Health Technician (Intensive Care Unit)
Summary
Patient Care Services is recruiting a Health Technician (Monitor Tech) in the Intensive Care Unit at the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center. The Health Technician provides support in a wide variety of basic clinical and intermediate level administrative functions. Ensures compliance with VA regulations, Joint Commission standards, other regulatory agencies. Improves the quality and timeliness of basic services that are delivered to patients by providing a wide variety of ancillary activities.
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Duties
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The incumbent aids and assists ICU nursing staff in providing quality care for Veteran patients. The Health Technician(Monitor Tech) provides continuous cardiac surveillance, interpretation, and reporting of monitor and telemetry tracing of patients within Patient Care Services. In addition, the incumbents perform patient care support functions. Major duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
Work Schedule: Various, days/nights, weekends, holidays
Telework: Not available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Health Technician (Intensive Care Unit)/PD01643A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required
Requirements
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Conditions of employment
As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:
Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.
Qualifications
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement.
Individual Occupational Requirement: 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, you are required to have technician experience, which is experience that required application of the knowledge, methods, and techniques of the position to be filled.
In addition to meeting the Individual Occupational Requirement, applicants must also meet the specialized experience.
You may qualify based on your experience as described below:
GS-06 grade level: One year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-05 grade level in the federal service); experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA's) and other characteristics to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled, in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience includes:
Note: IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Verbiage displayed on your resume or application must contain your own words. You may refer to the specialized experience located within the vacancy announcement, to assist with describing work experiences; however, resumes or applications received that copied verbatim from the announcement will be evaluated and may be reviewed as falsifying your experience or application.
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.
Education
Graduate education or an internship meets the specialized experience required above GS-5 only in those instances where it is directly related to the work of the position.
Additional information
The following will be communicated to applicants for VA employment in a testing designated position and will also be included in all VA vacancy announcements for such positions: All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drugs use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be well-qualified, applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors if applicable, and must be proficient in most of the requirements of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website which can be found at https://www.opm.gov/.
Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.
If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.
Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.
Whole Health Statement: The VA Sunshine Healthcare Network (VISN 8) advocates for a Whole Health System of care in each of the Medical Centers. This is an approach to healthcare that empowers and equips people to take charge of their health and well-being and live their lives to the fullest. As an employee operating in a Whole Health System of care, you will operate in a model that is based in a partnership across time, seeking to create a personalized health plan for each Veteran. This is done in the context of healing relationships and healing environments and a connection back to the Veteran's community. This aligns with the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Mission Statement to Honor America's Veterans by providing exceptional health care that improves their health and well-being.
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Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.
Benefits
Help
A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
Review our benefits
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.
Patient Care Services is recruiting a Health Technician (Monitor Tech) in the Intensive Care Unit at the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center. The Health Technician provides support in a wide variety of basic clinical and intermediate level administrative functions. Ensures compliance with VA regulations, Joint Commission standards, other regulatory agencies. Improves the quality and timeliness of basic services that are delivered to patients by providing a wide variety of ancillary activities.
Learn more about this agency
Duties
Help
The incumbent aids and assists ICU nursing staff in providing quality care for Veteran patients. The Health Technician(Monitor Tech) provides continuous cardiac surveillance, interpretation, and reporting of monitor and telemetry tracing of patients within Patient Care Services. In addition, the incumbents perform patient care support functions. Major duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
- Maintain ongoing, high-level surveillance of patients' cardiac rhythms and notifies nursing/clinicians of any rate/rhythm changes according to clinician/provider orders.
- Measure and interprets patient's heart rhythm and documents on patient record per departmental standards.
- Initiate and discontinues monitoring equipment on admission, transfer, or discharge.
- Perform clerical duties related to admission, discharge, and documentation of patient information from Heartbeat Central station.
- Serve as a resource for training and troubleshooting to both Heartbeat Central station and clinical areas.
- Maintain and stocks all designated equipment, including telemetry, and transport monitors.
- Adhere to confidentiality of information acquired pertaining to patients, clinicians, employees, and visitors.
- Provide assistance of a technical, specialized, or support nature to health and medical personnel in the diagnosis or treatment of patient illnesses or medical conditions.
- Support medical and health care professionals in tests and procedures to diagnose and treat medical conditions.
- Perform a range of diagnostic support duties such as taking, recording and reporting to supervisor deviations in vital signs, taking specimens, labeling specimens for the laboratory.
- Perform and assists RN with personal care such as body and oral hygiene, dressing/undressing, and toileting/elimination always ensuring patient privacy.
- Answer call lights and if unable to independently assist, communicates patients' needs to assigned RN or Charge Nurse Performs other duties as assigned.
- As directed, assist in postmortem care including disconnecting patients from monitors and other equipment, bagging up and labeling patients' personal items, and assisting in transferring patients to the morgue.
- Collect and sends routine urine, stool, blood, and sputum specimens per established protocol.
- Perform other duties as assigned including floating to other units.
Work Schedule: Various, days/nights, weekends, holidays
Telework: Not available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Health Technician (Intensive Care Unit)/PD01643A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required
Requirements
Help
Conditions of employment
- You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
- 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.
- Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
- Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
- Subject to background/security investigation.
- Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
- Must pass pre-employment physical examination.
- Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
- Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.
As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:
- your performance and conduct;
- the needs and interests of the agency;
- whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
- whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.
Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.
Qualifications
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement.
Individual Occupational Requirement: 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, you are required to have technician experience, which is experience that required application of the knowledge, methods, and techniques of the position to be filled.
In addition to meeting the Individual Occupational Requirement, applicants must also meet the specialized experience.
You may qualify based on your experience as described below:
GS-06 grade level: One year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-05 grade level in the federal service); experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA's) and other characteristics to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled, in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience includes:
- Performing both clerical and clinical duties in a medical/healthcare environment.
- Observing patients' cardiac rhythms.
- Notifying nursing/clinicians of any rate/rhythm changes according to clinician/provider orders.
- Operate and monitor equipment for both 12 lead and IS lead EKG readings.
- Measures and interprets patient's heart rhythm and documents on patient.
Note: IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Verbiage displayed on your resume or application must contain your own words. You may refer to the specialized experience located within the vacancy announcement, to assist with describing work experiences; however, resumes or applications received that copied verbatim from the announcement will be evaluated and may be reviewed as falsifying your experience or application.
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.
Education
Graduate education or an internship meets the specialized experience required above GS-5 only in those instances where it is directly related to the work of the position.
Additional information
The following will be communicated to applicants for VA employment in a testing designated position and will also be included in all VA vacancy announcements for such positions: All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drugs use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be well-qualified, applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors if applicable, and must be proficient in most of the requirements of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website which can be found at https://www.opm.gov/.
Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.
If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.
Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.
Whole Health Statement: The VA Sunshine Healthcare Network (VISN 8) advocates for a Whole Health System of care in each of the Medical Centers. This is an approach to healthcare that empowers and equips people to take charge of their health and well-being and live their lives to the fullest. As an employee operating in a Whole Health System of care, you will operate in a model that is based in a partnership across time, seeking to create a personalized health plan for each Veteran. This is done in the context of healing relationships and healing environments and a connection back to the Veteran's community. This aligns with the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Mission Statement to Honor America's Veterans by providing exceptional health care that improves their health and well-being.
Expand Hide additional information
Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.
Benefits
Help
A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
Review our benefits
Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.