Nursing Assistant - Community Living Center - Dementia

About the role

The Central Iowa Health Care System is recruiting for a Nursing Assistant position within the Community Living Center (CLC1) in Des Moines, Iowa. This position requires knowledge that enables the Nursing Assistant to effectively provide care to a veteran population with widely diverse conditions and diagnoses, including caring for residents at end-of-life.

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: 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.
• Experience, Education, or Training: You must meet one of the following:
  • Six (6) months of general experience demonstrating the ability to acquire the knowledge and skills to perform the work of a Nursing Assistant.
  • One year of education above high school with courses related to the Nursing Assistant occupation.
  • Completion of an intensive, specialized, occupation-related training course of study or program of less than one year as a Nursing Assistant (may meet in full the experience requirements for GS-3).

Grade Determinations

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-5. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected is in the range of GS-3 to GS-5. In addition to the basic requirements above, the following criteria must be met for each grade:

GS-03 (Entry Level)

• None beyond the basic requirements.
• NAs at this grade are considered entry-level and are closely supervised.

GS-04

• Experience: One (1) year of experience as a Nursing Assistant or in another medical field (licensed practical nurse, health technician, hospital corpsman, etc.) performing technical and nursing skills requiring knowledge of human physical and emotional states, therapeutic communication, and technical skills for basic and intermediate treatments.
• OR Education: Successful completion of two (2) years above high school in an accredited institution with courses related to nursing care, health care, or a field appropriate to the specialization (e.g., psychology, psychiatric, or operating room technicians).
• AND Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs):
  • Ability to provide a range of patient/resident care and contribute to the completion of the nurse care plan and recovery of patients/residents.
  • Ability to observe patients/residents' physical or emotional status and refer deviations/problems to supervisor in a timely manner.
  • Ability to properly use equipment, materials, and supplies in simple diagnostic and treatment procedures (e.g., bladder scan, continuous passive motion device, blood glucose monitoring, specimen collection).
  • Ability to communicate effectively with patients/residents, their families, and other health professionals.

GS-05

• Experience: One (1) year of progressively responsible assignments equivalent to the GS-4 level demonstrating KSAs directly related to the specific assignment. Specialized experience includes functioning as a member of the nursing care team assisting licensed nursing staff in the full range of nursing care for patients/residents receiving outpatient, home, community living, preventative, acute, sub-acute, chronic, maintenance, and hospice care.
• OR Education: Successful completion of a 4-year course of study above high school leading to a bachelor's degree that included 24 semester hours of courses related to health care, or possession of a bachelor's degree.
• AND Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs):
  • Ability to assist in the full range of nursing care to patients/residents with physical and/or behavioral problems in a hospital, long-term care, or outpatient setting under the direction of an RN and/or LVN/LPN.
  • Ability to communicate orally with patients/residents, families, interdisciplinary team, and other personnel. This includes serving as a preceptor to new NAs by assisting with coordination of their orientation and overseeing/assessing their practical experience in a clinical setting.
  • Ability to recognize and react to emergent patient/resident care situations and intervene while waiting for assistance (e.g., recognizing need for basic life support, controlling bleeding, assisting with behavior crisis).

Preferred Experience (not required)

• Prior Long Term Care, Dementia Care, and Med/Surg experience.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, visit VA Qualification Standards.

Responsibilities

• Assisting medical personnel in the care or treatment of residents with diverse conditions/diagnoses.
• Preparing, ambulating, transporting, and positioning residents with use of equipment.
• Providing a variety of personal care including but not limited to bathing, shaving, feeding, incontinence care, trimming nails, range of motion, and ambulation of residents.
• Performing a wide variety of duties aimed at increasing the comfort and spirit of the resident.
• Encouraging residents and assisting in completing restorative programs.
• Recognizing and reporting obvious changes in resident condition.
• Delivering care to residents in a respectful, non-judgmental manner.
• Maintaining resident privacy/confidentiality and residents' rights to privacy/confidentiality.
• Documenting resident information on flow sheets and Computerized Patient Records System (CPRS).
• Providing resident information to the accountable LPN/RN for inclusion in the resident's plan of care.

Schedule

• Night Shift: six 12-hour shifts from 1930–0800 and one 8-hour shift from 2330–0800, with alternating weekends and holidays.
• Compressed/Flexible schedule available.

Pay

• Competitive salary with 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 off 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.
• 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,