The VANEOHS provides a team of health care staff caring for a diverse age range of Veterans receiving care at our facility at various stages of life. The VANEOHS is recruiting for a full time Nursing Assistant within Psychiatry/Mental Health Nursing -Patient Care Nursing WCT 6.
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. Experience, Education or Training: Six months of general experience; OR Experience must demonstrate the ability to acquire the knowledge and skills to perform the work of a NA; OR One year of education above high school with courses related to the NA occupation; OR Completion of an intensive, specialized, occupation-related training course of study or program of less than one year as a NA. Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service for requirements. English Language Proficiency: NAs must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, part II, chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j. 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 NAs employed in VHA on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the 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 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. (2) If an employee who was retained (grandfathered) under this provision leaves the occupation, the employee loses protected status of the grandfathering provision and must meet the full VA qualification standard basic requirements in effect at the time of re-entry to the occupation. Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates. GS-3 Entry Level Experience and Education. None beyond the basic requirements. GS-4 Nursing Assistant Experience. One year of specialized experience as a NA or experience in another medical field (licensed practical nurse, health technician, hospital corpsman, etc.), performing technical and nursing skills requiring knowledge of the human physical and emotional states, therapeutic communication, and technical skills required for basic and intermediate treatments; OR Education. Successful completion of 2 years above high school in an accredited institution with courses related to nursing care, health care or in a field of study appropriate to the specialization of the position, such as education in a program for psychology, psychiatric, or operating room technicians; AND Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs). In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: 1. Ability to assist in the full range of nursing care to patients/residents with physical and/or behavioral problems in a hospital, long-term care or outpatient setting under the direction of a Registered Nurse and/or Licensed Vocational Nurse/Licensed Practical Nurse. 2. Ability to communicate orally with patients/residents, families, interdisciplinary team and other personnel. This includes serving as a preceptor to new NAs by assisting with the coordination of their orientation and overseeing/assessing their practical experience while in a clinical setting. 3. Ability to recognize and react to emergent patient/resident care situations and intervene while waiting for assistance. For example, recognizing need for basic life support, controlling bleeding and assisting with behavior crisis, etc. GS-5 Nursing Assistant Experience. One year of progressively responsible assignments and experience equivalent to the GS-4 level which demonstrates knowledge, skills, and abilities that are directly related to the specific assignment. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the professional KSAs in subparagraph (c) below; OR Education. Successful completion of a 4-year course of study above high school leading to a bachelor's degree that included 24 semester hours of courses related to health care or possession of a bachelor's degree; AND Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs). In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: 1. Ability to assist in the full range of nursing care to patients/residents with physical and/or behavioral problems in a hospital, long-term care or outpatient setting under the direction of a Registered Nurse and/or Licensed Vocational Nurse/Licensed Practical Nurse. 2. Ability to communicate orally with patients/residents, families, interdisciplinary team and other personnel. This includes serving as a preceptor to new NAs by assisting with the coordination of their orientation and overseeing/assessing their practical experience while in a clinical setting. 3. Ability to recognize and react to emergent patient/resident care situations and intervene while waiting for assistance. For example, recognizing need for basic life support, controlling bleeding and assisting with behavior crisis, etc. 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-5. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-3 to GS-5. Physical Requirements: The population of male and female Veterans served ranges from the adult, age 18, to the elderly adult. This position requires visual acuity, keen hearing, clear distinctive speech, and manual dexterity. This position requires potentially long periods of continued walking, standing, stooping, sitting, bending, pulling, pushing, lifting, moving, and transporting patients. Transferring patients and objects is required. Nursing Assistant may be exposed to infected patients and contaminated materials and may be required to don protective clothing in isolation situations or procedures. Incumbent may be exposed to patients who are combative secondary to delirium, dementia, or psychiatric disorders. In the patient clinical areas, hazards include risk of exposure to communicable diseases and risk of physical injury associated with the patient losing control. Nursing Assistant must be a mature, flexible, sensible individual capable of working effectively in stressful situations and able to shift priorities based on patient needs.
Major Duties: - Assists in activities of daily living (ADLs) and the care/treatment of patients' psychiatric and medical conditions. - Leads groups (Unit Orientation, ADL, Self-Care, Reminiscence, and Relaxation). - Assists the RN/LPN to prepare patients for interdepartmental transfers or emergency care in addition to admission and discharges. - Re-enforces instructions and teaching information covered previously by the physician or the nurse. - Conducts and records unit rounds, EOC rounds, and safety checks. - Assists with meal monitoring. - Monitors satellite & dayroom. - Performs PMDB, SP/1:1 & HB/1:1, Medical Equipment Montioring (MEM) monitoring. - Completes urine drops. - Runs unit errands as needed. - Completion of health and wellness screenings (clinical reminders) as appropriate. - Continuously observes the patients' condition for subtle signs of deterioration such as restlessness, lethargy, diaphoresis, pallor, anxiety, hopelessness, suicidality, hostility or agitation and reports to the professional nurse. - Observes any change in patients' skin such as blisters, reddened areas, rash, draining wounds, decubiti or evidence of self-injury. - Completes transport duties, cleans equipment on unit, assists with recreation activities, attends safety huddles, fall huddles, unit incident debriefs, and hourly rounds as assigned by the RN. - Participates in communication "huddles" with the RN/LPN to receive information and direction of delegated duties. - Applies infection control measure appropriately in delivering care. - Adheres to ethical principles, boundaries and nursing standards in delivering care. - Uses effective communication skills with individuals and groups to achieve desired patient outcomes. - Incorporates age, gender, cultural and learning needs of patients and families to meet inpatient care needs. - Takes vital signs, performs bedside blood glucose monitoring and EKG, obtains and labels specimens, performs bladder scans, and monitors patient intake and output. - Monitors and records vital signs, weights and heights. - Participates in safety huddle and post fall huddles. - Reports all falls to RN immediately. Completes Joint Patient Safety Report (JPSR) as appropriate. Work Schedule: Day 07:30am-4:00pm with alternating weekends & holidays and Night 11:30pm-08:00am with alternating weekends & holidays. Telework: Not available Virtual: This is not a virtual position Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized