Lead Medical Supply Technician; Sterile Processing

Overview

The Eastern Oklahoma VA Healthcare System seeks a Lead Medical Supply Technician (Sterile Processing) for the Sterile Processing Service. The Lead MST distributes and prioritizes workload, monitors work status, and ensures SOP compliance. Duties include assessing work quality, training staff on reprocessing reusable medical equipment (RME), assembling complex instrument sets, troubleshooting equipment, and ensuring proper sterilization methods — all contributing to veteran health and safety.

• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.
• Basic Requirements
• Citizenship:
  Citizen of the United States (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Handbook 5005 - Part II - Chapter 3 - Section A - paragraph 3g.)
• Experience and/or
  
  Education:
  
  Six months of experience that demonstrates the applicant’s ability to perform the work or provides an understanding of the work, or
  
  Education:
  
  One year above high school that included at least 6 semester hours in health care related courses such as sterile processing, nursing assistant, hospital corpsman, operating room and surgical technician courses or other courses related to the position, or Experience/Education Combination:
  Equivalent combination of experience and education are qualifying for entry level for which both education and experience are acceptable.
• Certification:
  None
• Foreign
  
  Education:
  
  To be creditable, education completed outside the U.S. must have been submitted to a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign educational credentials and deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. programs.
• English Language Proficiency: MSTs must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with chapter 3 - section A - paragraph 3j.
• Grade Determinations:
  The following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates for GS-07 Lead Medical Supply Technician (Sterile Processing):
  One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-6);
  Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs):
• Ability to instruct staff on the correct procedures and protocols for completing assignments
• Skill in communicating with staff to ensure compliance with written directives, rules and regulations
• Skill in interpersonal relationships in dealing with employees, team leaders, and managers
• Knowledge of sterility principles to instruct staff on decontamination procedures
• Ability to lead individuals, manage priorities, and schedule work assignments
• Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, visit https://(Use the "Apply for this Job" box below). Standards/
• This vacancy is above the full performance level

• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement
• Johnstown/Tulsa (James Mountain Inhofe VAMC) – Total Rewards of an Allied Health Professional; serves as the trainer/educator for all RME
• Receives, disassembles, and inspects reusable medical, dental, and surgical instruments and equipment for damage
• Removes soil, blood, tissue fragments, body fluids, and other gross contaminants by wiping, soaking, rinsing, scrubbing, and using ultrasound equipment
• Loads and operates washer/disinfector, cart washer, and sterilizers
• Removes items from washer/disinfector and determines the type of tray or set to assemble based on recognition of key items and the operating room and clinic schedules
• Examines items to ensure that gross contamination has been removed
• Assembles sets and trays by selecting the appropriate tray, lining it with a towel, and arranging instruments in the tray correctly
• Must assemble a full range of sets and trays used throughout the medical center, including those used in the operating room
• Assembles delicate microsurgical sets (e.g., micro-surgical ear set, ENT, plastic surgery, micro-surgical eye instruments)
• Assembles and selects the correct sterilizing method for a variety of costly and delicate equipment such as flexible colonoscopies, gastroscopes, bronchoscopes, Choledochoscopes, Resectoscope, and other…