Clarification from the agency

All U.S. Citizens. *Area of consideration order is current, permanent federal employees of the hiring Healthcare System, then current, permanent federal employees VISN 2, finally all others. *Critical shortage occupation 38 U.S.C 74 12 waives the requirement to apply Veterans preference to ALL external applicants for this job announcement. NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Come Join Our Team! The Veterans Health Administration VISN 2 is looking for multiple Nursing Assistants (NAs). This position assists licensed nursing staff in the care of patients/residents receiving preventative, acute, sub-acute, chronic and hospice care. The Nursing Assistant may perform these duties in a variety of health care settings to include to outpatient, inpatient, home or community, living care, acute and sub-acute. The NA will care for patients/residents with acute to chronic conditions.

Duties include but are not limited to:

• Performs nursing procedures within scope of practice and according to policies and standard procedures to care for the Veteran.
• Documents care given, observations and responses on appropriate tools or forms.
• Responds appropriately to subtle patient changes by contacting the appropriate nursing personnel.
• Utilizes equipment to promote the veteran self-care, such as lift equipment and Veteran/Resident Wandering System.
• Removes defective equipment, reports hazards, observes safety regulations, contributes to infection control, and utilizes proper aseptic technique in performance of duties.
• Participates in maintaining a clean, safe environment for the patient/resident.
• Manages disruptive patient behavior, appropriately intervenes and requests assistant from other health care members.
• Orients members of the health care team to the units as appropriate.
• This position may require occasional travel within the hiring Healthcare System with potential to cross cover at Community Based Outpatient Clinics within the commuting area and/or potential travel to trainings and/or conferences may occur.

Work Schedule: A variety of work schedules are available; Work schedule will be determined upon selection. NOTE: May be expected to work rotating weekends and holidays.
Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): May be authorized for certain locations.
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized
EDRP Incentives: May be authorized for certain locations.
Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases. When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade).
Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year)
Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience.
Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.
Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66.
Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA
Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 000000
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• 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.
• Must pass pre-employment physical evaluation.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

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.

NOTE: Your resume must include job title, duties listed for each position, month and year start/end dates, AND hours worked per week.

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.
• Experience or Education or Training.
• (1) Six months of general experience. Experience must demonstrate the ability to acquire the knowledge and skills to perform the work of a NA; OR,
• (2) One year of education above high school with courses related to the NA occupation; OR,
• (3) Completion of an intensive, specialized, occupation-related training course of study or program of less than one year as a NA may also meet in full the experience requirements for GS-3.
• English Language Proficiency. NAs must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, part II, chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j.

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).

Grandfathering Provisions. All NAs employed in VHA on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the series and grade held that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all the basic requirements required in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it, the following provisions apply:
1) Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed, on a temporary or permanent basis, until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard.
2) If an employee who was retained (grandfathered) under this provision leaves the occupation, the employee loses protected status of the grandfathering provision and must meet the full VA qualification standard basic requirements in effect at the time of re-entry to the occupation.

Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates.

GS-3 NA (Entry Level)
(a) Experience and Education. None beyond the basic requirements.
(b) Assignments. Individuals assigned as GS-3 NAs are considered to be at the entry level and are closely supervised.

GS-4
(a) Experience. One year of specialized experience as a NA or experience in another medical field (licensed practical nurse, health technician, hospital corpsman, etc.), performing technical and nursing skills requiring knowledge of the human physical and emotional states, therapeutic communication, and technical skills required for basic and intermediate treatments; OR,
(b) Education. Successful completion of 2 years above high school in an accredited institution with courses related to nursing care, health care or in a field of study appropriate to the specialization of the position, such as education in a program for psychology, psychiatric, or operating room technicians; AND,
(c) Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs). In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:
GS-5 (Full Performance Level)
(a) Experience: One year of progressively responsible assignments and experience equivalent to the GS-4 level which demonstrates knowledge, skills, and abilities that are directly related to the specific assignment; OR,
(b) Education: Successful completion of a 4-year course of study above high school leading to a bachelor's degree that included 24 semester hours of courses related to health care or possession of a bachelor's degree; AND,
(c) Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs): In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:
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-5. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-3 to GS-5.

Physical Requirements: Requires potentially long periods of continued walking, standing, stooping, sitting, bending, pulling, and pushing. This position also requires visual acuity, keen hearing, clear distinctive speech, and manual dexterity. Transferring patients and objects may be required. The NA many be exposed to infected patients and contaminated materials and may be required to don protective clothing in isolation situation or during procedures. The NA may be exposed to patients who are combative secondary to delirium, dementia, or psychiatric disorders. The NA must be mature, flexible, sensible individual capable of working effectively in stressful situations, able to shift priorities based on patient needs. The NA must obtain and maintain appropriate level of PMDB training for area of assignment. The NA must complete annual employee health requirements, such as annual TB screening or testing, as a condition of employment. These physical requirements will be consistent with VA Directive Handbook 5019.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

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.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:

• Resume

Special Note for Applications: To complete your application, please use the following link https://vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Resume.docx to download the standard Clinical Resume Document. This one-page document does not need to be modified and must be uploaded into the two-page restricted 'Resume' document upload field.

Your full resume/CV may be uploaded without page limitation into the 'Other' document upload field.

The following documents are accepted, and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position. Please ensure you have included all documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50's (current/former Federal employees), etc.

• Cover Letter
• DD-214/ Statement of Service
• Disability Letter (Schedule A)
• Disability Letter (VA)
• License
• Other Resume/CV
• Other (2)
• PCS Orders
• Professional Certification
• Proof of Marriage Status
• Resume
• SF-15
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

Next steps