Health Technician

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; Ann Arbor (MI); On-site; USD 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs seeks a Health Technician assigned to the Emergency Department within Patient Care Services. This role supports the Nursing - Inpatient Medical/Surgical and Critical Care Team with technical and clinical duties to assist in patient care.

Qualifying requires one year of specialized experience at GS-05 level, competency in vital signs, infection control, and effective communication with patients and staff. Transcripts may be required for education background.

Qualifications

• One year of specialized experience equivalent to at least GS-05 grade level in Federal service that has required application of the knowledge, methods, and techniques of this position.
• Familiarity with obtaining vital signs and providing information to nursing staff.
• Knowledge of infection control principles, safety, and universal precautions.
• Experience with demonstrating appropriate behavior, effective therapeutic communication and interpersonal skills.

Responsibilities

• Assists medical and nursing staff through technical, specialized or support services for the diagnosing or treatment of patient illnesses or medical conditions.
• Performs clerical and clinical duties in a medical/healthcare environment.
• Collects and labels specimens; takes and records vital signs; uses diagnostic and therapeutic medical instruments and equipment.

Job description

The Health Technician works as a member of the Nursing - Inpatient Medical/Surgical and Critical Care Team. This position is assigned to the Emergency Department (ED) area within Patient Care Services. The Health Technician assists medical and nursing staff through technical, specialized or support services for the diagnosing or treatment of patient illnesses or medical conditions.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/29/2026. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

Individual Occupation 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, technician experience is experience that required application of the knowledge, methods, and techniques of the position to be filled.

English Language Proficiency Requirement

In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), No person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English. You must be proficient in basic written and spoken English in order to perform the duties of this position.

Specialized Experience

One year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-05 grade level in Federal service that has required application of the knowledge, methods, and techniques of this position.

Examples of qualifying specialized experience include:

• performing both clerical and clinical duties in a medical/healthcare environment;
• answering and directing phone calls;
• scheduling appointments;
• documenting medical records;
• taking and recording vital signs;
• using diagnostic and therapeutic medical instruments and equipment;
• and collecting and labeling specimens.

Familiarity with obtaining vital signs and providing information to nursing staff.

Knowledge of infection control principles, safety, and universal precautions.

Experience with demonstrating appropriate behavior, effective therapeutic communication and interpersonal skills.

This experience must be detailed in your resume to receive credit.

Education

Half a year of graduate education (usually 9 semester hours) that is directly related to the work of this position. One full year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent one year of full-time study. If that information cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours should be considered as satisfying the one year of full-time study requirement. Part-time graduate education is creditable in accordance with its relationship to a year of full-time study at the school attended.

Transcripts required.

Combination

An equivalent combination of specialized experience and graduate education as described that demonstrates your ability to perform the duties of this position. Transcripts required, and experience must be detailed in your resume to receive credit.

Preferred

1 year of Health Technician experience 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.

Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment.

Physical Requirements

This position requires visual acuity, keen hearing, clear distinctive speech, and manual dexterity.

This position requires an ongoing mix of potentially long-periods of continued walking, standing, stooping, sitting, bending, pulling, pushing, and reaching overhead.

All patient care activities require PC keyboard and mouse use for data entry in the electronic patient record. occasional heavy lifting will be required. Particularly for patient transfers.

Incumbent may be exposed to infected patients and contaminated materials and may be required to don protective clothing in isolation situations or operative, invasive procedures. Incumbent may occasionally be exposed to patients who are combative, In some instances interaction with patients, caregivers and staff can become intense, and the employee may be placed in a position