Health Technician

Summary

The Health Care Technician position at Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital in Hines, IL is organizationally aligned with Nursing Service. Under the supervision of a Registered Nurse, this role encompasses both direct and indirect patient care activities, as well as related support functions. Individuals in this position are required to demonstrate strong powers of observation, perception, and judgment. They must also show initiative and pay meticulous attention to detail in all aspects of their duties.

Duties

• The Health Care Technician provides a diverse range of clinical services supportive of the delivery of quality patient care. The position combines duties that aid licensed nursing personnel and other medical technicians. Under the general guidance and supervision of registered nurses, the Health Care Technician carries out specific direct and indirect patient care assignments and supportive functions to assist in providing total patient care services. The Health Care Technician reports directly to the Nurse Manager, maintaining a clear line of accountability and communication within the Nursing Service. Duties include, but are not limited to: Establishes helpful relationships with patients and others; interacts in a courteous manner; explains patient care provided. Provides emotional support, friendly assistance, sympathetic understanding, and encouragement to patients/families. Performs, reports, and records measurements, such as vital signs, intake and output, pulse oximetry, bladder scan, glucose finger stick, and other parameters. Identifies obvious patient problems, symptoms, behavioral changes, and deviations from normal in a timely manner to the appropriate Registered Nurse. Performs EKG as directed and provides results to the Registered Nurse. Assist nurses/physicians with diagnostic and therapeutic procedures performed on the unit. Safely transports patients to off-unit appointments in the absence of an escort. Serves as patient care observer (when necessary) in accordance with established Medical Center guidelines. Assists in monitoring the Environment of Care for cleanliness, rooms free of clutter, and ensuring patients' belongings are within reach. Follows policies and procedures to ensure safety for patients, staff, and self. Identifies and immediately reports safety hazards to supervisors. Maintains a safe, clean, and orderly work environment through routine maintenance activities such as ordering and stocking equipment and supplies; cleaning equipment and patient care areas; providing proper containment/ disposal of discarded materials; and reporting maintenance and security problems to appropriate personnel. Provides instruction to others on the correct performance of defined tasks/procedures. Assists in emergencies and initiates CPR when indicated. Work Schedule: 7:30 PM - 8:00 AM, Rotating holidays and weekends Telework: Not Suitable Virtual: This is not a virtual position Position Description Title/PD#: Health Technician/PD21231A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09/08/2026. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-6 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-5. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR): An IOR is a basic requirement that must be met in order to qualify for entry into this job series, and it is something that can't be waived. Specialized Experience (for positions at GS-4 and above): 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 Individual Occupational Requirement above the follow is the experience and/or education required to qualify for this position at the GS-6 grade levels, as described below: GS-6 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-5 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Effectively communicating and providing support to patients and healthcare professionals Utilizing and maintaining medical equipment and instruments Performing safety/emergency procedures related to patient transport, infection control, environmental safety Observing and reporting changes in patients physical and emotional behavior Performing medical tests and duties including phlebotomy, EKG, and CPR Entering patient information and vital signs in computerized medical record systems using appropriate terminology. Applying basic knowledge of basic anatomy/physiology and medical techniques to support direct patient care. Preferred Experience: 2 Years of Geriatric/Long Term Care experience 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. Physical Requirements: Physical requirements include extensive periods of standing and walking. Patient care activities require regular and recurring bending, lifting, stooping, stretching, pushing, and similar activities using appropriate body mechanics and other assistive devices for patient and/or equipment movement and transfer. The employee protects themselves and others from injury. Work Environment: Responsibilities are performed in a health care environment. The Health Technician practices principles of aseptic technique, "infection control, and environment safety. Precautions are required when working with movable equipment, wet floors, and potential exposure to diagnosed/undiagnosed contagious diseases. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. 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. 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/.

Requirements

You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job. To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the 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 (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). 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. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary 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 probationary period period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

How to apply

Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online application, to include the initial online questionnaire and submission of the required documentation specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. To preview the application questionnaire, click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13052107. The application process is as follows: To begin, click Apply Online to create a USA JOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date, 09/08/2026. If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice. Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. Set aside at least 3 hours to take the USA Hire Assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link. NOTE: Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused. Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation resources at https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us. To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. To view the announcement status or your application status: https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application. Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed. Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement. Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started. Helpful Hints for Creating a Two-Page Resume: Prioritize most relevant and recent experience Use concise, results focused language Align language from the job announcement Focus on demonstrating skills and competencies Remove outdated or unrelated experience Use the USAJOBS resume builder Additional guidance on this new requirement and resume building tools can be found at https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/page-limit