Summary The Surgical Technician is assigned to the Surgical/Perioperative Service Line, VA Healthcare System, West Palm Beach, FL. The Surgical Technician functions independently to provide a wide range of support to the professional nurse and physician in the Operating Room. The Surgical Technician participates with the surgical team members in planning and implementing complex procedures under the general supervision of the surgical team. Responsibilities Duties include, but are not limited to: Set up sterile field with all required items for each procedure such as electric/battery powered equipment, ceiling mounted booms, Neptune suction, Phaco, fiber optic equipment, laparoscopic equipment, microscope, arthroscopy equipment, urologic equipment, recording devices, and other related operating room supplies and equipment. Plan and discuss each procedure with assigned surgical team and ensures all supplies and equipment are available prior to the start of the surgical procedure. Prepare, organize, and maintain complex sterile surgical set-ups. Ensures all sterile wrap/packaging have no holes/tears/breaks in packaging integrity. Visualizing chemical indicators have turned. Observe and respond promptly to each stage of the surgical procedure and anticipates the needs of the surgeon by maintaining a high level of concentration for extended periods of time. Utilize standard precautions and follows all infection control policies and procedures when handling specimens, supplies, and equipment. Handles specimens appropriately, participates with circulating RN with two-person verification of accurate specimen labeling and confirmation of correct patient identification. Actively participates in Briefing, Time out, and De-briefing process. Performs sponge, sharps, and instrument (when applicable) counts with circulating registered nurse. Demonstrates outstanding aseptic technique and monitors sterile field to protect against breaks in sterile technique. Maintains clean and safe operating room work area. Knowledge of anatomy and physiology such as medical terminology, safe patient handling, and medical conditions in respect to standard perioperative care. Knowledge of the correct use of invasive instrumentation and equipment specific to procedures performed in operating room. Skill/flexibility to adjust to new surgical subspecialties and adapt to associated challenges. This may include learning to work with highly sensitive surgical instruments using prescriptive surgical steps. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 7:00am-3:30pm EST with evening, weekend, and holiday call requirements. Incentives: Relocation/Recruitment incentive may be authorized for highly qualified applicants. Physical Requirements: Duties require long periods of standing, walking, stooping and/or bending. Occasional lifting and carrying of moderately heavy objects, including patient transfer assistance at the beginning and end of case. Incumbent must be able to provide proper surgical visualization by holding retractors for extended periods of time often in strained or awkward positions. Incumbent must be dexterous in passing instruments to surgeons without compromising principles of aseptic technique and in a manner requiring little or no effort from the surgeon. Incumbent must also be able to work under the pressure of emergent conditions, tight schedules, and a constant changing schedule due to emergencies. Requirements Conditions of Employment U.S. Citizenship; non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. 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. 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). Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement. Certification Requirement: Must be CST or TS-C certified. GS-07 grade level: One year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-06 grade level in the federal service); experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA's) and other characteristics to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled, in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Individual Occupational Requirements: 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. In addition to the IOR you may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-06 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Function as a primary scrub person, handling instruments, supplies, specimens, prosthetic items and equipment for surgical procedures within assigned room(s) and patients. Maintain a neat and orderly sterile field, provides an adequate hand-off report to relief personnel. Demonstrate a positive, encouraging, helpful attitude. Assist in meeting OR metrics. Protect information from unauthorized release, loss, alteration or deletion, following applicable regulations and instructions in the computer access agreement. Preferred Experience: Associates Degree. Minimum 3 years experience or graduate of surgical technician program. Service experience: Robot (MAKO and DaVinci), ophthalmology, endovascular and orthopedics. There is no educational substitution for the GS-07 level. 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. Education Additional Information 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 (TJO). Please visit the Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP), va.gov/EMPLOYEE/docs/The-Fair-Chance-to-Compete-Act.pdf for more information.The following will be communicated to applicants for VA employment in a testing designated position and will also be included in all VA vacancy announcements for such positions: All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drugs use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be well-qualified, applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors if applicable, and must be proficient in most of the requirements of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website which can be found at https://www.opm.gov/.Receiving Service Credit for 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. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. 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. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. 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.
