Medical Instrument Technician (Electrocardiograph Technician) - 1A Medical - Telemetry Unit

Description:

The electrocardiograph technician is a member of the Nursing team. He or she adheres to medical center policies and guidelines of practice the monitor technician is a clinical/technical specialist who provides cardiac monitoring and directed patient care under the supervision of the RN. This position requires skill and proficiency in interpreting, assessment, and evaluation of the patient receiving telemetry monitoring in the inpatient setting. This position requires flexibility in scheduling.

Requirements:

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.
• EDUCATION: There are no specific educational requirements at this grade level for this occupation .
• ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY: Medical Instrument Technicians must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), and 7407(d).
• LICENSURE OR CERTIFICATION: Licensure or Certification is not required for this occupation; however, Basic and Advanced Cardiac Life Support certifications are desirable are strongly desirable at GS-6 or above as evidence of possession of the essential knowledge, skills, and abilities.
• Grandfathering Provision : Applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria may qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation.

Grade Determinations :

GS 6 Experience: At least 1 year of experience comparable to the next lower grade level (GS-5), which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics related to the duties of the positions to be filled. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
1. Ability to recognize special patient needs such as disabilities, impaired mobility, and complicating medical conditions in order to prepare and position the patient for the prescribed procedure.
2. Knowledge of the specialized equipment and accessories appropriate to Holter monitoring and ability to perform such tests.
3. Knowledge of universal precautions and sterilization techniques and ability to follow CDC guidelines in cleaning equipment.
4. Ability to monitor the patient for adverse reactions and take appropriate action.
5. Ability to operate the equipment to perform standard and routine highly specialized procedures including exercise stress testing.

CERTIFICATION : No certification is required; however, it is desirable that employees at this level have BCLS (Basic Cardiac Life Support) certification.

Assignment. Medical instrument technicians (EKG) at this level receive and interpret physician's requests for diagnostic procedures and/or treatments; explain the procedure to the patient to secure the patient's confidence and cooperation; document the patient's record; independently perform standardized testing monitoring the patient for adverse reactions; and operate, calibrate, and clean and/or sterilize commonly used equipment. Assignments at this level require knowledge of standard medical terminology as well as common diseases and their specific affects.


GS-7 Experience At least 1 year of experience comparable to the next lower grade level (GS-6), which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics related to the duties of the position to be filled. This would be experience which provided knowledge of the equipment, standard tests and procedures, and typical readings including arrhythmias and abnormalities. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities :
1 Knowledge of typical patient reactions and signs of distress including the ability to recognize, report and treat potentially lethal arrhythmias.
2. Knowledge of common equipment settings and standardized procedures plus knowledge of common errors and corrective measures.
3. Ability to modify procedures/positions to obtain the correct results with patients with complicating conditions such as amputations, Parkinson's disease, structural defects, and scar tissue.
4. Ability to act as a mentor or preceptor to lower graded technicians.
5. Ability to conduct in-service training on the EKG equipment and related instrumentation.

Certification . No certification is required; however, it is desirable that employees at this level have BCLS (Basic Cardiac Life Support) and ACLS (Advanced Cardiac Life Support) certifications.

Assignment . This represents the full performance level. Medical instrument technicians (EKG) at this level operate and monitor electrocardiographic equipment to perform specialized examinations and studies involving exercise stress testing, ambulatory monitoring of arrhythmias, and indirect carotid pulse tracings on chronic patients. They monitor tracings to identify arrhythmias and when gross abnormalities appear, when to repeat certain procedures, when to stop test procedures, and when to get the immediate attention of a physician. They evaluate test results to determine appropriate machine adjustments and use alternative techniques and procedures when established procedures do not accomplish acceptable results. This includes adapting equipment and accessories to yield the best results during the examination. They edit and select an appropriate sample portion of the tracing for further interpretation by the physician.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/ .

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-7.

Physical Requirements: The tasks of this position generally require sitting, standing, occasional crouching or kneeling. Moderate lifting may be required to move equipment throughout the Medical Center locations. Considerable manual dexterity and hand-eye coordination are continuously required while performing respiratory therapy procedures. This includes observation of a computer screen. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation demands coordination and stamina.