Summary The Department of Veterans Affairs Intermediate Care Technicians (ICT) Program is a program designed to hire transitioning service, National Guard, Reserve, and Veteran corpsmen, combat medics and medical technicians into positions at VA Medical Centers as an integral part of the medical team. This position serves as an advanced technician for the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Step-down Unit, and/or Postanesthesia Care Unit (PACU) for patients who are present for treatment. Responsibilities Duties include, but are not limited to: The Intermediate Care Technician is an occupational specialty, especially for former military medics, medical technicians, and corpsmen. Performing observation-based screening and collecting patient information in collaboration with licensed personnel. This may involve completing clinical reminders, obtaining patient health history, chief complaints, medication history, and identification of health-related conditions that may impact the patient's health status. The incumbent will complete approved templates and tools, such as the inpatient intake form, normal result notes, and follow up treatment protocols established by the agency. The incumbent assists in behavioral/psychiatric situations in an inpatient setting. This can include assisting licensed personnel with crisis intervention, management of aggressive or suicidal psychiatric patients, by providing one-to-one observations and applying prevention and management of disruptive behavior techniques (PMDB). The incumbent performs duties focused on communication techniques required to complete the questioners and templates approved for use in any outpatient clinical setting, including active listening, restating, and mirroring. The incumbent will maintain a safe and therapeutic environment for the patient while promoting a sense of worth and dignity under the supervision of the licensed personnel. Vital signs. Examples: vital signs, 12-lead electrocardiogram (EKG). Point-of-care (POC). Examples: Abbott hand-held blood analyzer (I-STAT), glucometer. Equipment and surgical instrumentation set up . Examples: skin biopsies (excisional,shave, punch). Treatments and interventions. Examples: Cryotherapy, incision and drainage, ambulation, and Foley coude' catheter insertion. Wound care. Examples: bandaging, application of dressings and wound measurements. Specimen collection and Preparation. Examples: collecting and labeling venous blood samples and mucous specimens. Mental health care. Examples: Crisis intervention, performs behavioral/mental health screens, conducts interviews, and observes behavioral patients. Preparation of lab specimens and transfer to the lab for processing: Examples: Labeling,placing in the proper bin or tube system. Patient education within scope of care or while providing an intervention. Examples: postprocedural care, splint care and wound care. Follow-up care: Examples: Suture removal. Electronic Health Record (EHR): Thoroughly and appropriately documents actions, interventions and procedures in the medical record. Examples: Procedural notes, progress notes, screenings, photo-documentation and secure messaging. ICTs may perform tasks after proper education, training and competency, demonstrating knowledge, skills and abilities. Thoroughly and continually documents actions, interventions and patient response in the health record. Work Schedule: Varies, weekends, and holidays. Position Description Title/PD#: Intermediate Care Technician/PD99794S Physical Requirements: The work involves extended periods of bending, standing and walking. Generally, the work requires recurring physical exertion with assisting patients. Requirements Conditions of Employment Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement. GS-07 grade level: One year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-06 grade level in the federal service); experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA's) and other characteristics to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled, in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience includes: Specimen collection. Examples: venous blood samples, urine, sputum, stool and wound samples and cultures; Assisting with patient exams and screening. Examples: orthostatic vital signs, 6-min walk assessments, CAM, and fall risk; Respond to medical emergencies on the facility grounds and sometimes encounters situations which may be life threatening; Working knowledge of medical terminology, disease process, topographic anatomy; Skill in communication techniques and the operation of communications equipment to be able to accurately obtain and relay information to and from health care team; Prepare and administer medications through various methods, examples include, intramuscular injections, subcutaneous injections, intradermal injections, oral, aerosolized including oxygen, topical, intraocular (eye drops), Otic (ear drops), intranasal, rectal (suppositories), local anesthetics, intraurethral, and intravenous; Perform minor surgical procedures, medical interventions and administer treatments to manage care to combat disease or disabling symptoms example incise and drain various skin infections or abscesses; Order appropriate diagnostic studies under the direction of the supervising Licensed Independent Practitioner (LIP) obtains and Reports Diagnostic and laboratory results. OR Education: Have successfully completed one (1) full year of graduate education in a directly related field to the position of the Intermediate Care Technician, GS-7. One (1) full year of graduate education is defined 18 semester hours in courses that are directly related to the work of this position. Such graduate education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. OR, Combination: Have equivalent combination of specialized experience and graduate education as described that demonstrates the ability to perform the duties of this position. Experience must be detailed within your resume. (Transcripts Required) 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. 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.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. 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 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 https://www.opm.gov/. 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.