Psychiatric Nursing Assistant

This Nursing Assistant position is within the Nursing, Operations service at VA Central Western Massachusetts Healthcare System in Leeds, MA.

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

The Nursing Assistant (NA) performs basic nursing duties under close supervision in a variety of health care settings such as inpatient, outpatient, Community Living Center (CLC), Acute Mental Health/Detox, and Resident Rehabilitation Treatment Programs (RRTP). The NA will care for patients/residents with acute to chronic conditions.

• Becoming proficient with maintaining positive therapeutic relationships by displaying respect for human dignity with patient, families, and/or significant others utilizing communication skills.
• Utilize observation skills for data collection, reporting, and recording.
• Participate in patient centered conferences/shift reports, and contributing information for the development and review of the nursing care plan.
• Maintain a therapeutic environment for patients according to established procedures and policies by reporting actual or potential accidents, fire hazards, and faulty equipment.
• Competent with performing aspects of nursing care to meet patients/residents needs for:
  • Personal Hygiene
  • Physical Comfort
  • Activity, Exercise, Rest
  • Nutrition
  • Elimination
  • Prevention of Skin Breakdown
  • Rehabilitative Aspects of Care
• Performing and documenting prescribed medical treatment and interventions for patients, such as diabetic urine testing and blood testing, simple dressing changes.
• Learning to be proficient with the utilizing rehabilitative principles to promote patient independence and recovery, encouraging and guiding patient/resident in bowel and bladder training.
• Monitors patients according to levels of observation i.e. (one to one, continuous observation, Q 15-minute checks, and safety rounding).
• Monitor Veterans who may be at risk for harming themselves and or others according to established policies and procedures and appropriately refers issues to the charge nurse or other healthcare professionals.
• Reports patient status to the RN and documents pertinent observations in the medical record according to established procedures.
• Sets up patient care related equipment, such as respiratory/oxygen delivery systems, portable and wall suction and assisting in monitoring proper function of equipment.
• Utilizes glucose monitoring machine to collect glucose values on veterans when needed and refer deviations to appropriate nursing staff or other health care professionals.
• Utilize Bladder Scanner to collect information for RN and Provider as ordered.
• Utilize ECG to collect information for RN and Provider as ordered.- Organizing and obtaining routine supplies and equipment.
• Safeguarding the patient's right to privacy by judiciously protecting information of a confidential nature.
• Utilizes principles of proper body mechanics whiling caring for patients and follows procedures for use of patient care equipment to prevent injury.
• Performs other duties as assigned by a supervisor/manager within their scope of work.

Work Schedule: 7:30am to 4:00pm with rotating days off, holidays and weekends
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not authorized
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not authorized
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 #: 631-F08228
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized

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.
• Experience or Education or Training.
  • Six months of general experience. Experience must demonstrate the ability to acquire the knowledge and skills to perform the work of a NA; OR
  • One year of education above high school with courses related to the NA occupation; OR
  • 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).

Grade Requirements.

• Creditable Experience.
  • Knowledge of Current Practice. To be creditable, the experience must have required the use of knowledge, skills, and abilities associated with the current practice.
  • Quality of Experience. To be creditable, NA experience must be documented on the application or resume and verified in an employment reference, or through other independent means.
  • Part-Time Experience. Part-time experience as a NA is creditable according to its relationship to the full-time workweek. For example, a NA employed 20 hours a week, or on a 1/2-time basis, would receive 1 full time workweek of credit for each 2 weeks of service.

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)
  • Experience and Education. None beyond the basic requirements.
  • Assignments. Individuals assigned as GS-3 NAs are considered to be at the entry level and are closely supervised
• GS-4 NA (Intermediate or Developmental Level)
  • 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
  • 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
  • Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs). In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:
    • Ability to provide a range of patient/resident care and contribute to the completion of the nurse care plan and recovery of patients/residents.
    • Ability to observe patients/residents' or resident's physical or emotional status and refer deviations and/or problems to supervisor in a timely manner.
    • Ability to properly use equipment, materials and supplies in simple diagnostic and treatment procedures such as bladder scan, continuous passive motion device, blood glucose monitoring machine, specimen collection, etc.
    • Ability to communicate effectively with patients/residents, their families and other health professionals.
  • Assignment.
    • Individuals assigned as GS-4 NAs are considered to be at the intermediate or developmental level and are closely supervised. NAs at this grade level function as a member of the nursing care team and assist higher graded NAs, licensed nursing staff, and other members of the care team in the care of patients/residents receiving outpatient care, home or community living care or other patients/residents who are in acute, sub-acute, or chronic states of illness.
• GS-5 NA (Full Performance Level).
  • 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. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the professional KSAs listed; OR
  • 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
  • Demonstrated KSAs.
    • Ability to assist in the full range of nursing care to patients/residents with physical and/or behavioral problems in a hospital, long-term care or outpatient setting under the direction of a Registered Nurse and/or Licensed Vocational Nurse/Licensed Practical Nurse.
    • Ability to communicate orally with patients/residents, families, interdisciplinary team and other personnel. This includes serving as a preceptor to new NAs by assisting with the coordination of their orientation and overseeing/assessing their practical experience while in a clinical setting.
    • Ability to recognize and react to emergent patient/resident care situations and intervene while waiting for assistance. For example, recognizing need for basic life support, controlling bleeding and assisting with behavior crisis, etc.
  • Assignment.
    • This is the full performance level for NAs. NAs at this grade level function as a member of the nursing care team and assist licensed nursing staff in the care of patients/residents receiving outpatient care, home or community living care or other patients/residents who are in acute, sub acute or chronic states of illness.

Preferred Experience: Mental Health Psychiatric Nursing Assistant experience preferred.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS5. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS3 to GS5.

Physical Requirements: Work involves varying periods of sitting, standing and walking. Working with Veterans/residents requires bending, stooping, teaching, lifting, balancing, kneeling, pushing, i.e., wheelchairs, geri-chairs, litters and similar activities. Also, it may be necessary to perform such activities as CPR and psychiatric intervention at a unit-specific level. An employee assigned to this position description may be assigned to work any shift.

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:

• 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.
• 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.

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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

• 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 examination.
• 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.