Medical Supply Tech (Sterile Processing)

Full Job Description

Medical Supply Technicians in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) receive contaminated critical and semi-critical reusable medical equipment (RME) in the decontamination area and may receive noncritical equipment.

These positions will be utilized at the Buffalo and Batavia Campuses.

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

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 - English Language Proficiency - You must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C.

7402(d), and 7407(d) Experience and/or Education - Experience - Six months of experience that demonstrates the 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.

Grandfather Provision.

A Medical Supply Technician (MST) employed in VHA on the effective date of the qualification standard (May 28, 2014) are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series and grade held, that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation.

For employees who do not meet all the basic requirements required in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it, the following provisions apply: 1.

Employees may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journey) level or changed to lower grade within the occupation but may not be promoted beyond the journeyman level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions.

2.

Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed on a temporary or permanent basis until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard.

3.

Employees who are converted to Title 38 Hybrid status under this provision and subsequently leave the occupation lose protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of re-entry to the occupation.

Grade Determinations: The full performance level for this qualification standard is the GS-06 grade level.

GS-03 Medical Supply Technician - Experience/Education Requirement: None beyond the basic requirements.

GS-04 Medical Supply Technician - Experience/Education Requirement: In addition to meeting the basic requirements, to qualify for the GS-04 you must meet one of the following experience or education requirements: Experience: Six months experience as a MST, operating room or surgical technician or other position that demonstrated knowledge of sterile processing in a clinical setting; OR Education: Two years of education above high school that included at least 12 semester hours in courses related to the occupation.

NOTE: Successful completion of a course for medical technicians, hospital corpsmen, medical service specialists, or nursing assistants obtained in a training program given by the Armed Forces, the US.

Maritime Service, or hospitals under close medical and professional supervision, may be substituted on a month-for-month basis for up to 6 months of experience.

· Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs): In addition to the experience or education above, the candidate must demonstrate the KSAs below: Knowledge of universal precautions for safety and prevention of cross contamination.

Basic knowledge of medical terminology to assemble specialty operating room/clinic instrument sets. Basic knowledge of sterilization and cleaning equipment.

Ability to communicate both orally and in writing.

GS-05 Medical Supply Technician - Experience/Education Requirement: In addition to meeting the basic requirements, to qualify for the GS-05 you must meet one of the following experience or education requirements: Experience: One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-4).

Examples of specialized experience include but are not limited to: Performing segments of work pertaining to the decontamination, sterilization and inspection of reusable medical equipment (RME); completing segments of work pertaining to the assembly of basic sets and trays for use in the medical center; operating equipment involved in sterilization processes; preparing operating room case carts; OR Education: Four academic years above high school leading to a Bachelor's degree with at least 12 semester hours in courses related to the occupation or a Bachelor's degree.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs): In addition to the experience or education above, the candidate must demonstrate the KSAs below: Basic knowledge of surgical instruments used in operating rooms and clinic settings.

Basic knowledge of event-related packaging in regards to sterility. Knowledge of sterilization and cleaning equipment.

GS-06 Medical Supply Technician (Full Performance Level) - Experience Requirement: In addition to meeting the basic requirements, to qualify for the GS-06 you must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-5).

Examples of specialized experience include but are not limited to: Removing soil, blood, tissue fragments, body fluids, and other containments by wiping, soaking, rinsing, and scrubbing; Inspecting packages for indications of proper sterilization, assembling basic sets and trays used throughout a medical facility including those used in the operating room; preparing, loading, and operating sterilizers such as steam, Sterrad, Steris, ETO, and a high level disinfecting scope reprocessor; prepares operating room case carts daily using surgery schedule.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs): In addition to the experience above, you must demonstrate the following KSAs: Knowledge of surgical instruments used in operating rooms and clinic settings.

Knowledge of universal precautions for safety and prevention of cross contamination. Working knowledge of medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, microbiology, medical conditions and procedures.

Knowledge of sterility principles in regard to instrumentation. Ability to read and interpret written instructions and procedures. Preferred Experience: One year of hospital experience.

SPS Certification recommended. Computer literacy in Microsoft Office. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-06. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-03 to GS-06.

Physical Requirements: This work is performed in various settings: decontamination, preparation, clean sterile supply (preparation), gastrointestinal intestinal endoscope reprocessing hub, and in other services and departments throughout the medical facility/campus.

The incumbent may be required to work in areas that are hot, cold, ventilated and well lighted.

The work requires proper body mechanics when standing and walking during the entire workday and frequent bending and lifting of packages/instrument trays (occasionally weighing as much as 25 pounds).

The work requires dexterity and visual acuity for manipulating, disassembly and assembly of instrumentation.

Work is not sedentary and demands standing, walking, bending, twisting, and carrying light (up to 25#) items at various times. Major Duties:

Duties include, but may not be limited: Provide service for all the Medical Center care areas, including related outpatient services.

Incumbent(s) must be well versed in the processing and distribution of supplies and equipment utilized by all areas.

Perform all duties involving aseptic processing in the Processing and Decontamination Section.

This work involves preparation, storage and dispatch of medical supplies and equipment used by all patient care and treatment entities of an active General Medical & Surgical teaching hospital.

Duties are grouped according to their aseptic or clean tasks. Work is assigned as with either contaminated, clean or aseptically clean as the latter applies to material handling of sterile items.

Support the need of OR preparing instruments and complete procedure trays of utilization according to the next day's operative schedule.

Identify damaged and malfunctioning instruments, reassembling multi-part or complex sets, inspecting them for gross contamination, properly placing instruments in the set according to the pick for specific tray.

Employee must understand priorities from both a time and event related perspective as this would affect the surgical patient's welfare.

This requires constant attention to all details and integration with the OR staff to effectively respond to their emergent and elective surgical needs.

The work involves the provision of sterile instrumentation to the OR, in house clinics and off-site regional VA CBOCs. Decontamination - receive and collect all soiled RME from OR, GI and clinics.

Identify, inspect for damage and systematically segregates by soaking, flushing, scrubbing, rinsing, and use of ultrasonic equipment, by use of mechanical instrument washers and by use of AERs for HLD of endo scopes.

RME can also consist of handheld instruments, delicate instruments, lumen instruments, power, batteries, cords, metal implants, and robotic instruments.

Preparation - receive from decontamination all supplies and equipment for sterilization and assembly.

Must have an understanding of the relationship of microbiology to disease, know basic principles of sterilization (Steam/Low Temp H2O2) and have a thorough knowledge of and ability to apply these methods for processing supplies and equipment.

Incumbent(s) are required to assemble and position items carefully on sterilizer carrier, so the complete penetration of the sterilizing agent is possible.

Select correct sterilizing method, cycles and operates sterilizer. Must watch gauges on all sterilizers and report deviations.

Responsible for checking effectiveness of the sterilizer by ensuring color changes on marker tapes and spore tests in addition to checking for excessive wetness of packages.

Responsible for identifying, labeling, dating and application of control numbers and outdated for all trays and processed equipment.

Advise medical personnel on availability of supplies, possible substitutions and effective use of equipment.

Responsible for daily storage inventory and issuance of supplies and equipment to designated areas.

Responsible for inspection and examination of storage areas for outdated supplies and ensures removal for reprocessing.

Sterile Storage- use OR pick sheets to pull medical dry goods and sterile RME trays for next days' cases. Check scopes for outdates in scope hanging cabinets.

Checks shelves and does daily QA audit of trays for exterior nonconformities possible issues.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 3:30pm-11:00pm Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized 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).

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) Telework: Not Authorized Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement #: 21N87A Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized