Jobs for People with MS: National MS Society

Summary The Health Aid serves as the initial contact for all the outpatient areas in the the San Juan, Puerto Rico VA Medical Center. The primary purpose of this position is assist patients on stretchers and wheel chairs and escort them the different clinical areas as well as in and out of the hospital. The Health Aide also serves a contact for Veterans upon arrival, providing customer relation support to the Veteran, their families and general visitors. Responsibilities THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION Duties will include, but may not be limited to the following: Assists patients arriving or leaving the main entrance Medical Center. Helps patients in and out of their vehicle or load and unload patient wheelchairs when necessary. Guides or escorts patients to the appropriate designated clinic. Provides information or assist getting information from qualified personnel. Transports patients via stretchers or wheelchair to designated areas in the hospital and other areas mentioned above. Transports items such as lab specimen, reports, prosthetic items that belong to patient being transported. Maintains equipment clean (wheelchairs) and in designated area. Guides ambulatory patients and/or visitors to hospital's clinics administrative offices, programs, or activities. Answers to rescue calls from all outpatient areas. Provides escort service coverage to the lab clinic in Fort Buchannan or another outside clinic when necessary. Performs all duties as assigned. DESIGNATED DRUG-TESTING POSITION: 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. Applicants will not be appointed to the position if a verified positive drug test result is received. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday; 8am to 4:30pm Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized. Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved. Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required. Requirements 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 You may be required to serve a probationary period Subject to background/security investigation Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP) Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details. Qualifications ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY: In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), No person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English. You must be proficient in basic written and spoken English in order to meet the requirements of this position. AND This position includes a Selective Placement Factor (skill, knowledge, ability or other worker characteristic basic to - and essential for - satisfactory performance of the job). Selective Placement Factors are a prerequisite to appointment and represent minimum requirements for a position. Applicants who do not meet it are ineligible for further consideration. The Selective Placement Factor for this position is: Proficiency in both written and spoken Spanish. NOTE: Applicants must possess the ability to speak and write fluently and proficiently in Spanish in order to receive consideration for this position. Applicant's inability to proficiently speak and write in Spanish will result in an ineligible rating. The hiring facility will interview or test to evaluate the applicant's ability to write and speak in Spanish. proficiency in both written and spoken Spanish. In addition to meeting the English Proficiency and Selective Placement Factor, to qualify for this position, you must meet one of the following: A. SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: At least six (6) months of general experience. General experience is (1) Any type of work that demonstrates the applicant's ability to perform the work of the position, or (2) experience that provided a familiarity with the subject matter or processes of the broad subject area of the occupation. General experience includes aiding in a healthcare or other patient care or personal care environment. NOTE: Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. OR B. EDUCATION: Successfully completed one (1) full year of education above high school level that included study in medical, health, or related fields. This education must have been obtained in an accredited business or technical school, junior college, college, or university for which high school graduation or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite. NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. OR C. COMBINATION: Equivalent combination of successfully completed post-high school education and general experience, as listed above. NOTE: Your experience must be documented in your resume and transcripts are required. You will be rated on the following Competencies as part of the assessment questionnaire for this position: Computer Skills Customer Service (Clerical/Technical) Patient Care IMPORTANT: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. All experience listed on your resume must include the month and year start/end dates. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such 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; religious; 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. Physical Requirements: The position requires long periods of standing and walking, bending, stretching, and pushing on a recurrent basis. It also requires visual and auditory acuity at a level to enable the incumbent to perform his/her duties. The incumbent must keep his/her uniform clean and neat in appearance and must report to duty promptly as scheduled. When working at the main information desk the position requires sitting for at least 2 hours. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/. Education IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on 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: Recognition of Foreign Qualifications | International Affairs Office (ed.gov). Additional Information Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed. Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Schedule A, Appointment of persons with disabilities (i.e., intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities), and/or disabled veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. For more information on how to apply using this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator within the office, contact the facility Human Resources Department at (787) 641-7582. The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation and be found well-qualified (have a final rating of 85 or more before any Veterans preference points) for this vacancy. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. Pursuant to VHA Directive 1193.01, VHA health care personnel (HCP) are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 subject to such accommodations as required by law (i.e., medical, religious or pregnancy). VHA HCPs do not include remote workers who only infrequently enter VHA locations. If selected, you will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination before your start date. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required accommodation from this requirement using the reasonable accommodation process. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.