Medical Technician - Phlebotomy

About the role

The positions are located within the Pathology and Medical Laboratory Service at the VA Central Texas Health Care System in Temple, TX. The Medical Technician serves as a phlebotomist and specimen processing technician.

Duties

• Follows procedures for patient identification, sample procurement, and specimen labeling;
• Performs routine venipuncture specimen collections from patients;
• Follows laboratory procedures for collecting specimens in the appropriate container;
• Controls the physical condition of samples and responds to time factors to ensure that the physiologic state of the specimen is maintained;
• Provides education to patients for proper collection techniques;
• Prepares samples for testing to include labeling, centrifugation, decanting and aliquoting, etc.;
• Maintains adequate supplies for all phlebotomy and specimen procurement procedures;
• Answers incoming calls for the laboratory service - finding and relaying accurate information or referring the caller to technical personnel;
• Performs standard diagnostic tests/procedures such as bleeding time, occult blood, urine dipstick, pregnancy test, fingerstick glucose;
• Performs sterilization on the autoclave, and cleans glassware and other reusable items;
• Identifies and appropriately responds to adverse reactions such as fainting, nausea, vomiting, convulsions, and arrests;
• Performs other related duties as assigned.

Designated Drug-Testing Position

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.

Work Schedule

Full-Time, Monday-Friday 6:00am - 2:30pm with rotating holidays and weekends OR Monday-Friday, 7:30am - 4:00pm with rotating holidays and weekends. During the application process, you will have the opportunity to choose your preferred work schedule.

Qualifications

• English Language Proficiency: In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), No person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English. You must be proficient in basic written and spoken English in order to meet the requirements of this position.
• Experience: Applicants must possess at least six (6) months of general experience, and six (6) months of specialized experience that equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. General Experience is: (1) Any type of work that demonstrates the applicant's ability to perform the work of the position, or (2) experience that provided a familiarity with the subject matter or processes of the broad subject area of the occupation. Specialized experience is: (a) Technical medical laboratory support work such as performing laboratory tests and examinations (chemical, microbiologic, hematologic and blood banking) and preparing reports of findings or (b) technical support work in a closely related field, e.g., biological laboratory technician work that required application of the methods and techniques for the position to be filled.
• Educational Substitution: Successful completion of (a) an associate-degree course of study of which the 2nd year of the 2-year program included successful completion of a training course of approximately a year's duration in a certified laboratory assistant school approved by a nationally recognized accrediting agency; (b) 1 year of study that included 6 semester hours in chemistry and/or the biological sciences, plus successful completion of (a) a full-time training course of approximately a year's duration in a medical or clinical laboratory assistant (or technician) school that included instruction in chemistry, hematology, blood banking, and microbiology (including serology) and that, in addition, included supervised laboratory practice incident to the diagnostic process and the treatment of patients; or (c) 2 years of study that included at least 12 semester hours of chemistry and/or biological science course work that must have been directly related to the specialization of the position to be filled.