The Surgical Technician position is located at the West Palm Beach Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center, Operating Room, West Palm Beach, Florida. The department is responsible for the preoperative, intra-operative and postoperative care of surgical patients from all surgical specialties. To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement. Individual Occupation Requirement: Positions in this series range widely in type and include support duties to medical or health personnel such as audiologists, speech pathologists, medical officers, and optometrists. Therefore, technician experience is experience that required application of the knowledge, methods, and techniques of the position to be filled. You may qualify based on your experience as described below: Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-05 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: Performs surgical instrument counts before and after surgical procedures. Handles surgical instruments, supplies and equipment during a variety of surgical procedures. Prepares and maintains a sterile surgical setup, before and during surgical procedures. Provides guidance and support to staff regarding surgical policies, infection control and patient safety. Recognizes changes in patients condition during surgical procedures and takes appropriate actions to respond to the situation.. Note: IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Verbiage displayed on your resume or application must contain your own words. You may refer to the specialized experience located within the vacancy announcement, to assist with describing work experiences; however, resumes or applications received that copied verbatim from the announcement will be evaluated and may be reviewed as falsifying your experience or application. 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. ["The Surgical Technician (ST), is responsible for performing duties that include, but are not limited to: Provide assistance to the surgeon and other team members during surgical procedures. Function as a primary scrub person responsible for handling instruments, supplies and equipment. Prepare, organize and maintain highly complex sterile surgical setups. Plan and discuss each procedure with surgical team to ensure all supplies and equipment are available prior to surgical procedures. Provide guidance and support to professional staff during surgical procedures. Understand the proper procedure and safety precautions for disinfecting surgical instruments. Perform non-technical maintenance of equipment to prevent malfunctions. Recognize potentially hazardous situations and takes corrective action. Assess equipment needs and maintains adequate stock of supplies and materials. Perform other related duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 7:00AM-3:30PM, to include on call rotation. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Surgical Technician/PD01267A Physical Requirements: Duties regularly require providing assistance in lifting and positioning patients. There are extensive periods of regular and recurring standing, walking, bending, lifting, pushing, reaching, and prolonged stretching to provide easy accessibility of instruments for the surgeon. Incumbent 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. Appropriate scrub attire is required, including sterile gown and gloves, surgical caps to cover incumbent's hair, appropriate eye protection, and surgical mask in order to provide an aseptic environment in the operating room. If incumbent is assisting with a total joint replacement, he/she is often required to wear special attire, which may be confining such as a \"space helmet\" or hood. Incumbent may need to wear X-Ray protective lead attire (up to 20 pounds in weight) for prolonged periods of time. May be required to wear special respirator mask in the presence of highly contagious airborne pathogens such as tuberculosis."]
About Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration
Providing Health Care for Veterans: The Veterans Health Administration is America’s largest integrated health care system, providing care at 1,255 health care facilities, including 170 medical centers and 1,074 outpatient sites of care of varying complexity (VHA outpatient clinics), serving 9 million enrolled Veterans each year.
