Duties

Summary

About the Position: This position is located within the outpatient General Surgery Clinic and Pediatric Clinic at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, MD. Incumbent is responsible for assisting providers with minor procedures by setting up and operating special medical equipment for pediatric and adult patients. Work is primarily clinic based and includes comprehensive preoperative, perioperative, and postoperative surgical care.

This is a Direct Hire Solicitation
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Responsibilities

• Serve as a part of the multidisciplinary team providing surgical nursing care to pediatric and general surgery patients.
• Schedule appointments, coordinate with health care providers, maintain outpatient medical records.
• Perform a wide range of diagnostic support duties, such as taking vital sign for pediatric and adult patients in a surgical clinic.
• Assist providers with a range of surgical treatment procedures for pediatric and adult patients.
• Responsible for providing post anesthesia recovery to pediatric and adult patients.
• Set up and provide treatment, requiring auxiliary equipment for pediatric and adult surgical procedures.
• Observe and document all pertinent patient medical data in patients' medical record/chart.
• Provide instruction to patient and family members on pre- and post-operative procedures.
• Assist physician in a variety of diagnostic examinations by positioning patient and setting out and passing instruments.
• Recognize life-threatening conditions and perform, or assist, in resuscitation procedures in cardiac or respiratory arrest.
• Responsible for critically ill patients, requiring close observation, intensive nursing intervention.

Travel Required

Not required

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
None

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• This position requires the incumbent be able to obtain and maintain a determination of eligibility for a Tier 3 security investigation or access for the duration of employment. A background investigation and credit check are required.
• This position requires the incumbent to have tuberculosis testing.
• Appointment may be subject to a suitability or fitness determination, as determined by a completed background investigation.
• Male applicants born after December 31, 1959 must complete a Pre-Employment Certification Statement for Selective Service Registration.
• Two year trial/probationary period may be required.
• Incumbent must undergo a specific initial background checks, investigation and periodic re-verification check of multiple agency records to obtain and maintain a suitable determination to occupy a position having regular contact with children.
• This position has mandatory seasonal influenza vaccination requirements and is subject to annual seasonal influenza vaccinations unless otherwise exempted for medical or religious reasons.
• This position requires the completion of a pre-employment Physical Examination and an annual examination thereafter to ensure the continued, required level of physical health and ability or fitness to perform the duties of the position.
• This position requires the incumbent to fulfill credentialing requirements and obtain and maintain appropriate/relevant clinical privileges.
• This position requires that you obtain and maintain a Basic Life Support (BLS) certification.
• This position is subject to a pre-employment drug screening, and random testing thereafter, to include testing based on reasonable suspicion and testing due to direct involvement with an on-duty accident.

Qualifications

Who May Apply: US Citizens

In order to qualify, you must meet the license and experience requirements described below. 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; religious; spiritual; community; student; social). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document .

Individual Occupational Requirement for Practical Nurse:

Licensure: A current license to practice as a practical or vocational nurse in a State, territory of the United States, or the District of Columbia; OR must have applied for a license to practice. Applications of candidates possessing a license must be accompanied by a certified or photostatic copy of the license, a notarized statement attesting to the fact, or a citation of the license number and State issuing it. Non-licensed candidates who have completed their training may be appointed subject to obtaining the required license during the probationary period. Those not licensed must furnish the date on which they applied for a license and the jurisdiction involved. No person appointed pending licensure may be retained beyond the probationary period if licensure has not been attained. (Note: you must (1) attach a certified or photostatic copy of your license, a notarized statement attesting to the fact, or a citation of the license number and State issuing it; or (2) furnish the date on which you applied for a license and the jurisdiction involved.)

In addition to meeting the Individual Occupational requirement above, to qualify for this position you must also meet the qualification requirement listed below:

Specialized Experience: One year of nursing experience which includes: providing surgical nursing care to pediatric and general surgery patients; performing diagnostic support duties such as taking vital signs; providing patient education to patients and families on pre- and post-operative procedures; documenting patient charts in an electronic medical records system such as Composite Health Care System (CHCS) or Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application (AHLTA). This definition of experience is typical of work performed at the next lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-06).

Example of qualifying experience includes nursing care work in a hospital, outpatient clinic, nursing home, or other supervised medical, nursing, or patient care facility that provided a practical knowledge of human body structure and sterile techniques and procedures, performing such duties as:

• Providing pre- and post-operative patient care.
• Observing, recording, and reporting changes in behavior of mentally ill patients.
• Providing reassurance and encouragement to mentally ill patients.
• Assisting surgeons and registered nurses in operating room activities, including passing instruments, maintaining sterile conditions, and draping and positioning patients.
• Setting up and operating special medical equipment and apparatus.

Some federal jobs allow you to substitute your education for the required experience in order to qualify. For this job, you must meet the qualification requirement using experience alone--no substitution of education for experience is permitted.

Education

This job does not have an education qualification requirement.

Additional information

• You will be required to provide proof of U.S. Citizenship.
• Direct Deposit of Pay is required.
• Selection is subject to restrictions resulting from Department of Defense referral system for displaced employees.
• If you have retired from federal service and you are interested in employment as a reemployed annuitant, see the information in the Reemployed Annuitant information sheet.
• Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement.
• Salary includes applicable locality pay or Local Market Supplement.
• 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 .

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Once the announcement has closed, a review of your application package (resume, supporting documents, and responses to the questionnaire) will be used to determine whether you meet the qualification requirements listed on this announcement. If, after reviewing your résumé and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and/or experience, you may lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully when applying, errors or omissions may affect your eligibility.

You should list any relevant performance appraisals and incentive awards in your resume as that information may be taken into consideration during the selection process. If selected, you may be required to provide supporting documentation.

Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP). If you are a Federal employee in the competitive service and your agency has notified you in writing that you are a displaced employee eligible for ICTAP consideration, you may receive selection priority for this position. To receive selection priority, you must: (1) meet ICTAP eligibility criteria (2) be rated well-qualified for the position and; (3) submit the appropriate documentation to support your ICTAP eligibility. To be considered well-qualified and receive selection priority applicants must satisfy all qualification requirements for the position and receive a score of 90 or above. Additional information about the program is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website .

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Not Required

Drug test required
Yes

Required Documents

The documents you are required to submit vary based on whether or not you are eligible for preference in federal employment. A complete description of preference categories and the associated required documents is in the Applicant Checklist (External).

As described above, your complete application includes your resume, your responses to the online questionnaire, and documents which prove your eligibility to apply. If you fail to provide these documents, you will be marked as having an incomplete application package and you will not be considered any further.

1. Your resume:

• Your resume may be submitted in any format and must support the specialized experience described in this announcement.
• If your resume includes a photograph or other inappropriate material or content, it will not be used to make eligibility and qualification determinations and you may not be considered for this vacancy.
• For qualifications determinations your resume must contain hours worked per week and the dates of employment (i.e., HRS per week and month/year to month/year or month/year to present). If your resume does not contain this information, your application may be marked as incomplete and you may not receive consideration for this position.
• For additional information see: What to include in your resume .

2. Other supporting documents:

• Cover Letter, optional
• Most recent Performance Appraisal, if applicable
• License/Certification: If the position has a license/certification requirement, you MUST submit a copy of your current, active, valid, unrestricted license/certification. See: Transcripts and Licenses .

NOTE: Documents submitted as part of the application package, to include supplemental documents, may be shared beyond the Human Resources Office. Some supplemental documents such as military orders and marriage certificates may contain personal information for someone other than you. You may sanitize these documents to remove another person's personal information before you submit your application. You may be asked to provide an un-sanitized version of the documents if you are selected to confirm your eligibility.