Senior Social Worker (Ethics HEC)

Senior Social Worker (Ethics HEC)

Department: Department of Veterans Affairs

Location(s): Orlando, Florida

Salary Range: $98524 - $128086 Per Year

Job Summary: Within the Orlando VA Healthcare System (OVAHCS), the Social Work Healthcare Ethics Consultant (HEC) reports to the Chief Healthcare Ethics Consultant. The HEC serves as the subject matter expert for healthcare ethics standards and promotes ethical practices consistent with VA values throughout the organization by implementing healthcare ethics policy and developing and nurturing healthcare ethics communities.

Major Duties:

• Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional The HEC uses healthcare ethics expertise to identify and address ethical issues, help meet healthcare ethics education needs, and respond to request for clinical ethics consultation. The HEC provides service to Veterans, caregivers, and staff by analyzing, clarifying, and disseminating healthcare ethics standards, designing and carrying out healthcare ethics related training, monitoring, and evaluating the facility's healthcare ethics programs and practices, and spearheading initiatives to improve healthcare ethics quality within the facility. The position draws upon clinical experience to interpret healthcare ethics policy and respond to request for healthcare ethics consultation. Some of the duties include, but are not limited to; Interpreting and applying core National Center for Ethics in Healthcare (NCEHC) policies in consultation and education. Serving as the healthcare ethics expert on other policies that have ethical implications (e.g., Advance Directive and Life Sustaining Therapy). Documenting health care ethics consultations as outlined in the VHA Health Care Ethics Guidebook and in accordance with VHA Directive 1907 .01, VHA Health Information Management and Health Records. Promoting and communicating health care ethics standards established by NCEHC and serving as an expert on health care ethics at the OVAHCS. Identifying effective means of communicating and reinforcing ethical decisions in healthcare utilizing multimodal communication strategies (e.g., local ethics periodical with deidentified cases, VA ethics case books, Ethics Essentials, Ethics Rx). Hosting presentations for clinical staff offering continuing education credit as needed. Evaluating trends in program growth using quantitative measures (e.g., IEWeb reports). Participating in health care ethics educational and informational sessions offered by NCEHC. Mentoring facility HEC and training them on ethics consultation processes and procedures. Creating an OVAHCS-specific ethics community that provides and promotes opportunities for healthcare ethics education and ethics consultation that promotes high ethical standards in the care of Veterans. Assisting in the identification and articulation of ethical issues in healthcare with stakeholders throughout the organization. Facilitating HEC rounding in clinical settings with ethics consultation potential (e.g., ICU, inpatient psychiatric units). Facilitating HEC representation on committees with frequent healthcare ethics concerns (e.g., disruptive behavior committee, scarce resource allocation team, institutional review board). Participating in Veteran experience focus groups or Veteran advisory council. Advocating for fair, transparent, and inclusive processes for resolving ethical issues and conflicts that arise between patients/clients, employees, and the organization by including the patient in his or her ethics consultation and partnering with facility patient advocate(s). Utilizes professional judgment and advanced practice skills to review all data, subjective and objective, to complete clinical assessments that identify the needs and strengths of Veterans and make psychosocial diagnoses. Sensitive to ethnic and cultural diversity and age-specific challenges of specialty populations and adjusts interventions and treatment plans as appropriate. Work Schedule: he primary tour of duty will be M-F 8am to 4:30pm. However, the selectee may also be required to work various shifts on a permanent or temporary basis, based on the needs of the service and patient care. Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not authorized. Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not authorized. Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases. 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) 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 available. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: Senior Social Worker - Healthcare Ethics Consultant GS-12 82557F Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized.

Qualifications: To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements at the time of application. 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: Must be proficient in spoken and written English. Education-Documentation Submitted: Must have a master's degree in social work from a school of social work fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). Graduates of schools of social work that are in candidacy status do not meet this requirement until the School of Social Work is fully accredited. A doctoral degree in social work may not be substituted for the master's degree in social work. Verification of the degree can be made by going to http://www.cswe.org/Accreditation to verify that the social work degree meets the accreditation standards for a masters of social work. Licensure-Documentation Submitted: Must be licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work at the Master's Degree level. Current state requirements may be found by going to http://vaww.va.gov/OHRM/T38Hybrid/. (NOTE: For those who have a Florida LCSW license, you must be registered with the state as a "Qualified Supervisor" in order to provide supervision for licensure or specialty certification. All others must meet the requirements of their state of licensure to be able to provide supervision for licensure.) Applicants with Puerto Rico LSW must be an active member of the College of Social Work Professionals of Puerto Rico (CPTSPR) and must provide CPTSPR active membership certification. For additional information, please visit Membership - CPTSPR. May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria). All persons employed in VHA in this occupation on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series and grade held, including positive education and licensure or certification that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all of the basic requirements in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it, the following provisions apply: Such employees in an occupation that requires a licensure or certification, 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 journey level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions. 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. Employees initially grandfathered into this occupation, who subsequently obtain additional education and/or licensure/certification/registration that meet all of the basic requirements of this qualification standard must maintain the required credentials as a condition of employment in the occupation. If an employee who was retained in an occupation listed in 38 U.S.C. § 7401 (3) under this provision leaves that occupation, the employee loses protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of reentry to the occupation. Grade Determinations: Senior Social Worker, GS-12 Experience/Education: The candidate must have at least two years of experience post advanced practice clinical licensure and should be in a specialized area of social work practice of which, one year must be equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. Senior social workers have experience that demonstrates possession of advanced practice skills and judgment. Senior social workers are experts in their specialized area of practice. Senior social workers may have certification or other post-masters training from a nationally recognized professional organization or university that includes a defined curriculum/course of study and internship or equivalent supervised professional experience in a specialty. Preferred Experience: Those applicants with HEC Certification and/or experience in Healthcare Ethics are highly preferred. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. Physical Requirements: The work is sedentary. Some work may require periods of standing, bending or kneeling while filing, frequently carrying light items such as employee files or pamphlets. The work does not require any special physical effort.

How to Apply: All applicants are encouraged to apply online. To apply for this position, you must complete the full questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 12/02/2025 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12831850. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USAJOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire. Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package. NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date.

Application Deadline: 2025-12-02