Duties

Controlled Substance and Operating Room Activities:

• Works closely with the Controlled Substance Section supervisor in implementing operational policies and procedures dealing with narcotic drug distribution and control in accordance with manuals, directives and station memoranda.
• Prepares, monitors and analyzes usage reports of narcotic controlled drugs by each nursing unit, taking into account many various factors such as hospital patient census, type of patient on unit, etc.
• Reports deviations in normal usage to his/her supervisor.
• Regularly reviews hospital and pharmacy-controlled drug policy and procedure.
• Makes recommendations to improve the control of narcotics. Efforts are directed at improving control while increasing efficiency.
• Incumbent is responsible for narcotic drug control and distribution program.
• Regularly evaluates program for potential problems in control of narcotics and reports these potential problems to his her supervisor. Makes recommendations to efficiently reduce these potential risk factors.
• Ensures appropriate drug distribution within the Operating Room and Anesthesia, areas. Drug distribution will include stocking the anesthesia and Operating Room ADC's.
• The work requires detailed comprehensive knowledge of federal and state laws, regulations, policies, procedures and other instructions governing control and distribution of narcotic drugs hospital wide.
• Incumbent fills outpatient-controlled substance prescriptions accurately and promptly in a fast paced, high-volume environment.
• Communicates regularly with nursing personnel and other essential hospital personnel, keeping them informed of policies and procedures regarding narcotic drug control and distribution.
• Works closely with OR/Anesthesia staff to assess needs of care areas to improve patient care and customer service as it relates to medication distribution.
• Educates and trains pharmacy technicians about handling, transportation and security of narcotic and controlled drugs.
• Coordinates timely delivery of narcotic drugs to ADC 's, thereby ensuring proper patient care.
• Maintains efficient workflow through development of efficient delivery schedules. Reviews schedules periodically and implements changes to enhance efficient delivery.
• Incumbent has responsibility for filling and distribution of all inpatient narcotic orders and ADC.
• Incumbent receives, processes and verifies, if necessary, all orders for inpatient narcotic drugs and assures completeness, accuracy and conformance with applicable federal and state laws and regulations.

Customer Service:

• Incumbent receives numerous telephone inquiries for information about narcotic drug distribution matters including questions from doctors, nurses, pharmacists, procurement and suppl y personnel and administration. This information is furnished principally from personal knowledge or otherwise by consulting reference material or professional personnel.
• Incumbent functions as a resource person to all members of the pharmacy staff, including the Chief, involving matters of narcotic drug control. The incumbent provides training to nurses, pharmacists, physicians, narcotic inspectors, pharmacy technicians, and pharmacy students and both professional and supportive people on intra VA details at this station involving control and distribution of narcotic drugs.
• The incumbent contributes his/her pharmaceutical knowledge to settle any question concerning the identification of narcotic drugs and generic names.
• The incumbent must be proficient in the utilization of professional, scientific and company literature and be able to retrieve any information regarding narcotic drug products stocked in the pharmacy. Incumbent must be able to answer inquiries for information on narcotic drugs in stock, new narcotic drugs, narcotic dosage forms, stabilities, contraindications, side effects, etc. without consulting members of the professional pharmacy staff. He/she must show a high degree of discretion in disseminating said information and must be able to judge whether or not the answer required is immediately ascertainable or the degree of difficulty or detail of the answer requires referral of this question to the Pharmacy's Drug Information Section for in depth analysis and follow up.

Other duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: Rotating shifts including weekends, holidays, nights and evenings.
Telework: Not Available
Functional Statement #: 000000
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

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.
• You may be required to serve a probationary period.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.
• 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).
• Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details.

Qualifications

Basic Requirements:

• Citizenship. Citizen of the United States. (Noncitizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3g, this part.)
• English Language Proficiency. Pharmacy technicians appointed to direct patient care positions must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with chapter 2, section D, paragraph 5a, this part.
• Education or Experience. A high school diploma or equivalent; or at least 3 months experience.
• Certification. Certification by the National Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) is required at grades GS-6 and above.

Grade Determinations:

• GS-7 Experience. One year experience at the next lower level and must fully meet the KSAs at the next lower level.

AND
In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following technical KSAs and the potential to acquire the assignment specific KSAs designated by an asterisk (*):

• Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
  • *1. Ability to evaluate, analyze workflow, and coordinate work activities.
  • 2. Ability to independently gather, evaluate, and analyze data to generate reports and/or for other projects/statistical purposes.
  • 3. Knowledge of pharmacy policies and procedures sufficient to train and orient new employees and other staff
  • 4. Comprehensive knowledge of the operation and care of specialized pharmaceutical equipment.
  • 5. Comprehensive knowledge of the procurement and formulary process.
  • 6. Comprehensive knowledge of investigational drug policies and procedures.
  • 7. Comprehensive knowledge of controlled substance policies and procedures, and the ability to identify and investigate discrepancies in these policies and procedures.
  • 8. Comprehensive knowledge of, and ability to, analyze data in VA information systems.

AND

• Perform Assignments. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity (difficulty), and range of variety, and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. Pharmacy technicians at this grade level may be assigned as a supervisor; lead technician in a particular area of the pharmacy; a controlled substance technician; an investigational drug technician; a procurement/inventory management technician; a clinical pharmacy technician; or similar assignment with this level of complexity. The GS-7 level is for select, complex pharmacy technician positions, as established by each health care facility. To be advanced, employees must meet all of the following standards, provided the standard is part of their assignment. Determinations concerning placement of positions at this grade level shall take into consideration the skill mix and the availability of supervision in the work unit. Although these positions are under the supervision of a pharmacist, employees in such settings successfully and consistently demonstrate the exercise of independent technical judgment (without the need for readily available supervision) as well as comprehensive and thorough working knowledge of the most complex or difficult practices and procedures. Such individuals may also serve as leaders or co-leaders in a Pharmacy Service or for a specific unit or section.

References: MARCH 17, 2006 VA HANDBOOK 5005/15 PART II APPENDIX G28

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-7.

Physical Requirements: The work requires repetitive motion, standing, walking, reaching, stooping, lifting heavy objects up to 50 pounds, pushing heavy or bulky carts and at times may be physically demanding, sometimes for extended periods of time. Must be able to adjust to changing environments. Must demonstrate the ability to stay on task, to multi-task, and to adapt to the speed of the workflow as required to provide the best customer service possible to the veterans and staff.

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/ . If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html .

Additional information

Receiving Service Credit or 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. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. 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.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.

VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority.

If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application .