Surgical Technician
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Job Location:
Yearly Salary:
Posted on:
20 hours ago
Vacancies:
1 Vacancy
Job Summary
Summary
The Health Technician - Surgical Technician is a member of the surgical team and assists 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 Chief of Surgery and Surgical Team.
Major duties include but are not limited to:
- Responsible for handling instruments supplies and equipment during a variety of surgical procedures performed in all surgical sub-specialties/procedures; includes general surgery urological surgery vascular surgery ENT surgery orthopedic/podiatry surgery and ophthalmological surgery.
- Sets-up sterile field with required items for each procedure.
- Participates in official time out with surgical team and ensures correct site correct procedure correct laterality correct patient position and all testing results are in place; verifies sterility and dates of implants per Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Directive.
- Plans and discusses each procedure with surgical professionals and assures that all supplies and equipment are available prior to the surgical procedure.
- Observes and responds promptly to each state of surgical procedure and anticipates needs of the surgeon.
- Utilizes universal precautions and follows all infection control policies and procedures.
- Assists team members with care of the patient.
- Handles all specimens appropriately.
- Assists in training residents medical students nursing students operating room technology students and new Operating Room (OR) staff in the operation of equipment sterile technique handling of instruments and OR procedures.
- Performs non-technical maintenance of equipment.
- Maintains safe/clean work environment.
- Provides patient information to Registered Nurse (RN)/Anesthesia Team for inclusion in patients plan of care; supports healthcare team through reinforcement of patient education; organizes/prioritizes patient care activities.
- Assists in answering telephones and relaying messages.
- Adheres to Veterans Administration (VA) nursing policies procedures and standards; delivers care to patients in respectful non-judgmental manner; maintains patient privacy/confidentiality; sets limits within the surgical team (ST)/patient relationship.
- Recognizes changes in patient condition including emergencies perioperatively and takes appropriate actions in response to patient emergent situation.
- Recognizes potentially hazardous situations e.g. frayed cords water on floor and takes corrective action.
- Reports unsafe equipment and working conditions to appropriate individuals.
Position Description Title/PD#: Surgical Technician/PD12902-A
Physical Requirements and Work Environment: Duties regularly require manual assistance in lifting and positioning patients most of which are in 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. 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. Duties are performed in the operating rooms (ORs) which require special OR attire with regular and recurring exposure to toxic and noxious gases such as methylmethracrylate peroxyacetic acid exposure to x-rays exposure to blood and body fluids which are often infectious and laser beams requiring special safety precautions.
Appropriate scrub attire is required to provide an aseptic environment. The incumbent is often required to wear protective attire such as eye wear hoods during total joint replacements appropriate laser glasses when working with lasers and must frequently wear a lead apron as protection from radiation during various procedures.
The operating room can be an exceptionally stressful work environment. Good mental and emotional health is required to function at an optimum level.
Conditions of employment
- 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
- Subject to background/security investigation
- Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements ( Effective May 7 2025 drivers licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
- Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)
- 5 CFR 330.502 - General restriction on movement after competitive appointment applies.
- Work schedule of selected applicants may include an on-call component.
- In accordance with 5 CFR 330-502 a 90 day general restriction on movement applies for the Direct Hire Authority ONLY.
- 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.
Qualifications
To qualify for this position applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement.
An Individual Occupational Requirement must be met by all applicants applying for GS 4 and above:
All applicants for the Surgical Technician GSmust meet this Individual Occupation Requirement (IOR) for further consideration:
- Specialized Experience (for positions GS-04 and above): 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 requires application of the knowledge methods and techniques of the position to be filled.
- In addition to the Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR) for GS-07 all applicants must meet 1 year of creditable specialized experience that equipped the applicant with the knowledge skills abilities and other characteristics in or related to the work of this position equivalent to at least the next lower grade level GS-06. Examples of specialized experience include but are not limited to providing assistance to a surgical team during surgical procedures; utilizing knowledge of highly technical medical instruments human anatomy and aseptic technique to prepare and protect the sterile field during surgery; functioning as primary scrub person handling instruments supplies and equipment during all surgical procedures; preparing organizing and maintaining highly complex sterile surgical set-up; observing and responding to each state of a surgical procedure to anticipate the needs of the surgeon; handling specimens appropriately cleaning and decontaminating instruments before and after procedures. Note: Applicants who have the 1 year of appropriate specialized experience as indicated are not required by this standard to have general experience education above the high school level or any additional specialized experience to meet the minimum qualification requirements; OR
- 1 full year of graduate education meets the requirements for GS-07. Courses must be directly related to the position. Note: 1 year of full-time graduate education is the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study. If this information cannot be obtained from the school 18 semester hours should be considered as satisfying the 1 year of full-time study. When substituting education for specialized experience a transcript (s) must submitted with the application packet.
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: 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 the Fair Chance to Compete Act the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicants criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer (TJO). Please visit the Human Resources and Administration/Operations Security and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) for more information.
Additional information
Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicants criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer (TJO). Please visit the Human Resources and Administration/Operations Security and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) 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.
This position is required to participate in the Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Program and is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). It is a requirement that all HCP receive the annual Seasonal Influenza Vaccination or obtain an exemption for medical or religious reasons. Wearing a face mask is required when an exemption has been granted. HCP in violation of this directives may face disciplinary action up to and including removal from Federal service.
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 OPMs Career Transition Resources website which can be found at 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 employees 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.
Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government passionate about the ideals of our American republic and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.
A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
Required Experience:
IC
Key Skills
- Aseptic Technique
- Hospital Experience
- Acute Care
- Anatomy Knowledge
- Basic Life Support
- Computer Skills
- Physiology Knowledge
- Military Experience
- Suturing
- Medical Terminology
- Sterile Processing
