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
• MSTs must be proficient in spoken and written English Experience and/or Education: Experience: Six (6) months of experience demonstrating the ability to perform the work or provide an understanding of the work
• OR, Education: One (1) year above high school that included at least six (6) semester hours in health care related course such as sterile processing, nursing assistant, hospital corpsman, and operating room and surgical technician courses or other courses related to the position
• OR, Combination: A combination of the above prescribed experience and education
• Creditable Experience Knowledge of Current MST Practices
• To be creditable, the experience must have demonstrated the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) associated with MST responsibilities
• Experience satisfying this requirement may be paid/non-paid employment as a MST
• 3 Quality of Experience
• Qualifying experience must be at a level comparable to MST experience at the next lower grade level of the position being filled
• For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher level duties must consist of significant scope, administrative independence, complexity (difficulty) and range of variety as described in this standard at the specified grade level and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time
• Part-Time Experience
• Part-time experience as a MST is creditable according to its relationship to the full-time workweek
• For example, a MST employed 20 hours a week, or on a 1/2-time basis, would receive 1 full-time workweek of credit for each 2 weeks of service
• Grade Determinations: GS-06 (Full Performance Level): Experience: One (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-05 level in Federal service
• Specialized experience may include, but is not limited to: Disassembling the RME and determining the correct cleaning method, such as but not limited to ultrasonic cleaners, mechanical washers, cart washers and chemical cleaning/decontamination agents, as determined by manufacturer instructions
• Inspecting, assembling and determining the correct method and packaging for sterilization such as but not limited to steam, Sterrad, Steris, ETO, and high level disinfecting scope reprocessors
• Demonstrated KSAs: In addition to the above prescribed experience and/or education, applicants must demonstrate the following knowledge, skills, and abilities: Knowledge of surgical instruments used in operating rooms and clinic settings
• Knowledge of universal precautions for safety and prevention of cross contamination
• Possess working knowledge of medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, microbiology, medical conditions and procedures
• Possess knowledge of sterility principles in regards to instrumentation
• Ability to read and interpret written instructions and procedures
• Reference: VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G47 The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-06
• The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-06
• Physical Requirements: Work is performed in various settings: decontamination, preparation, clean sterile supply (preparation), gastrointestinal intestinal endoscope reprocessing hub, and in other services and departments throughout the medical facility/campus
• May be required to work in areas that are hot, cold, drafty and poorly lighted
• Requires proper body mechanics when standing for up to 8 hours per day and walking during the entire workday and frequent bending and lifting of packages/instrument trays should height (occasionally weighing as much as 50 pounds)
• Requires dexterity and visual acuity for manipulating, disassembly and assembly of instrumentation
• On a regular and recurring basis, the employee alternates between a contaminated environment and a carefully controlled clean environment
• The employee wears special clothing, hair covers, personal protective equipment and shoe covers that can be uncomfortably warm
• Uses insulated gloves to remove carts from sterilizers, subject to burns form accidentally touching hot items
• The hazards of working around minute quantities of sterilizing gases are unknown
• Often works around body fluids, mucous, excretions and bits of tissue, some of which may be foul smelling
• Strong, unpleasant odors are encountered while decontaminating bloody or grossly contaminated instrumentation or RME
• The work area is noisy due to the clatter of metal instruments, rumbling of carts and operation of pre-sterilizing equipment
• Will require reading on a computer screen and other documents
• Corrected vision via glasses or contacts is appropriate and use of a hearing aid or other device to correct hearing to within normal adult frequencies is allowed and appropriate
• Use of fingers to type on computer keyboard, sign documents, etc
• is required.