Lead Health Technician- Specimen Collection & Processing Trainer

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/17/2024. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. Individual Occupational Requirements: You must have experience in supporting duties to medical or health personnel such as audiologists, speech pathologists, medical officers, and optometrists. Technician experience is experience that requires application of the knowledge, methods, and techniques of the position to be filled. Specialized Experience: experience in supporting duties to medical or health personnel such as audiologists, speech pathologists, medical officers, and optometrists. Technician experience is experience that requires application of the knowledge, methods, and techniques of the position to be filled. OR, In addition to the Individual Occupational Requirement, you must meet the following specialized experience and/or education. Specialized Experience: must have at least one (1) full year of specialized experience and/or education equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-5) in the Federal Service that has given me the particular knowledge, skills and abilities required to successfully perform the duties of the Lead Health Technician-Specimen Collection & Processing Trainer position. Preferred Experience: Two (2) years’ experience as a phlebotomist preferred but not require. Train laboratory and non-laboratory personnel in the collection and submission of laboratory specimens; Familiarity with laboratory regulatory and safety requirements; Receive, access, and process clinical samples; Maintain confidentiality of medical records by adhering to applicable HIPPA and Privacy guidelines; Communicate effectively and courteously while working as a healthcare team member Participated in performance Improvement projects; Act as a Pathology liaison to other departments of the medical center; and Familiarity with blood culture contamination rates and training needed to correct deficiencies to meet national targets. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Computer Skills Customer Service (Clerical/Technical) Education and Training Specimen Collection 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. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Physical Requirements: The work requires regular and recurring physical demands, such as, standing, bending, walking and lifting items such as supplies. Regular and recurring travel to outlying CBOC locations for training Specimen Collection staff is mandatory. (GOV will be used to travel for official training at distant CBOCs) Requires successful ability to discriminate colors (select various specimen collection tubes) and to operate a centrifuge, computer, label printer and various other laboratory equipment used in the collection and processing of medical laboratory specimens. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management’s website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.
This position is in the Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Service at Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System in New Orleans. Serves as the Lead Phlebotomist and the Specimen Collection & Processing Training Coordinator (“the Trainer”) for the entire facility main campus and all CBOCs. An important duty is to train and competency assess all phlebotomy staff in proper specimen collection, specimen processing, and specimen handling procedures and techniques.