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Position is in Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Service (P&LMS) at the Montana Fort Harrison Laboratory. Incumbent performs a variety of functions: Accessioning specimens into computer system; collecting, evaluating,and processing specimens; answering questions related to sample collection; instructing and assisting patients; sending out specimens for testing; following policies and procedures established by the service, medical center, the Veterans' Administration (VA), and regulatory agencies.
03/05/2025 to 06/05/2025
$40,332 - $62,425 per year
GS 5
Few vacancies in the following location:
No
No
Not required
No
Permanent
Full-time
Competitive
None
No
Yes
CBSU-12706441-25-GL
833212600
U.S. Citizens, Nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.
Federal employees whose job, agency or department was eliminated and are eligible for priority over other applicants.
ALL US CITIZENS DIRECT HIRE AUTHORITY: This position is being filled using Direct-Hire Authority (5 CFR 337.205) for this occupation. This is an Open Continuous Announcement. Applications will be accepted and reviewed on a continuous basis until all vacancies are filled. First deadline for application is March 13, 2025.
Phlebotomy Duties:
- Incumbent collects and processes blood and body fluid specimens, ensuring safety and non-traumatic processes are used with critical concern for patient and quality of the specimen with minimal number of failures, patient bruising, or required re-sticks; involves correct patient identification; verifies proper tubes are used and correct amount of blood is drawn; labels all tubes with the patient's name, full social security number. date, time and phlebotomist's initials
- Performs blood collection duties in courteous manner; makes patient feel comfortable; explains what is about to happen and any processes required of the patient for specimen collection.
- Adheres to safety, infection control and universal precautions at all times while collecting samples, including wearing appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE); proficient in the area of phlebotomy; must develop essential speed required to complete blood drawing duties.
- Must be familiar with tests performed throughout the laboratory, i.e. chemistry, Immunohematology, urinalysis, coagulation, microbiology, and cytology; must be familiar with multitude of laboratory send-out tests, respective requirements, and requirements noted by the laboratories where they are performed.
- Must be familiar with the Vista and CPRS computer systems.
- Responsible for special blood drawing procedures to include but not limited to: a) collecting timed specimens for growth hormone, peak and trough drug levels, glucose and lactose tolerance specimens; b) collecting blood cultures using aseptic technique and; c) urine collection in accordance with the Federal Workplace Drug Testing Program as administered and regulated by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) for drug testing of new employees.
- Instructs patients in sterile midstream urine collection, 24 hour urine collection, and collection of stool specimens for culture and sensitivity, ova and parasites and occult bloods.
- Assists in teaching laboratory and clinic personnel phlebotomy, specimen collection and specimen requirements.
- Must be able to respond to, report and assist in emergency situations; must know CPR and First Aid procedures.- Provides care based on physical, psychosocial, educational, safety and related criteria appropriate to age of patients served.
- Maintains clean workspace and continuously monitors area for contamination; procedures for properly decontaminating spills and safe disposal of all contaminated materials must be understood and followed at all times.
Clerical Duties
- Functions as a resource person and troubleshooter for clinic personnel in executing VistA order entry and results options; reviews orders in CPRS.
-Investigates missing or incomplete patient laboratory orders and ensures missing or incomplete orders are placed or corrected prior to patient presenting for sample collection.
Accessioning and Processing Duties
- Recognizes emergency situations and takes necessary action; establishes priorities for emergency orders.
- Identifies unusual conditions and discrepancies which may cause erroneous test results; processes all specimens according to strict guidelines to assure specimen integrity.
- Incumbent is responsible for receiving and storage of Laboratory supplies; required to check expiration date of all reagents and supplies in the room temperature storage room for sequestering the item, and notifying the supervisor of the findings.
Work Schedule: Tour of duty varies depending on the needs of the Service
Position Description/PD#: Health Technician - Phlebotomy/PD10174-A and PD10174A
Physical Requirements and Environment: Work requires extensive and recurring physical exertion such as standing for long periods of time, bending, lifting, walking, stooping, and stretching. Work requires manual dexterity and a large degree of concentration. Work is performed in community-based clinic with daily exposure to patients and materials carrying infectious diseases and hazardous chemicals. Proper precautions are practiced. The technician wears protective clothing such as lab coats and gloves when working with specimens. There is frequent contact with patients with undiagnosed illnesses. The employee has the potential to be exposed to communicable disease.
A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on 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: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/.
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. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.
"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. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act."
Receiving Service Credit or 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.
Pursuant to VHA Directive 1193.01, VHA health care personnel (HCP) are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 subject to such accommodations as required by law (i.e., medical, religious or pregnancy). VHA HCPs do not include remote workers who only infrequently enter VHA locations. If selected, you will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination before your start date. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required accommodation from this requirement using the reasonable accommodation process.
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 qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified: applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following Competencies for this position:
To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:
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. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online application, to include the initial online questionnaire and submission of the required documentation specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. To preview the application questionnaire, click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12706441. The application process is as follows:
Once your online application is submitted you will receive a confirmation notification by email. After we receive application packages (including all required assessments and documents) and the vacancy announcement closes, we will review applications 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. Referred applicants will be notified as such and may be contacted directly by the hiring office for an interview. All referred applicants receive a final notification once a selection decision has been made.
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. Your resume and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.
The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.
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This job originated on www.usajobs.gov. For the full announcement and to apply, visit www.usajobs.gov/job/833212600. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.