Summary This position serves as the Mental Health Technician that provides technical, patient care, personnel, computer, and data management support services for the Nursing Service Mental Health Unit at the VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System (VASNHS). Responsibilities ***THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION*** Major duties and responsibilities include: Performing a very wide range of patient personal care, diagnostic services, treatment, and charting activities in a psychiatric or substance abuse treatment unit. Assisting in patient care under the direct supervision of a nurse manager or designee. Performing a wide range of duties that include but are not limited to monitoring temperatures, blood pressure, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation measurements, measuring height and weight, and patient transfers in support of outpatient Behavioral Health clinics. Providing personal nursing care to substance abuse and psychiatric patients, and serving as an active, participating member of the health care team. Assisting the interdisciplinary team in the care and treatment of patients receiving medical care for psychiatric or substance abuse treatment, PTSD, and other behavioral health conditions. Observing, collecting data, documenting, and reporting to the professional team changes in patient behavior, attitude, physical complaints, appearance, vital signs and/or changes in the patents' condition that may be related to medications, sensory distortions, or medical conditions. Delivering meals and /or snacks to patients and assisting as needed when in inpatient units. Accompanying/escorting patients on activities and to appointments, treatments, groups etc. in other areas of the hospital or off hospital grounds. Making gross visual observations and identifies subtle changes regarding patients' condition. Performing other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Various 12 hour shifts are available. Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved DESIGNATED DRUG-TESTING POSITION: 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. Applicants will not be appointed to the position if a verified positive drug test result is received. 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 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 Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP) Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details. Qualifications IN ORDER TO QUALIFY FOR THIS POSITION AT THE GS-6 LEVEL YOU MUST MEET THE FOLLOWING: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: You must possess 1 year of specialized experience, equivalent to the GS-5 level in the Federal service, that equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA's) needed to successfully perform the duties of the position and that is typically in or related to this Health Technician position to be filled. 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. Specialized experience for this position includes assisting the interdisciplinary team in the care and treatment of patients; instructing, guiding, and assisting patients as needed in activities of daily living; explaining procedures and guidelines, maintains therapeutic boundaries; performing a range of diagnostic support duties that include but are not limited to monitoring temperatures, blood pressure, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation measurements, measuring height and weight, and patient transfers; collecting, recording, and reporting deviations in vital signs/withdrawal symptoms, collecting and labeling specimens. ~OR~ SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION FOR EXPERIENCE: You must have successfully completed one-half year (9 semester hours) of graduate level education that is directly related to the specialization of the position to be filled. One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study. If that information cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours should be considered as satisfying the 1 year of full-time study requirement. Part-time graduate education is creditable in accordance with its relationship to a year of full-time study at the school attended. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED) ~OR~ COMBINATION OF EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION: You must possess equivalent combinations of successfully completed post-high school education and specialized experience to meet total qualification requirements at the GS-6 level. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED) ~AND~ ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY: In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), No person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English. You must be proficient in basic written and spoken English in order to meet the requirements of this position. You will be rated on the following Competencies as part of the assessment questionnaire for this position: Administration and Management Customer Service Human Factors Patient Care Technical Documentation IMPORTANT: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. All experience listed on your resume must include the month and year start/end dates. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. 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; 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. Physical Requirements: The work requires regular reoccurring, periods of standing and walking. The duties also require occasional bending and lifting that is 45 pounds or more, reaching, carrying, pushing, stooping, stretching, and similar activities. The employee assists in protecting patients' self and other team members from physical harm by hostile and/or confused patients by therapeutically applying physical restraints that may require bending and stretching. The position requires the strength and stamina to perform duties, ability to sit at a desk for long periods of time, look at a computer for long periods of time, walk and stand for 4 hours. Must be able to maintain effective audio, visual discrimination and perception needed for making observations, communicating with others, reading, and writing, and operating office equipment. Must be able to use a telephone to communicate verbally and a keyboard to communicate through written means, to review information and enter/retrieve data, to see and read characters on a computer screen. The work is normally performed within the unit area which has adequate heat, light, and ventilation and requires normal safety precautions. Work areas are noisy. The employee is subject to possible physical and verbal attack from patients at any time. The work requires occasional periods on and off the Medical Center when accompanying patients on therapeutic activities or to appointments or floating to other areas as appropriate. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/. Education IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on 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: Recognition of Foreign Qualifications | International Affairs Office (ed.gov). Additional Information This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. Pursuant to VHA Directive 1193.01, VHA health care personnel (HCP) are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 subject to such accommodations as required by law (i.e., medical, religious or pregnancy). VHA HCPs do not include remote workers who only infrequently enter VHA locations. If selected, you will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination before your start date. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required accommodation from this requirement using the reasonable accommodation process. 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.