Nuclear Medicine Technologist

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; Forest Park (DE); On-site; USD 66,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

The Wilmington VA Medical Center is actively recruiting a Nuclear Medicine Technologist to operate within the Diagnostic Imaging Service. The successful candidate will handle radiopharmaceuticals, perform quality control, and provide patient care with an emphasis on safety and accuracy.

Qualifications include U.S. citizenship and NMTCB or ARRT (N) certification eligibility, with certification training and grandfathering provisions described in VA standards.

Qualifications

• U.S. citizenship required for consideration.
• Certification in nuclear medicine technology by NMTCB or ARRT (N) is required or eligibility with demonstrated pursuit.
• Programs must provide clinical training in radiation safety and instrumentation.

Responsibilities

• Receive, use, store, and dispose of radioactive material.
• Perform daily/weekly quality control on imaging and non-imaging equipment.
• Provide basic patient care and respond to emergencies.
• Develop and implement imaging protocols.
• Assess radiation exposure and implement reduction measures.

Skills

High quality scans

Quality control

Patient care

Emergency response

Imaging protocols

Radiopharmaceutical safety

Education

Certification: NMTCB or ARRT (N)

Nuclear medicine program accreditation

Tools

SPECT/CT equipment

Radiopharmacy handling

Job description

The Wilmington VA Medical Center is recruiting to fill a Nuclear Medicine Technologist vacancy. The Nuclear Medicine Technologist will function in Diagnostic Imaging 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

• United States Citizenship: 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.
• Certification: All applicants must be certified in nuclear medicine technology by the Nuclear Medicine Technology Certification Board (NMTCB) or the American Registry of Radiologic Technology (ARRT) (N).
  • NMTCB or ARRT (N) certification eligibility requirements are normally satisfied by one of the following:
    • Completion of a NMTCB-recognized nuclear medicine technology, OR
    • Completion of a nuclear medicine technology program accredited by the Joint Review Committee on Educational Programs in Nuclear Medicine Technology (JRCNMT), or other accrediting agencies as recognized by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE), culminating in a certificate, associate, baccalaureate, or master's degree. Educational programs must have structured clinical training sufficient to provide clinical competency in radiation safety, instrumentation, clinical procedures, and radio-pharmacy, as deemed acceptable by the NMTCB.
• Exceptions: Non-certified applicants, who otherwise meet the eligibility requirements for NMTCB or ARRT (N) certification, may be given a temporary appointment as a graduate NMT under the authority of 38 U.S.C. § 7405 (a)(1)(D). Failure to obtain certification within 1 year from the date of appointment is justification for termination of the temporary appointment. This may result in termination of employment.
  • Failure to Obtain Credential: In all cases, NMTs must actively pursue meeting certification requirements starting from the date of their appointment. Failure to become certified within 1 year from date of appointment will result in removal from the GS-0601 NMT occupation and may result in termination of employment.
  • Loss of Credential:

    Once certified, NMTs must maintain a full, valid, and unrestricted certification. Loss of credential will result in removal from the GS-0601 NMT occupation and may result in termination of employment. For occupations which require an active certification at all grade levels, at the discretion of the appointing official, an employee may be reassigned to another occupation for which he/she qualifies if a placement opportunity exists. For occupations which require an active credential (licensure/certification/registration) in assignments above the journey level only, at the discretion of the appointing official, an employee may remain at an appropriate lower grade level in the occupation when both of the following apply: the credential is not a requirement and a placement opportunity exists.

• English Language Proficiency: NMTs must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with chapter 2, section D, paragraph 5a, of this part.

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).

Grandfathering Provision

All persons employed in VHA [as a NMT] on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series and grade held, including positive education and certification that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all the basic requirements 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. Such employees in an occupation that requires a certification, may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the journey (full performance) level, or changed to lower grade within the occupation, but may not be promoted beyond the journey level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions.
2. Such employees in an occupation that requires a certification only at higher grade levels must meet the certification requirement before they can be promoted to the higher-grade levels.
3. 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.
4. Employees initially grandfathered into this occupation, who subsequently obtain additional education and/or certification that meet all the basic requirements of this qualification standard must maintain the required credentials as a condition of employment in the occupation.
5. If an employee who was [in the NMT] occupation listed in 38 U.S.C. § 7401(3) under this provision leaves that occupation, the employee loses protected status, and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of reentry to the occupation.

Grade Determinations

GS-11, Nuclear Medicine Technologist (NMT)

Experience

For assignments above the journey level, the candidate must have one (1) year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-9) directly related to the position being filled, and must fully meet the KSAs at that level.

Candidates at this grade level serve as staff NMTs at the journey level. NMTs at this level have a full understanding of proper methods of receipt, use, storage, and disposal of radioactive material; properly and independently handle unusual circumstances; perform and evaluate daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly quality control on all imaging and non-imaging instrumentation and auxiliary equipment, provide basic patient care, and can recognize and respond to emergency conditions. It is expected that they routinely and independently perform the full scope and complexity of these responsibilities and receive guidance from higher-level or supervisory staff members for only the most complex patients.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. The candidate must demonstrate all of the following technical KSAs:

1. Ability to produce and assess high quality scans and quality control images using independent judgement to recognize abnormal or unacceptable results.
2. Knowledge and skill in use of ancillary equipment with an understanding of how the results will affect the study outcome.
3. Knowledge of physiologic processes as they relate to altered radiopharmaceutical uptake and/or artefactual findings.
4. Ability to obtain, assess, and document pre-therapy patient preparation information and provide post-therapy patient education following proper administration of advanced therapy dose.
5. Ability to develop new protocols for imaging procedures.
6. Ability to analyze instances of increased radiation exposure levels and recommend measures to reduce.
7. Ability to analyze consequences of improper packaging of radioactive material and take appropriate actions.

Preferred Experience

Certified Nuclear Medicine Technologist , SPECT CT experience

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-11.

Physical Requirements

See VA Directive and Handbook 5019