Summary This Medical Instrument Technician (Polysomnography) Position is in the Specialty Care Service at the VA Boston Healthcare System located at the Brockton, MA VA location. This position is a full-time at 40 hours per week. Responsibilities The Polysomnographic technologist has multiple clinical and technical responsibilities. The majority of these functions will be performed at the Bedford Veterans Administration Site within VISN 1 under the direction of the Boston Healthcare System. The responsibilities at this location will include but not limited to managing the Home Sleep Study Program, Establishes and maintains CPAP Compliance Monitoring Program, as well as providing a Sleep Clinic Support for equipment, education and any other related issues that arise to meet the patient's needs. Major duties include but are not limited to: Act independently and recognize that technical decisions will vary with each patient based on their medical condition and patient reaction to the variety of tests performed. Each action by the technologist may further vary due to the response or result from the patient. Participates in the development of new procedures and assists and reviews existing procedures, updating them in accordance with new equipment and clinical practice. Set up the patients with monitoring devices according to established rules and protocols. Recognize and respond appropriately to critical events that can occur in sleep, such as cardiac arrhythmias, seizure disorders, and other medical emergencies. Provides oversight of the HST program to assure that it meets with all Joint Commission, American Academy of Sleep Medicine, and other regulatory bodies prescribed standards. Assists in ordering sleep lab equipment. Provide instruction to day and night sleep lab staff to insure quality and efficiency of care. Score sleep studies as well as be up to date on rule changes of scoring Communicate effectively with a range of personnel within the Health System, including physicians, nurses, administration and clinic managers. Registered with the Board of Registered Polysomnographic Technologist - Maintain BLS certification. Maintain a safe work environment. Keep up to date on changes in sleep medicine by regularly attending courses related to sleep medicine with the ability to adapt to future technological changes and continue educational development. Performs triage, rearranges schedules according to patient priorities. Responsible for downloading compliance data utilizing disk or wireless modems to track patient compliance and creates reports for the sleep specialist to review in clinic. Work Schedule: FT, Nights, 6:45pm-7:15am, may include weekends. Compressed/Flexible: Maybe authorized. Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not authorized Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year)Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience. Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child. Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66. Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement) Telework: Not available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: PD901670 Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized Notifications: This position is in the Excepted Service. This position is a NAGE Bargaining Unit position. Due to a critical staffing shortage, 38 U.S.C. § 7412 waives the requirement to apply Veterans' preference for this job announcement. Current and former Federal employees must submit copies of their most recent SF-50, (Notice of Personnel Action). The SF-50 must identify the position title, series, grade, step, tenure and @type of service (Competitive or Excepted). In some cases, more than one SF-50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held. Narrative responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) will be required from the selectee in order to proceed with the appointment. 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. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment. 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). Veterans' preference does not apply for internal or other current permanent Federal agency employees. Qualifications Applicants should be fully qualified by the closing date of this announcement. Basic Requirements: United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. Education. There are no specific educational requirements for this occupation. Education may be substituted for experience only at the GS-4 and GS-5 levels. See the grade requirements part of this standard for information regarding educational substitutions. Licensure or Certification. Licensure or Certification is not required for this occupation; however, it is strongly desirable at GS-6 or above as evidence of possession of the essential knowledge, skills, and abilities. Registration by the Board of Registered Polysomnographic Technologists (BRPT) is highly desirable. For all specialties identified in this standard, Basic and Advanced Cardiac Life Support certifications are desirable. Training which doesn't result in official certification does not meet this definition. English Proficiency: Proficient in English (written and spoken) is required for patient care positions. Grade Determinations: GS-09 Experience: At least 1 year of experience comparable to the next lower grade level (GS-8), which is directly related to the duties of the position. At this level Polysomnographic Technicians are able to interact fully with the patient and physician to diagnose sleep disorders including those that are uncommon or rare. They are able to conduct full sleep studies including overnight studies and evaluate the relationship of events, sleep stages, and possible medical conditions which influence or result from events occurring during sleep. They anticipate problems likely to occur during the sleep study and prepare for such situations, make changes in established procedures, or recommend alternative courses of action. They are able to mentor lower graded technicians. You must also meet the following GS-8 KSAs: (1) Advanced knowledge or the International Classification of Sleep Disorders and the ability to recognize uncommon and/or rare sleep disorders. (2) Ability to summarize and report polysomnographic data in narrative form. (3) Knowledge of event characteristics (e.g., respiratory, cardiac, sleep stage, seizures, etc.) and ability to take appropriate action. (4) Ability to provide briefings and orientation to hospital staff including physicians. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following technical GS-9 KSAs and the potential to acquire the assignment specific KSAs designated by an asterisk 1. Knowledge of the more complex examination and treatment procedures and techniques in order to provide training and supervision in these procedures, to evaluate and initiate performance improvement projects, and to write policies, procedures, and protocols, that pertain to Polysomnography. 2. Knowledge of JCAHO and other regulatory requirements. 3. Ability to communicate effectively and professionally with employees at varying grade levels. Certification. Registration by the Board of Registered Polysomnographic Technologists (BRPT) is highly desirable. Basic Cardiac Life Support (BCLS) and Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) certifications are also desirable for employees at this level. Preferred Experience: Registered Polysomnographic Technologist, Preferably having prior experience with home sleep testing, scoring, CPAP setups and troubleshooting sleep issues. References: https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-9. Physical Requirements: The work requires regular and recurring physical exertion such as standing or walking for prolonged periods of time; frequent bending, reaching, stooping, and stretching to set up and take apart equipment and apparatus; lifting and repositioning patients; and pushing or pulling heavy objects such as oxygen tanks and/or equipment. The work may require specific physical characteristics and abilities such as above-average dexterity to perform intricate respiratory therapy / sleep procedures. 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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/. 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. During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions. 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 an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement. Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.
