Nursing Assistant

Summary

Nursing Assistants at this grade level function as a member of the nursing care team and assist licensed nursing staff in the care of patients/residents receiving outpatient care, home or community living care or other patients/residents who are in acute, sub-acute or chronic states of illness.

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Duties

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Duties included, but not limited to:

• Performs assignments required of a NA and will uphold the standards of care as outlined by the Medical Center and the Service Policies and Procedures and I-CARE values.
• Functions as a member of the nursing care team and assist higher graded NAs, licensed nursing staff, and other members of the care team.
• Assumes more of a peer education/mentorship role.
• The position requires the ability to work alternate schedules during evenings, nights, weekends, weekdays, holidays, and may alternate schedules to ensure adequate coverage of support functions.
• Employee performs assigned duties in a manner that promotes quality health care, outstanding customer service, and the maintenance of a safe environment committed to serving the Veterans, their families, and internal and external stakeholders.
• Performs a wide variety of nursing duties aimed at increasing the safety, comfort, and spirit of the patient while following established policy and procedures.
• Provide acute and close observation of patients with medical or mental health conditions requiring such observation. This includes intervening to prevent an act of self or other harm by patients, assisting with prevention and management of disruptive behavior, and reporting to the charge nurse any deviation from baseline behavior or condition.
• Identifies and reports data relative to more complex patient situations including subtle changes in patients' behavior or condition or variances related to neurological signs, vital signs and other parameters.
• Observes and reports to the Supervisor or charge nurse changes in patient's behavior, attitude, bodily complaints, and appearance.
• Escorts non-critical and involuntary patients to appointments in a safe and cautious manner. Assists in getting patients out of bed and returning to bed after escorting.
• He/she provides 1: 1 observation for suicidal, wander, or high fall risk patients as directed by the Supervisor or Charge Nurse.
• He/she may provide nursing care to patients experiencing extremes of behavior, including the severely depressed, suicidal, or homicidal patient, and the drug or alcohol abuse patient.
• Considers all characteristics of the individual, including age and life stages, state of health, race and culture, values, and previous experiences.
• Uses personal protection equipment (PPE) and lifting devices and operates patient care equipment according to standards and reports unsafe conditions/equipment.
• Exercise careful work habits and caution to assure a safe environment for patients, visitors, and other staff members as well as self.
• Maintains patient confidentiality (i.e., records, hospital course, treatments, etc.).
• Recognizes age related needs of the veterans.
• Accepts and carries out instructions from Supervisor.
• Treats all patients. families. co-workers and all customers with dignity, respect, and civility.
• Perform all other duties as assigned.

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Work Schedule : 7:00am -3:30pm & 3:00pm-11:30pm; 11:00pm-7:30am

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)

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 # : 544-58168F

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized

Requirements

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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.
• 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 ( Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification 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).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

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: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• English Language Proficiency: Nursing Assistants must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, part II, chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j.
• Experience or Education or Training.
  • (1) [Six months of general experience. Experience must demonstrate the ability to acquire the knowledge and skills to perform the work of a NA; OR,
  • (2) One year of education above high school with courses related to the NA occupation; OR,
  • (3) Completion of an intensive, specialized, occupation-related [training] course of study [or program] of less than one year as a NA may also meet in full the experience requirements for GS-03.

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).

Nursing Assistant, GS-05 (Full Performance Level) . To qualify at the GS-05 level you must meet the experience or education requirements and the following Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs).

Experience. One year of progressively responsible assignments and experience equivalent to the GS-04 level which demonstrates knowledge, skills, and abilities that are directly related to the specific assignment. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the professional KSAs below;

OR,

Education. Successful completion of a 4-year course of study above high school leading to a bachelor's degree that included 24 semester hours of courses related to health care or possession of a bachelor's degree;

AND

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs). In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:

• Ability to assist in the full range of nursing care to patients/residents with physical and/or behavioral problems in a hospital, long-term care or outpatient setting under the direction of a Registered Nurse and/or Licensed Vocational Nurse/Licensed Practical Nurse.
• Ability to communicate orally with patients/residents, families, interdisciplinary team and other personnel. This includes serving as a preceptor to new NAs by assisting with the coordination of their orientation and overseeing/assessing their practical experience while in a clinical setting.
• Ability to recognize and react to emergent patient/resident care situations and intervene while waiting for assistance. For example, recognizing need for basic life support, controlling bleeding and assisting with behavior crisis, etc.

Preferred Experience: Experience and trained as a Nursing Assistant/Health Technician; experience with Electronic Health Records.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit full performance level of this vacancy is GS-05. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-03 to GS-05.

Physical Requirements: This position requires potentially long periods of continued walking, standing, stooping, sitting, bending, pulling, pushing, twisting, reaching above shoulders, lifting up to 45lbs. Transferring patients and objects may be required. The incumbent may be exposed to infected patients and contaminated materials and may be required to don protective clothing in isolation situations and/or during care of patients. The incumbent will be pushing gurneys/wheelchairs. The incumbent may occasionally be exposed to patients who are combative secondary to delirium, dementia, or psychiatric disorders.

Grade Determinations : In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates.

Preferred Experience: Mental health experience is preferred.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-5.

Physical Requirements: This position requires potentially long periods of continued walking, standing, stooping, sitting, bending, pulling, pushing, twisting, reaching above shoulders, lifting up to 45lbs. Transferring patients and objects may be required. The incumbent may be exposed to infected patients and contaminated materials and may be required to don protective clothing in isolation situations and/or during care of patients. The incumbent will be pushing gurneys/wheelchairs. The incumbent may occasionally be exposed to patients who are combative secondary to delirium, dementia, or psychiatric disorders.

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: 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

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. 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.

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.