Pharmacy Technician

The VA Long Beach VA Health Care System is recruiting for (1) Pharmacy Technician within Pharmacy Service. The incumbent serves as a Pharmacy Technician in the Inpatient Pharmacy Service, under the supervision of a Registered Pharmacist. The incumbent will provide innovative and progressive pharmaceutical care to Veterans. The position function will include ensuring appropriate, safe and accurate medications are dispensed to Veterans in an efficient manner. EDUCATION: Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/ . If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/ . RESPONSIBILITIES: VA Careers - Pharmacy : https://youtube.com/embed/Fn_ickNBEws

The Pharmacy Technician will serve primary in the inpatient pharmacy areas and provide a range of medication management and administrative services to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the professional staff by performing the following scope of assigned duties but are not limited to:

Maintains extensive knowledge of clinical medications, safety rules and regulations, and monitoring parameters as required

Performs a variety of complex technical functions following USP-797 and USP-800 that include preparing parenteral admixtures (large and small volume), piggybacks, pre-filled syringes, and ready-to-use admixtures, besides labeling and delivering, in a timely manner, all sterile piggybacks and admixtures used in this Medical Center

Accurately interprets, fills, and readies prescriptions with appropriate medications for pharmacist verification

Delivers medications and pharmacy supplies, including non-hazardous, hazardous, and controlled substances, for use in different hospital units and clinics and ensures those products are received and stored appropriately (e.g., refrigeration and medication room). Upon delivery, the incumbent must also remove any discontinued or expired medications and/ or sterile preparations from the wards/clinics to be returned to the pharmacy for proper disposition (redistribution, return for credit, or disposal)

Ability to resolve pharmacy/medication issues with other members of the healthcare team and Veterans by regularly acting as the first-line communication between the pharmacy service and medical staff to serve patients' needs either in-person or over a communication device (e.g., telephone, Vocera, MS Teams, pagers, etc.). The incumbent may answer routine questions from other healthcare providers regarding the delivery of medication orders and the availability of drugs and dosage forms stocked at the facility. Questions pertaining to professional areas such as chemistry, pharmacology, patients' clinical needs, and specific or complex drug information will be deferred to a pharmacist

Actively participates in the Daily Management System (DMS). Reports on performance improvement activities' progress, monitor metrics and participates in departmental meetings

Maintains comprehensive knowledge of concepts, principles, methodology, and policies in the non-hazardous and hazardous sterile compounding area. Additionally, the incumbent should be able to evaluate, analyze, and coordinate workflow and work activities related to non-hazardous sterile compounding

Work Schedule : Variable shifts

Telework : Not Available

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement # : 000000

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives : Not Authorized

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized 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 :

Citizenship . Be a citizen of the United States. Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7407(a).

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).

Grandfathering Provision . Pharmacy technicians employed in VHA on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series and grade held, including positive education and licensure/certification/registration that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all the basic requirements 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 may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journey) level or changed to lower grade within the occupation but may not be promoted beyond the journeyman level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions.

(2) Employees in an occupation that requires a licensure/certification/ registration only at higher grade levels must meet the licensure/ certification/registration requirement before they can be promoted to those higher grade levels.

(3) 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.

(4) Employees who are converted to title 38 hybrid status under this provision and subsequently leave the occupation lose protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of re-entry to the occupation.

(5) Employees initially grandfathered into this occupation who subsequently obtain additional education and/or licensure/certification/registration that meet all the basic requirements of this qualification standard must maintain the required credentials as a condition of employment in the occupation.

Foreign Education . To be creditable, education completed outside the U.S. must be deemed at least equivalent to that gained in a conventional U.S. program by a private organization specializing in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials.

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 : Pharmacy Technician, GS-08

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. OR

(b) NHA as a ExCPT.

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:

(a) 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.

(b) Skill in training and orienting new and existing pharmacy facility employees and students on proper policies and procedures.

(c) 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.

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-08.

Physical Requirements: The work requires regular and recurring physical exertion, involving standing/sitting for prolonged periods of time, lifting/carrying of pharmaceutical supplies weighing up to 40 lbs., and bending/stooping. The work may entail repetitive wrist movement while using various size syringes, vial cap removal, and typing. SALARY: QuantitativeValue EMPLOYMENT TYPE: Other