Laborer - Investing in VA Nursing (IVAN) Training Program

Summary

This position serves as an assistant and is responsible for supporting the daily needs of Veterans in the Community Living Center and other Rehab and Extended Care programs. The incumbent assists in all aspects of support for patient care including the movement of patients, equipment, supplies and staff assistance at the St. Cloud VA Medical Center, physically located in St. Cloud, MN.

Duties

• This announcement will be used to capture applicants for current and future vacancy opportunities. The first round of applicants for our next class will be reviewed starting 07/30/2026. Candidates hired for this IVAN position will receive supervised clinical training. After successful completion of the program, each IVAN employee has up to 24 months to take the Nurse Aide Training Competency, however this is not a requirement. They may continue to work as an IVAN employee until they are hired permanently, or until notice is given to discontinue participation in the IVAN program, up to 6 months from the start date. This position has high visibility throughout the institution and requires excellent customer service skills. The employee assists in all aspects of support for patient care including the movement of patients, equipment, supplies and staff assistance. Major duties include, but not limited to: The Orderly is primarily responsible for the safe and efficient movement of Veterans, either alone or with a nursing staff member as needed. Receives requests and comply with excellent customer service and phone etiquette. Is expected to be well-informed of work progress, establish work priorities and adjust comply with new or revised recommendations from the supervisor. Responds to requests to procure supplies, equipment, etc. from and for various areas of the facility, as requested by supervisor. Assists with lifting & moving patients between rooms or wards using Safe Patient Handling equipment. Assists with CLC related therapeutic recreation by transporting Veterans and assisting with maintaining safety of Veterans during program. Maintains safety of Veterans in the Red Vest program by following red vest SOP. Assists with Rehabilitation activities through patient transport and equipment assembly and delivery. Consults with the supervisor to make changes or coordinate work as needed. Maintains competencies and is able to assist with physical management of disruptive behavior in mental health or other areas of the facility. Maintains competencies on Safe Patient Handling equipment and assists with ongoing training needs throughout facility. Makes changes to meet deadlines and priorities set by nursing service. Assures compliance with hand-off communication procedures, checking patient's identification and escort destination prior to transporting to ensure proper patient identification & location. Provides and transports equipment as available. Disinfects/wipes down equipment with approved cleaning product prior to and after each patient transport. Rounds regularly on inpatient wards to ensure Reusable Equipment is clean and disinfected for staff use. Maintains order and accessibility of reusable medical equipment in the CLC storage area. Requests or provides assistance from the nursing team to transfer patients to or from transport equipment, when needed using Safe Patient Handling resources. Responsible for notifying nursing or ancillary personnel upon arrival or departure of patients. Safeguards documents relating to the patient. Report immediately any unusual symptoms of patients i.e., fainting or shortness of breath during time of escort. Maintains Basic Life Support (BLS) certification. As requested, takes discharged patients to the door to await transportation. Work Schedule: Daytime Hours 7:30am - 4:00pm, various days during the week, 20 hours, as needed for program completion. (Work hours may be further discussed during interview process) Position Description Title/PD#: Laborer - Investing in VA Nursing (IVAN) Training Program/PD90516-A, PD90516A, PD90516A, and PD90516A Telework: Not Authorized Recruitment/Relocation Incentive: Not Authorized Virtual/Remote Position: This is not a virtual/remote position. The VA Midwest Health Care Network advocates for a Whole Health System of care in each of the Medical Centers. This is an approach to healthcare that empowers and equips people to take charge of their health and well-being and live their lives to the fullest. As an employee operating in a Whole Health System of care, you will operate in a model with three core elements, seeking to create a personalized health plan for each Veteran. This is done in the context of healing relationships and healing environments and a connection back to the Veteran's community. This aligns with the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Mission Statement to Honor America's Veterans by providing exceptional health care that improves their health and well-being.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement. EXPERIENCE: A specific length of training and experience is not required, but you must show evidence of training or experience of sufficient scope and quality of your ability to do the work of this position. Evidence which demonstrates you possess the knowledge, skills, and ability to perform the duties of this position must be supported by detailed descriptions of such on your resume. Applicants will be rated in accordance with the OPM Federal Wage System Qualification Standards. SCREEN-OUT ELEMENT: Your qualifications will first be evaluated against the prescribed screen out element, which usually appears as question 1 in the on-line questionnaire. Those applicants who appear to possess at least the minimal acceptable qualification requirement are considered for further rating; those who do not are rated ineligible and are eliminated. The potential eligible are then rated against the remainder of the Job Elements: Ability to Interpret Instructions, Specifications, etc. (Other Than Blueprint Reading) Ability to Use and Maintain Tools and Equipment Dexterity and Safety Reliability and Dependability Work Practices (Including Keeping Things Neat, Clean, and in Order) 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. 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. Physical Requirements: Ability to be on feet for the majority of the day. Will be required to stand and walk up to 10hours a day throughout the facility. Will be required to climb and descend stairs to reach certain destinations. Must have no lifting restrictions. Will be required to push and pull wheelchairs and other equipment weighing up to 400 pounds. Will be required to push and pull beds and equipment, with assistance, weighing up to 1000 pounds. Will be required to transport supplies weighing up to 20 pounds. Will be required to transport patient belongings and miscellaneous equipment weighing up to 20 pounds. Will be required to transport patients and items up and down an incline of 1 inch per foot. Will be required to have bilateral motor coordination to handle patients and equipment. Will be required to assist with physical management of disruptive behavior in patients. Working Conditions: Work will be performed on the grounds of the Saint Cloud VA Health System, primarily within the facility. Main duties include lifting and positioning patients, assisting with disruptive behavior patients in a clinical setting, transporting and moving patients, and cleaning reusable medical equipment. Pushing and pulling hospital equipment, walking distances, taking stairs, and answering cell phone will be daily occurrences. Retrieving equipment from around the hospital and grounds, and delivering equipment to various areas is expected. Assisting clinical staff with obtaining equipment and other patient support items will be needed. Work is in a Medical Center setting and involves possible exposure to contagious disease which will require appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) as identified. Must be able to speak, spell, read, write and understand English. Must have excellent communication skills and the ability to interact well with patients of all ages. Must have good patient relations and courteous manners. Must be able to work under stress in a fast-paced environment. Must be able to operate computer and cell phone. Must demonstrate reliability, punctuality and good attendance.

Requirements

U.S. Citizenship; non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. Suitable for Federal employment, determined by a background investigation Selective Services Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 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. Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP) Selected applicants will be required to complete a pre-employment physical

Education

There is no education substitution for this position.

How to apply

All applicants are encouraged to apply online. To apply for this position, you must complete the occupational questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on 09/30/2026 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12997527. 1. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USAJOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USAJOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire. 2. Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package. NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date. You may check the status of your application at any time by logging into your USA Jobs account and clicking on Applications. Information regarding your application status can be found in the USAJobs Help Center. 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. If initial application submission is updated and resubmitted with a new resume, only the most current resume will be reviewed for consideration. 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 https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-information/merit-hiring-plan-resources/applicant-guidance-on-the-two-page-resume-limit/ To return to an incomplete application, log into your USAJOBS account and click Update Application in the vacancy announcement. You must re-select your resume and/or other documents from your USAJOBS account or your application will be incomplete.