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Veterans Health Administration is Hiring a Medical Instrument Technician (Polysomnography) Near Albuquerque, NM

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.
• Licensure or Certification. Licensure or Certification is not required for this occupation; however, it is strongly desirable at GS-6 or above as evidence of possession of the essential knowledge, skills, and abilities.
• English Language Proficiency. Must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA policy.

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).

Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements, the following criteria must be used when determining the appropriate grade assignment of candidates.
GS-04:
Experience. At least 1 year of experience comparable to the next lower grade level (GS-03) which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics related to the duties of the position to be filled. Six months of this experience may have been in medically related fields such as nursing assistant, practical nursing, or similar fields. The remaining six months must have been in operating diagnostic and therapeutic equipment covered by this occupation. Experience gained in the operation of equipment for animal diagnosis or treatment may be credited at this level. OR,
Education. Successful completion of two years of education above high school or an associate's degree with a major field of study directly related to the medical instrument technician occupation.
Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the Education/Experience requirement, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs at the GS-04 Grade Level:

• Knowledge of basic medical terminology.
• Ability to learn the components, operating characteristics, and settings of the equipment to be used.
• Ability to learn typical patient reactions to the basic procedures involved and ability to recognize signs of distress.
• Ability to learn the standard positions for the procedure being conducted.
• Ability to communicate orally and in writing.

GS-05:
Experience. At least 1 year of experience comparable to the next lower grade level (GS-04) which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics related to the duties of the position to be filled. This would be experience in operating equipment related to the particular specialization for which application is made or in related functional areas. Experience gained in the operation of equipment for animal diagnosis or treatment may be credited through this grade level. OR,
Education. Successful completion of 4 academic years above high school leading to a bachelor's degree with courses related to the occupation, or a bachelor's degree in a major field of study appropriate to medical instrument technician functions.
Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs at the GS-05 Grade Level:

• Knowledge of standard medical terminology to interpret physician orders or instructions.
• Knowledge of common physical disabilities and ability to position patients for the examination or treatment.
• Ability to learn the normal and abnormal results for routine procedures to recognize and report obvious abnormalities.
• Ability to operate the equipment to administer routine/standard diagnostic treatment or procedures.
• Ability to perform standard operator maintenance on the equipment including the ability to disassemble, clean, reassemble, and calibrate the machine.

GS-06:
Experience. At least 1 year of experience comparable to the next lower grade level (GS-05) which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics related to the duties of the position to be filled.
Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs at the GS-06 Grade Level:

• Knowledge of standard, computerized polysomnographs for recording continuous all night physiological data including EEG, EOG, EKG, EMG and respiratory parameters.
• Knowledge of standard devices such as oximeters, respiratory effort devices, nasal pressure devices, thermistors, thermocouples, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines, and laboratory computers including the ability to calibrate and operate the equipment and recognize and eliminate recording artifacts.
• Knowledge of medical terminology and medical record organization to review medical records, sleep study orders, consent forms, medical charts, etc.
• Knowledge of polysomnographic procedural protocols (including overnight sleep studies, MSLT, MWT, PAP, etc.).
• Knowledge of basic anatomy and physiology and the international 10-20 electrode placement system in order to conduct the sleep studies.

GS-07:
Experience. At least 1 year of experience comparable to the next lower grade level (GS-06) which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics related to the duties of the position to be filled. This would be experience which provided the individual with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to independently conduct difficult but standardized polysomnography examinations.
Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs at the GS-07 Grade Level:

• Knowledge of CPAP function and operation to select and fit appropriate PAP patient interface devices.
• Ability to independently titrate and document PAP level to achieve therapeutic goals.
• Knowledge of indications, complications, and contraindications of CPAP therapy.
• Knowledge of Bi-Level pressure titrations.
• Ability to recognize changes seen during the PSG tracing and identify all stages of sleep. This includes the ability to score and analyze sleep stages in clinical polysomnography recordings.

GS-8
Experience. At least 1 year of experience comparable to the next lower grade level which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics related to the duties of the positions to be filled. This would be experience which provided a knowledge of the more complex procedures as well as knowledge of the uncommon and/or rate sleep disorders.
Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs). In addition, candidate must demonstrate the following (KSAs)

• Advanced knowledge or the International Classification of Sleep Disorders and the ability to recognize uncommon and/or rare sleep disorders.
• Ability to summarize and report polysomnographic data in narrative form.
• Knowledge of event characteristics (e.g., respiratory, cardiac, sleep stages, seizures, etc.) and ability to take appropriate action.
• Ability to provide briefings and orientation to hospital staff including physicians.
• Certification. No certification or registration is required. Basic Cardiac Life Support (BCLS) and Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) certifications are also desirable for employees at this level.

Preferred Experience: Registered Polysomnography Technician or Sleep Disorder Specialist highly desirable.

References: VA Handbook 5005/15, Part II, Appendix G27, Medical Instrument Technician Qualification Standard, GS-649, Veterans Health Administration, dated June 7, 2012

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-8.

Physical Requirements: The work requires regular and recurring physical exertion such as standing or walking for prolonged periods of time; frequent bending, reaching, stooping, and stretching to set up and take apart equipment and apparatus; lifting and repositioning patients; and pushing or pulling heavy objects such as oxygen tanks and/or equipment. The work may require specific physical characteristics and abilities such as above-average dexterity to perform intricate respiratory therapy / sleep procedures.

Responsibilities:

• PAP follow-up and patient education.
• Maintain infection control procedures and standard precautions.
• Provides housekeeping duties as necessary (for quick turnaround procedures).
• Prepares and maintains statistical data, reports, and memoranda, direct equipment and storage; ensure adequate supply and equipment levels.
• Consult on technical basis; assist with training of PSG technicians, medical students, residents and fellows as needed.
• Attend meetings as require, and participate on committees as directed.
• Utilize sleep equipment software and handle over the phone troubleshooting and remediation activities with the manufacturer.
• Responsible for polysomnogram file management and long term archiving activities to include maintaining an organized numeric system to catalog archiving medium for easy retrieval.
• Perform all procedures and tasks related to polysomnographic data acquisition while monitoring study-tracing quality to ensure signals are artifact-free and make adjustments, if necessary.
• Collect, analyze and integrate patient information to identify and meet the patient-specific needs; determine final testing parameters/procedures in conjunction with the ordering provider and laboratory protocols.
• Follow procedural protocols (multiple sleep latency test, maintenance of wakefulness test, parasomnia studies, PAP, oxygen titration, etc.) to ensure collection of appropriate data.
• Score sleep/wake studies by applying professionally accepted guidelines (standards of American Academy of Sleep Medicine( including, but not limited to , clinical events such as respiratory events, cardiac events, limb movement.
• Scoring comparison for performance improvement monitoring.
• Entering information into various database programs
• Establish the set of Home diagnostic studies in the sleep lab, including downloading data and generating reports.
• Provide age specific care in treatment, assessment, and education of patients from 17-99 years of age.
• Create documents in Word, Access and Excel as well as utilize other software programs.
• Advanced knowledge of complex and non-standard treatment and examination procedures and techniques.

Work Schedule: Monday to Thursday, 8:00PM - 6:30AM; Monday-Friday, 8:AM - 4:30PM
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 000000
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Job Summary