Pharmacy Technician (Chemotherapy)

Description:

The Primary Purpose of the Position is: To ensure compounded sterile preparations for non-hazardous, antineoplastic, and hazardous drugs have been appropriately prepared using aseptic technique, and verified in accordance with applicable regulatory standards,
VHA Regulations, Medical Center Policies, and standard operating procedures.

Position will require travel and support care for Me Program to and from Garland VA Medical Center up to 100% of the time.

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 or Experience.
  (1) None required.
  (2) For all grade levels and positions that accept both education and experience to qualify, equivalent combinations of qualifying education and experience that total at least 100% are qualifying. The combined percentage is determined by adding total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level to the education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level.
• Certification. For positions above the full performance level, the employee must pass a national certification exam and hold an active national certification through either:
  (1) Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB), Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT).
  OR
  (2) National Healthcareer Association (NHA), Certified Pharmacy Technician (ExCPT).
• English Language Proficiency. Pharmacy Technician candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).

May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria).

Grade Determinations :

Experience. Candidates must possess one year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level and demonstrate the KSAs below.

Certification. For positions above the full performance level, the employee must pass a national certification exam and hold an active national certification through either:

(a) PTCB as a CPhT. https://ptcb.org/
OR
(b) NHA as a ExCPT. https://www.nhanow.com/

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs for all GS-08 assignments and meet any additional KSAs for the assignment, if indicated:

• Comprehensive knowledge of concepts, principles, methodology and policies in a specialized area or section of pharmacy (such as sterile compounding, controlled substances, automation, clinical pharmacy, contact center, etc.) Note: See Specialized Area.in the Definitions Section.
• Skill in training and orienting new and existing pharmacy facility employees and students on proper policies and procedures.
• Ability to evaluate, analyze and coordinate workflow and work activities within a specialized area or section of the pharmacy.

Assignments. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity and range of variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. Pharmacy technicians at this level have a higher level of responsibility for specialized areas of pharmacy and are expected to independently carry out assigned tasks of considerable difficulty. Pharmacy technicians at this grade level may be appointed to one of the following assignments:

Pharmacy Technician . Pharmacy technicians in this assignment specialize in areas such as sterile compounding, oncology, controlled substances, medication history review, clinical specialist (anticoagulation, pain, infectious diseases), clinical informatics, automation, immunizations and any other specialized area in the advancement of the profession. The pharmacy technician will serve as a subject matter expert and key resource in the day-to-day technician duties of the specialized area. The technician will be performing assignments such as compounding sterile products, filling controlled substance prescriptions while maintaining compliance with Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) regulations, taking medication histories and counseling patients, managing automation, managing workflow and training and orienting staff in the specialized area.

Preferred Experience:

• 2 years of hospital pharmacy experience within last 5 years
• 2 years of chemotherapy compounding experience within last 5 years
• 1 year of VA inpatient hospital experience within last 2 years
• IV/chemo certification

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 8.

Physical Requirements: Moderate lifting: (15-44 pounds); Moderate Carrying (15-44 pounds); Straight Pulling (less
than 30 minutes); Pushing (less than 30 minutes); Reaching above shoulder; Use of fingers;
Both hands required; Walking (up to 6 hours); Standing (up to 6 hours); Repeated bending
(up to 1 hour); Ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously; Near vision
correctable at 13" to 16"; Hearing (aid permitted).