Lead Medical Supply Technician (Sterile Processing)

US Department of Veterans Affairs; Shorewood Hills (WI); On-site; USD 52,000 - 76,000; Full time

Job summary

The US Department of Veterans Affairs is seeking a Lead Medical Supply Technician (Sterile Processing) at the Madison, WI facility to supervise the sterile processing team and ensure proper reprocessing of instruments.

Must meet basic requirements and be able to lead a team, train staff, and manage workload while maintaining sterile standards and patient safety throughout the process.

Qualifications

• Six months of experience or one year of education in health care related courses for entry level.
• Equivalent experience/education combinations are qualifying for entry level.
• May qualify under Grandfathering provisions for current VA employees.

Responsibilities

• Facilitates shift-to-shift huddles and leads a team of employees at the GS-6 level or below.
• Provides guidance and technician direction for accomplishing the work of the team.
• Distributes and balances workload to meet deadlines and priorities.
• Trains new employees and conducts on-the-job training per procedures.
• Performs quality assurance inspections of instruments and equipment before wrapping and sterilizing.
• Monitors decontamination area to ensure proper techniques are followed and equipment works.

Skills

Instruct staff

Staff leadership

Interpersonal skills

Communication with team

Prioritization & scheduling

Education

One year above high school with 6 health care-related semester hours

Job description

This position serves as the Lead Medical Supply Technician (Sterile Processing) at the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital in Madison, WI within Sterile Processing Service.

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

• U.S. Citizenship: Must be a citizen of the United States. Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• English Language Proficiency: Must be proficient in spoken and written English.
• Experience and/or Education:
  • Experience. Six months of experience that demonstrates the applicant's ability to perform the work or provides an understanding of the work; or
  • Education. One year above high school that included at least 6 semester hours in health care related courses such as sterile processing, nursing assistant, hospital corpsman, and operating room and surgical technician courses or other courses related to the position; or
  • Experience/Education Combination. Equivalent combination of experience and education are qualifying for entry level for which both education and experience are acceptable.

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

GS-07 Lead Medical Supply Technician (Sterile Processing)

Specialized Experience

Must have one year of experience equivalent to the next lower (GS-06) grade level.

• Facilitates shift-to-shift huddles.
• Leads a team of employees performing work at the GS-6 level or below. Provides guidance and technician direction for accomplishing the work of the team.
• Ensures work assignments of employees in the team are carried out.
• Works with the Supervisors and Assistant Chief in the equitable assignment of functions to team members in order to meet routine and unusual deadlines and priorities. Communicates those priorities to the rest of the team.
• Distributes and balances workload and tasks among employees in accordance with established workflow, job specialization and/or capabilities of individual.
• Breaks out tasks as necessary to provide new employees with the experience and training required to perform the task.
• Is a working Lead Technician, responsible for filling in and for distributing the workload in case of personnel shortages or short notice priorities, to ensure a smooth workflow.
• Monitors and reports on the status and progress of work, and when necessary, revises daily assignment schedule to meet anticipated and unanticipated changes in the workload.
• Explains work requirements, methods and procedures, as needed, giving special instructions on difficult or different operations and answering technical questions about the task.
• Keeps up to date with current procedures, policies, guidelines and directives. Assists in implementing changes.
• Aids in training of team members in the accomplishment of tasks or projects. Gives on-the-job training to all employees in accordance with established procedures and practices.
• Conducts and records competencies on individuals for the proper reprocessing of RMD, following established checklists devised by supervisory staff and approved by Infection Control.
• Performs quality assurance inspections of instruments and equipment in the Sterile Preparation area of SPS prior to items being wrapped and sterilized.
• Conducts inspection of the Decontamination area of SPS to verify that proper techniques and processes are being followed by staff and that all equipment is working properly.
• Inspects to verify that all instrumentation is disassembled to the simplest form.
• Employee consistently communicates in person and on the phone in a courteous and professional manner, identifying self and department, with customers, visitors, and staff.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities.

• Ability to instruct staff on the correct procedures and protocols for completing assignments.
• Skill in communicating with staff to ensure compliance with written directives, rules and regulations.
• Skill in interpersonal relationships in dealing with employees, team leaders, and managers.
• Knowledge of sterility principles in order to instruct staff on sterilization and decontamination procedures.
• Ability to lead individuals, manage priorities, and schedule work assignments.

Preferred Experience

Leadership; SPS; VA Level II, HSPA/IAHSCMM/CBSPS certification (one, not all).

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-07

Physical Requirements

The work requires frequent bending and lifting of equipment (occasionally weighing as much as 50 pounds), pushing/pulling of heavy carts that weigh up to 400 pounds; walking and/or standing for up to six hours at time, and wearing required Personal protective Equipment for up to six hours at a time. The work requires dexterity and visual acuity for manipulating, disassembly and assembly of instrumentation. The employee often works around body fluids, mucous, excretions and bits of tissue, some of which may be foul smelling. Strong, unpleasant odors are encountered while decontaminating bloody or grossly contaminated instrumentation or reusable medical equipment. The work area is noisy due to the clatter of metal instruments, rumbling of carts and operation of pre-sterilizing equipment.