Surgical Technician

About the role

This position is located in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration, at the Salt Lake City Health Care System in the Nursing Service, Critical Care. The Surgical Technician is a member for the surgical team and provides assistance to the surgeon and other team members during surgical procedures.

The Surgical Technician participates with the surgical team members in planning and implementing complex procedures under the general supervision of the surgical team.

What you will do

• Answering and directing phone calls.
• Maintaining files and records.
• Performing reception duties by assisting visitors to the office.
• Using a computer to perform administrative duties.
• Providing training to new personnel on clinical and administrative duties.
• Performing simple treatment procedures such as changing sterile dressings and applying slings or bandages.
• Using techniques to appropriately de-escalate disruptive patients.
• Instructing patients and families the requirements of home self-care for injuries or ailments.
• Observing patients and reporting changes in condition (deviation in color, pulse, respiration, temperature, and blood pressure).
• Positioning and draping patients.
• Interviewing patients to document complaint, medical history, and personnel information.
• Taking and recording vital signs.
• Documenting electronic patient medical records.
• Scheduling patient appointments, tests, and procedures.
• Performing blood glucose testing.
• Setting up patient examination rooms while adhering to infection control procedures.
• Collecting, labeling, and packaging specimens such as blood and urine.
• Performing electrocardiograms (EKGs).
• Preferred Experience: Operating room experience in multiple services; general, urology, ENT, ortho (joints, shoulders, spine, hand), plastic hand, thoracic, cardiothoracic, etc. Work Schedule: 7:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. Position Description Title/PD#: Surgical Technician/PD14416A, PD14417A, and PD14418A Physical Requirements: The position primarily involves work performed in both sitting and standing positions.
• Standing and bending for prolonged period, walking, lifting up to 50 pounds, kneeling, and some climbing of stairs may be required.
• The work requires manual dexterity, a large degree of concentration, and working at top speed for several hours at a time.
• The ability to distinguish colors and color intensity are required.
• Duties regularly require providing manual assistance in lifting and positioning patients, most of who are at 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.
• The ST 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.
• Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met.
• Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level.

Requirements

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process.
• In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment.
• The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment.
• Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 You may be required to serve a probationary period Subject to background/security investigation Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Required Documents" below for details.
• As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest.
• In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.
• Upon completion of your probationary period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

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: ***

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.

How you will be evaluated

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC.

WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.

Applicants will be referred in the order in which they were received.

Documents you must provide

• Documents Accepted: Cover Letter DD-214/ Statement of Service Disability Letter (Schedule A) Disability Letter (VA) License Other (1) PCS Orders Performance Appraisal Professional Certification Resume Separation Notice (RIF) SF-15 SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action Transcript Documents Required: Resume Please review the above list(s) to ensure you have included all necessary documents required for your application.Not every applicant will require the same documents, therefore it is the applicants responsibility to ensure that their application package includes all necessary documents to determine qualifications and eligibility for appointment, such as a copy of your SF-50, transcript, ICTAP/CTAP documentation (for displaced Federal employees).You will not be contacted for additional information.
• Applicants will be deemed ineligible if supporting documentation is not submitted.
• Veterans' Preference: Since the Direct-Hire Recruitment Authority is being used, traditional Veterans' Preference rules do not apply.
• Qualified veterans will, however, be given full consideration for this position.
• Applications are accepted online.
• Applying online will allow you to review and track the status of your application.

What to expect next

After the vacancy announcement closes, applicants are evaluated to ensure qualification and eligibility requirements are met. After the review is complete, a referral certificate(s) is issued and applicants will be notified of their status by email.

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 ***

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.