Health Technician (Outpatient Lab) - Direct Hire Authority

Health Technician (Outpatient Lab) - Direct Hire Authority

Department: Department of Veterans Affairs

Location(s): Dallas, Texas

Salary Range: $48877 - $63537 Per Year

Job Summary: The Primary Purpose of the Position: The Health care Technician is responsible for the collection and processing of specimens from patients admitted to the Unit. The Organizational Location of the Position: The Health Care Technician works under the supervision of a Registered Nurse and is directly accountable to the Nurse Manager of the Unit. The position is located at Polk Street VA Clinic part of North Texas Veterans Health Care System, Nursing Service, Patient Care Section, Dallas, Texas.

Major Duties:

• Duties include but not limited to: Collection of laboratory specimens (blood, urine, and stool). Processing of specimens by centrifuge to separate plasma and serum. Separation of specimens into correct tubes for transportation to various labs. Performs D- Sticks for Metabolic studies. Obtains timely and appropriate blood samples as ordered per unit policies and procedures. Recognize abnormal lab values and reports to Charge Nurse and Physician. Exercises sound judgment to identify patient care needs, implement treatment protocols and collect pertinent data. Directs and supports patients in the implementation of unit protocols, treatment goals and provides input into the treatment and discharge plan. Instructs patients on their role in various procedures and metabolic protocols covering information previously discussed with the patient by the Physician or RN. Reviews current treatment plan, CPRS records on assigned patients prior to initiation of any procedures or protocols, to ensure quality care. Documents in clinical record the patient's progress toward protocols, medical treatment needs and interventions; discharge planning and referral data. Other duties may include: Obtain venous blood samples by aseptic venipuncture technique from patients in the Outpatient Clinic Proficiently collects blood samples with a minimal number of failures, patient bruising, or required resticks. Verifies patient information and tests ordered in the computer system. Specimens must be properly labeled and initiated, following specimen procurement policies and procedures. Performs a range of support duties to include obtaining specimens, including, but not limited to, blood (phlebotomy), urine, feces, nasopharyngeal swabs, fecal occult blood specimens (FOBT kit). Performs the processing of all clinical laboratory specimens and is responsible for the timely and proper distribution of specimens to the reference laboratories to include centrifuges, decants, and aliquots specimens as appropriate. Responsible for proper disposition of laboratory waste in the laboratory. Obtains and documents patients' vital signs, 12 Lead ECGs and reports abnormal findings to PACT team members. Moves, lifts, transfers, and transports patients as necessary, knowledge of pain scale monitoring. Incumbent also monitors lab environment: such as temperatures, freezers, refrigerators and incubators to ensure that they are working as expected. Incumbent has a general knowledge of Laboratory accreditation requirements that are recommended by CAP, FDA and Joint Commission. Performs ancillary testing such as CLIA waived testing and operates instrumentation necessary for testing. Completes eyewash station testing. Performs urine pregnancy testing to include controls. Perform quality control (QC) on glucose testing machine. The incumbent must possess the ability to work with all levels of healthcare system personnel and willing to assist the healthcare system staff with a variety of laboratory policies and procedures. The incumbent will have contact with veteran patients, family members, all levels of NTX staff including physicians, nurses, technicians, etc. and be able to effectively interact with personnel at all levels of the facility and is expected to maintain an attitude of professionalism and respect towards all. Patient/family teaching, electronic documentation, and basic computer knowledge. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 7:00am to 3:30pm. May be required to work other shifts, be on call, work weekends and/or holidays as patient care and needs of the service require. Should operational needs dictate, candidates must be willing to work within other units (including community based outpatient clinics, for example) to assist and support continuation of the provision of care/services. Work Location: Polk VA Clinic - 4243 South Polk Street, Dallas, TX 75224-4928 Position Description/PD#:Health Technician (Outpatient Lab) - Direct Hire Authority/PD07908A Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required Physical Requirements: The work on the Unit requires some physical exertion. The Technician must be able to transport patients by wheelchair or stretcher, patients who require observation or monitoring. The duties require extensive periods of standing, walking, bending, lifting, pushing, and pulling. It involves positioning patients and transferring patients to wheelchairs, chairs, and stretchers. The Technician must demonstrate some agility and dexterity to perform phlebotomy, IV therapy, laboratory procedures, and EKGs. The Technician must be able to work 8-12 hour shifts. Technicians must have the ability to function in stressful situations.

Qualifications: To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 12/19/2025. Health Technician requires the Individual Occupational Requirements be met. Individual Occupational Requirement: Specialized Experience (for positions at GS-4 and above): Positions in this series range widely in type and include support duties to medical or health personnel such as audiologists, speech pathologists, medical officers, and optometrists. Therefore, technician experience is experience that required application of the knowledge, methods, and techniques of the position to be filled. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: In addition to the individual occupation requirements listed above, you must also have: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-05 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Initiates patient care such as collection of laboratory specimens (blood, urine, and stool); documents in clinical record; promotes infection prevention control such as hand washing, wiping down exam tables or equipment in between patients; provides emergency care such as but not limited to: vital signs, patient condition, pain level and recognizes abnormal findings and reports to Charge Nurse. Competencies: Accountability Diagnostic Medical Testing Emergency Care Infection Control Specimen Collection Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

How to Apply: Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online application, to include the initial online questionnaire and submission of the required documentation specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. To preview the application questionnaire, click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12847195. The application process is as follows: To begin, click Apply Online to create a USA JOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date, 12/19/2025. If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice. Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. Set aside at least 3 hours to take the USA Hire Assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link. NOTE: Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused. Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation resources at https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us. To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. To view the announcement status or your application status: https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to. Your application status page is where you can view your status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application. Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed. Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement. If initial application submission is updated and resubmitted with a new resume, only the most current resume will be reviewed for consideration. Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started. Helpful Hints for Creating a Two-Page Resume: -Prioritize most relevant and recent experience -Align language from the job announcement; -Focus on demonstrating skills and competencies -Remove outdated or unrelated experience; -Use the USAJOBS resume builder Additional guidance on this new requirement and resume building tools can be found at https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/page-limit

Application Deadline: 2025-12-19