Medical Instrument Technician (Polysomnography)

About the role

This Medical Instrument Technician (Polysomnography) position is within Specialty Care services at the Providence VA Healthcare System, located in Providence, Rhode Island. It is intermittent with varying hours per week.

Responsibilities

• Prepares patients for nocturnal polysomnographic testing;
• Provides instruction to the patient;
• Performs the sleep study which includes adjusting oxygen dose and CPAP or BiPAP levels as necessary to maintain adequate oxygenation and ventilation during sleep;
• Makes observations and takes corrective action based on established policy and past experience and notifies the physician as required;
• Captures the data obtained from the sleep study;
• Stages sleep architecture and scores sleep abnormalities;
• Communicates with physicians regarding the results of the sleep study;
• Maintains compliance with all safety codes;
• Uses equipment required for patient care using hospital policies and procedures, including appropriate cleaning and disinfection of reusable medical equipment in accordance with manufacturer's guidelines;
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Requirements

Eligible applications will be reviewed and referred in the following order: 1. Current permanent VA employees of the facility. 2. All other VA employees. 3. All other applicants.

Qualifications

• Medical Instrument Technician (Trainee) GS-04:
• At least 1 year of experience comparable to the next lower grade level (GS-03) which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics related to the duties of the position to be filled. Six months of this experience may have been in medically related fields such as nursing assistant, practical nursing, or similar fields. The remaining six months must have been in operating diagnostic and therapeutic equipment covered by this occupation. Experience gained in the operation of equipment for animal diagnosis or treatment may be credited at this level.
• OR, Education. Successful completion of two years of education above high school or an associate's degree with a major field of study directly related to the medical instrument technician occupation. (Transcripts must be uploaded)
• AND Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the Education/Experience requirement, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs at the GS-04 Grade Level:
  • Knowledge of basic medical terminology.
  • Ability to learn the components, operating characteristics, and settings of the equipment to be used.
  • Ability to learn typical patient reactions to the basic procedures involved and ability to recognize signs of distress.
  • Ability to learn the standard positions for the procedure being conducted.
  • Ability to communicate orally and in writing.
• Medical Instrument Technician (Trainee) GS-05:
• At least 1 year of experience comparable to the next lower grade level (GS-04) which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics related to the duties of the position to be filled. This would be experience in operating equipment related to the particular specialization for which application is made or in related functional areas. Experience gained in the operation of equipment for animal diagnosis or treatment may be credited through this grade level.
• OR, Education. Successful completion of 4 academic years above high school leading to a bachelor's degree with courses related to the occupation, or a bachelor's degree in a major field of study appropriate to medical instrument technician functions. (Transcripts must be uploaded)
• AND Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs at the GS-05 Grade Level:
  • Knowledge of standard medical terminology to interpret physician orders or instructions.
  • Knowledge of common physical disabilities and ability to position patients for the examination or treatment.
  • Ability to learn the normal and abnormal results for routine procedures to recognize and report obvious abnormalities.
  • Ability to operate the equipment to administer routine/standard diagnostic treatment or procedures.
  • Ability to perform standard operator maintenance on the equipment including the ability to disassemble, clean, reassemble, and calibrate the machine.
• Medical Instrument Technician (Polysomnography) GS-06:
• At least 1 year of experience comparable to the next lower grade level (GS-05) which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics related to the duties of the position to be filled.
• AND Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs at the GS-06 Grade Level:
  • Knowledge of standard, computerized polysomnographs for recording continuous all night physiological data including EEG, EOG, EKG, EMG and respiratory parameters.
  • Knowledge of standard devices such as oximeters, respiratory effort devices, nasal pressure devices, thermistors, thermocouples, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines, and laboratory computers including the ability to calibrate and operate the equipment and recognize and eliminate recording artifacts.
  • Knowledge of medical terminology and medical record organization to review medical records, sleep study orders, consent forms, medical charts, etc.
  • Knowledge of basic anatomy and physiology and the international 10-20 electrode placement system in order to conduct the sleep studies.
• Medical Instrument Technician (Polysomnography) GS-07:
• At least 1 year of experience comparable to the next lower grade level (GS-06) which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics related to the duties of the position to be filled. This would be experience which provided the individual with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to independently conduct difficult but standardized polysomnography examinations.
• AND Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs at the GS-07 Grade Level:
  • Knowledge of CPAP function and operation to select and fit appropriate PAP patient interface devices.
  • Ability to independently titrate and document PAP level to achieve therapeutic goals.
  • Knowledge of indications, complications, and contraindications of CPAP therapy.
  • Knowledge of Bi-Level pressure titrations.
  • Ability to recognize changes seen during the PSG tracing and identify all stages of sleep. This includes the ability to score and analyze sleep stages in clinical polysomnography recordings.
• Medical Instrument Technician (Polysomnography) GS-08: Full Performance Level
• At least 1 year of experience comparable to the next lower grade level (GS-07) which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics related to the duties of the positions to be filled. This would be experience which provided a knowledge of the more complex procedures as well as knowledge of the uncommon and/or rare sleep disorders.
• AND Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs at the GS-08 Grade Level:
  • Advanced knowledge or the International Classification of Sleep Disorders and the ability to recognize uncommon and/or rare sleep disorders.
  • Ability to summarize and report polysomnographic data in narrative form.
  • Knowledge of ev