Registered Respiratory Therapist

Summary

Join the Indian Health Service as a Respiratory Therapist and make a meaningful impact in American Indian and Alaska Native communities. Provide life-saving respiratory care, patient education, and advanced cardiopulmonary services in a collaborative healthcare environment. Use your expertise to improve patient outcomes while serving populations with unique and rewarding healthcare needs.

A REAL ID will be required beginning May 7, 2025, in accordance with 6 C.F.R. 37.5 (2021).

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Duties

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• Provide respiratory therapy assessment, treatment, and monitoring services for patients across the lifespan in inpatient, outpatient, emergency, and critical care settings.
• Administer oxygen therapy, aerosol medications, airway management, ventilator support, and other respiratory care modalities.
• Perform blood gas analysis, pulmonary function testing, and other diagnostic procedures to evaluate respiratory status.
• Respond to respiratory emergencies and provide critical care support, including CPR, airway management, and ventilator management.
• Educate patients, families, and staff regarding respiratory treatments, equipment use, and disease management.
• Operate, calibrate, troubleshoot, and maintain respiratory therapy equipment while ensuring compliance with safety, quality, and infection control standards.
• Document care provided and participate in quality improvement and respiratory care program activities.

Requirements: (Continued)

This is a competitive vacancy announcement advertised under Delegated Examining Authority. Selections made under this vacancy announcement will be processed as new appointments to the civil service. Current civil service employees would therefore be given new appointments to the civil service; however, benefits, time served, and all other Federal entitlements would remain the same.

IHS Selectees whose duties and responsibilities require them to work permanently, temporarily, or occasionally in an IHS healthcare facility must comply with the IHS Employee Immunization Policy related to vaccine-preventable diseases, consistent with recommendations for healthcare workers. Vaccine exemption requests may be available, as outlined in the IHS Employee Immunization Policy and facility guidance.

Physical Demands: The work involves walking, sitting, standing, reaching and bending in the assessment and treatment of patients.

Additional Information: (Continued)

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. IHS may offer newly-appointed Federal employees credit for their directly related previous 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.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

Selectee may be subject to a probationary period

U.S. Citizenship is required

Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959

This is a designated position covered by Public Law 101-630, requiring contact or control over Indian children. Due to this requirement, the agency must ensure that persons hired for these positions have not been found guilty of or pleaded nolo contendere or guilty to certain crimes.

On-call hours or standby duty may be required.

Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit

You will need to set up direct deposit so we can pay you.

Background Investigation Requirement:

This position requires the successful completion of a federal background investigation as a condition of employment.

A background investigation is a standard process used by the Federal Government to verify an individual's identity, employment history, education, and other relevant information to determine suitability for Federal service.

Upon receipt of instructions, applicants must complete all required background investigation forms within five (5) calendar days of issuance. Timely completion is critical to avoid delays in processing or a determination of unsuitability.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to prioritize this requirement and to maintain regular communication with their assigned Personnel Security Specialist throughout the process.

Financial Suitability Requirement:

This position requires a review of the applicant's financial history as part of the personnel security and suitability determination. Applicants must demonstrate financial responsibility, maintain good standing with creditors, and satisfy all legal financial obligations prior to applying.

Individuals with substantial delinquent or unresolved financial obligations-including, but not limited to, delinquent federal or state tax liabilities, defaulted federal student loans, court-ordered fines or fees, or child support arrears-may be deemed unsuitable for employment with the Indian Health Service (IHS).

Prior to the appointment, candidates must present two valid forms of identification. If one of the documents is a state-issued ID or driver's license, it must be REAL ID-compliant.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, your resume must state sufficient experience and/or education, to perform the duties of the specific position for which you are applying.

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; religious; spiritual; community; social). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer and part time experience. You must clearly identify the duties and responsibilities in each position held and the total number of hours per week.

BASIC REQUIREMENT(S) :

Individual Occupational Requirements

Specialized Experience:

For positions at GS-4 and above: Qualifying specialized experience must have demonstrated a knowledge of basic equipment used in respiratory therapy and included duties such as:

• Making regular rounds on hospital nursing units to review or collect clinical data to insure that the respiratory equipment is operating properly and in compliance with physicians' orders.
• Transporting, setting up, or testing the operation of and changing simple oxygen administering devices, e.g., masks and nasal cannulas with cylinder or centralized medical gas systems.
• Disassembling, cleaning, assembling, and sterilizing reusable respiratory equipment such as oxygen analyzers and regulators, including recognizing and reporting variations from expected results.

Examples of qualifying experience include work as a practical nurse, nursing assistant, medical machine aid, medical technician, or respiratory therapy aid if the above duties were performed.

OR

Education and Training:

For GS-4: Successful completion of a 2-year accredited course of study leading to an associate's degree in respiratory therapy.

For GS-5: Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree in respiratory therapy.

In addition, to the Basic Requirements, you must also meet the Minimum Qualifications stated below-

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

GS-07:

• Your resume must demonstrate at least one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level in the Federal service obtained in either the private or public sector performing the following type of work and/or tasks: Independently providing emergency inhalation therapy treatments to critically ill and high-risk patients. Sets up and operates pressure ventilators, pneumatic nebulizers to administer complex inhalation therapy treatments. Calibrates and maintains blood gas analyzer and blood gas supplies.

OR

• 1 year or 18 semester hours of graduate education directly related to the work of the position

GS-08:

• Your resume must demonstrate at least one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level in the Federal service obtained in either the private or public sector performing the following type of work and/or tasks: Performing a variety of difficult respiratory therapy such as administering various medications to patients with acute and chronic respiratory distress. Performs airway and tube care on intensive care patients. Sets up, manages and monitors a variety of complex respiratory equipment.

OR

• 1 1/2 year or 27 semester hours of graduate education directly related to the work of the position

SELECTIVE FACTOR:

• Must possess and maintain a current, active, registration as Registered Respiratory Therapist with The National Board of Respiratory Care (NBRC) and an active, unrestricted, state license as a Respiratory Therapist in any state.

Education

If you are substituting education for experience: You are strongly encouraged to submit a copy of your transcripts or a list of your courses including titles, credit hours completed, and grades. Unofficial transcripts will be accepted in the application package. Official transcripts will be required from all selectees prior to receiving an official offer.

Only attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education may be credited. Applicants can verify accreditation at the following website:

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

Additional information

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire CompetencyBased Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments. (

Additional selection(s) of candidates may be possible within 240 days from the date the certificate of eligibles was issued for this announcement.

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. IHS may offer newly-appointed Federal employees credit for their directly related previous 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.

This position is covered by a Bargaining Unit.

Recruitment or relocation incentives may be authorized. At least a 6 month service agreement will be required.

This position has promotion potential to the GS-GS-8 grade level. Promotion to the next grade level is at management's discretion and is based on your demonstrated ability to perform the higher level duties, the continuing need for the higher level duties, and "Regulatory/Administrative" approval. Promotion to the next higher grade level is not guaranteed and no promise of promotion is implied.

You will be evaluated for this position in accordance with the OPM Merit Hiring Plan.

As part of the application process, you will be asked to provide short essay responses (200 words or less each) to the following four questions.

1. How has your commitment to the Constitution and the founding principles of the United States inspired you to pursue this role within the Federal government?
2. In this role, how would you use your skills and experience to improve government efficiency and effectiveness?
3. How would you help advance the President's Executive Orders and policy priorities in this role?
4. How has a strong work ethic contributed to your professional, academic or personal achievements?

• Your responses are optional and will not be scored.
• However, they may be reviewed by hiring managers and agency leadership (or designees) during the evaluation process.
• You will be asked to certify that your responses are written in your own words and that you did not use a consultant or artificial intelligence (AI) tool (such as ChatGPT or Copilot).

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.