academic history.
• If your resume exceeds two pages, only the first two will be reviewed.
• Use a legible font such as Lato, Calibri, Helvetica, or Arial, with 0.5-inch margins.
• Suggested formatting: 14-point for titles and 10-point for body text.
• You may use the USAJOBS Resume Builder or upload your own resume.
• If uploading, ensure it includes all required information and is organized so we can match the following to each position: Job title Employer name Employment dates (MM/DD/YYYY) Hours worked per week (full-time assumed; part-time prorated) Detailed duties, accomplishments, skills, responsibilities, and supervisory details (if applicable) Series and grade or equivalent (for federal positions) If the position has an education requirement or you are qualifying on the basis of education, you must list your education history including the type of degree and your major of study.
• If the position requires a certain number of credit hours, you are strongly encouraged to list the relevant courses in your resume.
• Do not include a photograph or video of yourself, or any sensitive information (age, date of birth, marital status, protected health information, religious affiliation, social security number, etc.) on your resume or cover letter.
• We will not access web pages linked on your resume or cover letter to determine your qualifications.
• For resume writing guidance, please visit the following resources: NIH Help Applying, USAJOBS Resource Center, and the USAJOBS Resume Guidance.
• If the position has an education requirement or you are qualifying on the basis of education, you need to list your education history including the type of degree and your major of study.
• REQUIRED DOCUMENTATION FOR PREFERENCE OR ELIGIBILITY CLAIMS To claim veterans' preference, career transition selection priority, Schedule A or military spouse eligibility, you must provide the documentation listed below AND respond accordingly to the associated question on the online questionnaire.
• Veterans' preference (DD-214, VA Disability Letter, etc.): Reference Standard Form 15 (SF-15) for required documentation for 10 point claims.
• Submission of SF-15 is not required, unless you are claiming derived preference (XP) as described in questions 7, 8, or 9 on the SF-15.
• In those cases, you must submit a completed SF-15 and the required documentation.
• For 5 point claims, you must submit your DD-214 (if separated) or any written documentation from the armed forces that certifies you are 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 submitted with your application package.
• Visit our sites on Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP)/Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) for more information and required documentation.
• Visit our site on the Appointment of Certain Military Spouses for more information and required documentation to verify eligibility.
• Schedule A Eligibility (Applicants with Disabilities) Applicants who are eligible to be considered under Schedule A must submit appropriate documentation to verify eligibility.
• Documentation must be obtained from a licensed medical professional (e.g., a physician or other medical professional certified by a state, the District of Columbia, or a U.S. territory to practice medicine); a licensed vocational rehabilitation specialist (i.e., state or private); or any Federal agency, state agency, or agency of the District of Columbia or a U.S. territory that issues or provides disability benefits.
• The letter must be on a medical professional's letterhead.
• Veterans' preference takes precedence in these appointments.
• The Schedule A and military spouse hiring authorities do not guarantee employment or give an individual preference in the hiring process.
• Do not submit documentation that is not requested of you.
• To protect your personal information, we will only send your resume and cover letter to the selecting official(s).

Benefits

NOTE: Salary listed does not include weekend, holiday and night pay shift differential. Shift Differential for employees who perform work during regularly scheduled hours between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. shall receive 10 percent of basic pay for those hours.

Premium pay equal to 25 percent of the employee's basic hourly rate of pay is given for hours worked between midnight Friday or midnight Sunday.

Employees who are required to perform regularly scheduled non-overtime work on a designated holiday shall receive pay at the rate of two times their hourly rate for actual hours worked on their tour, but not less than at least two hours.

What to expect next

Based on your application and your responses to the application questionnaire, you may be presented with instructions on how to access the USA Hire system to complete the online assessments. The online assessments must be completed within 48 hours following the close of this announcement.

You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation for the assessment should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. Once you submit your application package, you will receive an acknowledgment email with the status of your application.

To track or update your application or supporting documentation, during the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed.

The Additional Application Information page provides information regarding the documentation you submitted and any correspondence we have sent related to this application, including the invitation to take the USA Hire assessment.

At the discretion of the agency, you may be contacted via phone or email for an interview or to provide additional information up to several months from the closing date of the announcement. Please ensure you have provided accurate contact information.

To remain in consideration, you must respond in a timely manner to our correspondence and requests for documentation or information throughout the hiring process.

Additional information

This position is designated as an "emergency essential" position and the selected candidate will be considered an "emergency essential" employee and will be required to be available, ready, willing, and able to report for duty under all circumstances (e.g., inclement weather, government closings and holidays, lapses in appropriations, non-emergency and emergency situations) for operation 24 hours a day and 365 days per year coverage.

This position requires weekend hours, night shifts, regular or rotational shifts, holiday hours. Therapist regularly works in an intensive care unit with patients who have severe respiratory and other medical problems. There is recurring exposure to contagious disease and hazardous gases.

PHS Commissioned Officers interested in performing the duties of this position within the Commissioned Corps should apply online to this announcement to receive consideration. Visit our Help Applying page for helpful information on the application process.

Military Spouses selected from this announcement will remain in their current duty location (i.e., the official duty station of the military service member.

If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application.

Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis.

If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision.

You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement.

To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments here: Reasonable Accommodation. We may make additional selections for similar positions within the commuting area(s) of the locations listed through this vacancy announcement.

By applying, you agree to have your application shared with any interested selecting official(s). Clearance of CTAP/ICTAP will be applied for similar positions. If selected, you may be eligible to receive a salary above the minimum based on superior qualifications and/or a special need of the Government for your services.

This applies to employees paid under the General Schedule (GS) and Federal Wage System (FWS) pay systems and is at the discretion of the hiring manager. A salary above the minimum must be approved before the appointment.