Lead Medical Supply Technician (Sterile Processing)
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We must not repeat job title as heading. No Job ID. Remove boilerplate: EEO, scam warning, etc. Also remove duplicated lines, navigation, cookie, legal. Also remove links to PDFs? Those are part of benefits? They are brochures; we can keep mention but not the URLs? Probably keep mention but not the URLs? The instruction: preserve ALL substantive information; do not invent or summarize away detail. So we should keep the mention of brochures but maybe not the URLs? The URLs are substantive? They are links to PDFs; could be considered substantive. However they are likely part of "Total-Rewards-of-an-Allied-Health-VA-Career-Brochure.pdf" etc. Might be considered boilerplate? Not sure. Safer to keep the text but maybe drop the URLs? The instruction: remove cookie/navigation/legal/EEO/equal-opportunity/scam-warning boilerplate, duplicated lines, and application instructions. The PDF links are not those. So keep them.
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About the role
Summary The Lead Medical Supply Technician position is in the Sterile Processing Service at the VA Boston Healthcare System located at the West Roxbury - MA location. This position is full time at 40 hours per week.
Qualifications
Basic Requirements: United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy; English Language Proficiency: MSTs must be proficient in spoken and written English; Experience and/or Education: Experience: Six months of experience that demonstrates the applicant's ability to perform the work or provides an understanding of the work OR Education: One year above high school that included at least 6 semester hours in health care related courses such as sterile processing - nursing assistant - hospital corpsman - and operating room and surgical technician courses or other courses related to the position OR Experience/Education Combination: Equivalent combination of experience and education are qualifying for entry level for which both education and experience are acceptable; Foreign Education: To be creditable - education completed outside the U.S. must have been submitted to a private organization that specializes in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education must have been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional US programs; GS 7 Experience: Have one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-6). Examples of specialized experience include but are not limited to: Receiving contaminated critical and semi-critical RME in the decontamination area; disassembling the RME and determining the correct cleaning method - such as but not limited to ultrasonic cleaners - mechanical washers - cart washers and chemical cleaning/decontamination agents - as determined by manufacturer instructions; inspecting - assembling and determining the correct method and packaging for sterilization such as but not limited to steam - Sterrad - Steris - ETO - and high level disinfecting scope reprocessors; performing and documenting daily operational checks and records for all sterilization equipment.
Assignment: The Lead MST works in support of the Sterile Processing Service (SPS) management team; Distributes and prioritizes workload among employees in accordance with established workflow and/or job specializations; Assures an even workflow and distribution of the workload; Revises work schedules to meet anticipated and unanticipated changes in the workload; Assigns work to staff based on experience and training needs; Monitors and reports on the status of work; Ensures SOPs and SPS mandates are followed during the performance of workflow; Reviews work in progress or spot checks work not requiring review to ensure completed work meets supervisors' instructions on such things as work sequence - procedures - methods - and deadlines; Assesses the quality and quantity of work by reviewing the cleaning - reprocessing - and distribution of technical medical equipment - material and instrumentation; Provides information to management officials concerning performance issues - assignment changes and task completion; Instructs employees on work-related activities - policies - procedures and goals; In addition to the experience above - the candidate must demonstrate the following Knowledge - Skills - and Abilities (KSA's) below: 1 Ability to instruct staff on the correct procedures and protocols for completing assignments; 2 Skill in communicating with staff to ensure compliance with written directives - rules and regulations; 3 Skill in interpersonal relationships in dealing with employees - team leaders - and managers; 4 Knowledge of sterility principles in order to instruct staff on decontamination procedures; 5 Ability to lead individuals - manage priorities - and schedule work assignments.
Physical Requirements: This work is performed in various settings: decontamination - preparation - clean sterile supply (preparation) and in other services and departments throughout the medical facility/campus; The incumbent may be required to work in areas that are hot - cold - drafty and poorly lighted; The employee is subject to the possibility of falls - scrapes - cuts - bruises - and other injuries from material handling equipment; The work requires standing and walking during the entire workday and frequent bending and lifting of packages (occasionally weighing as much as 50 pounds); The work requires dexterity and visual acuity for manipulating - disassembly and assembly of instrumentation; On a regular and recurring basis - the employee alternates between a contaminated environment and a carefully controlled clean environment; The employee wears special clothing - hair covers - personal protective equipment and shoe covers that can be uncomfortably warm; The employee uses insulated gloves to remove carts from sterilizers; The employee is subject to burns from accidentally touching hot items; The hazards of working around minute quantities of sterilizing gasses are unknown; The employee often works around body fluids - mucous - excretions and bits of tissue - some of which may be foul smelling; Strong - unpleasant odors are encountered while decontaminating bloody or grossly contaminated instrumentation or reusable medical equipment; The work area is noisy due to the clatter of metal instruments - rumbling of carts and operation of pre-sterilizing equipment.
Responsibilities
Duties The Lead Medical Supply Technician position provides sterilization - preparation - supply items and reusable medical equipment (RME) decontamination and distribution support for the medical center; Duties include - but are not limited to: Provides guidance and technician direction for accomplishing the work of the unit or team; Ensures work assignments of employees in the unit or team are carried out; Distributes and balances workload and tasks among employees; Revises work schedule to meet anticipated and unanticipated changes in the workload; Explains work requirements - methods and procedures - as needed - giving special instructions on difficult or different operations and answering technical questions about the task; Maintains a current knowledge and answers questions of other employees relating to procedures - policies and directives; Trains or arranges for the training of team members in the accomplishment of tasks or projects; Gives on-the-job training to new employees in accordance with established procedures and practices; Monitors and reports on the status and progress of work - checking on work in progress and reviewing completed work to see that the supervisor's instructions on priorities - methods - deadlines and quality assurance have been met; Checks the cleaning - reprocessing and distribution of technical medical equipment - material and instrumentation as deemed appropriate to assess the quality and quantity of work produced by each employee; Ensures that items are safe to use - delivered on time at the proper place - and in the correct condition to be properly used for VA patient care; Reports to the supervisor on performance - progress and training needs of employees - and on behavior problems; Resolves simple - informal complaints of employees and refers others - such as formal grievances and appeals - to the supervisor or an appropriate management official; Conducts inspection of the Decontamination area and to verify that proper techniques and processes are being followed by staff and that all equipment is working properly; Inspects to verify that all instrumentation is disassembled to the simplest form; Independently prepares the full range of trays and sets necessary to be used in wards - clinic areas - dental clinic and OR; Collects contaminated case carts and reusable medical equipment (RME) instruments from operating rooms as well as other clinics as required; Processes and sterilizes a wide variety of instrumentation - to include implant devices - in accordance with manufacturer's recommendations.
Schedule
Work Schedule: Full-Time Monday-Friday 2:30pm-1:00am; Telework: Not authorized; Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Pay
Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases; When setting pay - a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade).
Benefits
- Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave - 13 days of sick leave - 11 paid Federal holidays per year); Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual - based on prior [work experience] or military service experience.
- Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment - up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth - adoption - or foster care placement of a child.
- Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment - full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66.
- Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA.
- Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement).
- Total-Rewards-of-an-Allied-Health-VA-Career-Brochure.pdf
- Medical Supply Aide and Technician: vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Total-Rewards-of-a-Medical-Supply-Aide-Career-Flyer.pdf