Health Technician (Home Health Aid)

Summary

This position is located at the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the Rehabilitation, Extended and Community Care (RECC) Division. This position is for the Community Homes, which is a 30 bed unit that is set up as 3 homes, each with 10 beds. The Community Homes consists of some Long-term veterans and some Short-term stay veterans.

Duties

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Major Duties:

The incumbent provides resident-centered care to Veterans in a manner conducive to their comfort and safety. The Health Tech are responsible for assisting the veterans with activities of daily living, attending outings, meal preparations, escorting veterans to appointments over at the hospital, and assisting with activities. The Community Homes are a home like environment for the veterans. Duties include, but not limited to the following:

• Provides resident centered care to Veterans in a manner conductive to the comfort and safety of those in the homes.
• Protect, sustain, and nurture the resident by providing assistance with activities of daily living, and with other needs as required.
• Work with the resident and interdisciplinary team in autonomous roles without constant and direct supervision.
• Monitor temperatures of appliances in the kitchen.
• Monitor appetites and food intake of residents and for obtaining and recording weights as outlined by the Clinical Support Team.
• Ensures all areas of the residence, indoors and outdoors, are clean and presentable.
• Creates the team schedule in collaboration with team, providing required staff coverage, time off, and adhering to overtime policies.
• Ensures that care has been provided and that documentation has been completed as outlined in the residents' care plans.
• Helps Recreational Therapy carry out recreational activities in the homes, outdoors and off-station.
• Performs comprehensive nursing care for medical, long term care, and/or dementia residents in the rehabilitative process.
• Recognizes, records, and reports behavior which indicates disorientation to time, place, person, and situation.
• Prepares and serve food in the homes.
• Encourages residents to follow and participate in plan of care.
• Identifies, reports, appropriately intervenes, and/or assists with interventions in potential/actual psychiatric emergency situations.
• Responsible for escorting veterans to the hospital for appointments.

Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level.

Work Schedule: NOCs (2300-0730), holidays and weekend rotation

Compressed/Flexible: Not available

Telework: Not available

Position Description/PD#: Health Technician (Home Health Aid)/PD13250A

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not available

Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not available

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not available

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the 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
• Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required.
• 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 (). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary 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 probationary period period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 02/17/2026.

***Drivers License Required***

GS-6 Specialized Experience: Must have at least one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade (GS-5) in the Federal Service that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the Health Technician. Specialized experience is experience that required application of the knowledge, methods, and techniques related to the position and includes, but is not limited to: working as a Certified Nursing Assistant applying resident-centered principles to implement nursing care and resolve recurring challenges; observing residents physical and emotional response to care and treatment; using computers to communicate by utilizing computerized records and Outlook; prepares meal coordinating several menu items; labels, arrange completed food items following guidelines; knowledge of chemicals and equipment for cleaning and maintaining of residents' environment.

OR

GS-6 Education: Must have successfully completed one-half year of graduate education (9 semester hours or equivalent), or an internship in course matter with a major that included courses directly related to the work of the Health Technician position. This education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university. Note: You must submit a copy of your transcript (unofficial or official) or a course listing that identifies for each course completed: the college or university, semester or quarter hours earned, grade, and grade-point average received. Education cannot be credited without documentation.

OR

GS-6 Combination of Specialized Experience and Education: Must have an equivalent combination of related graduate level education and specialized experience to meet the total experience requirements. (Transcripts Required).

GS-7 Specialized Experience: Must have at least one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade (GS-6) in the Federal Service that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the Health Technician. Specialized experience is experience that required application of the knowledge, methods, and techniques related to the position and includes, but is not limited to: working as a Certified Nursing Assistant applying resident-centered principles to implement nursing care and resolve recurring challenges; properly using equipment, material, and supplies in a large variety of diagnostic and treatment procedures for the purpose of implementing care; observing residents physical and emotional response to care and treatment; using computers to communicate by utilizing computerized records and Outlook; knowledge of the aging process for adults through geriatric year with the ability to recognize deviations from normal aging process; understanding the human body structure, functions, illness and disease, and the treatment procedures for the purpose of communicating with nurses, staff, and residents; prepares meal coordinating several menu items; labels, arrange completed food items following guidelines; knowledge of chemicals and equipment for cleaning and maintaining of residents' environment; uses appropriate cleaning agents and germicidal solutions to remove stains from a wide variety of surfaces.

OR

GS-7 Education: Must have successfully completed one full year of graduate education (18 semester hours or equivalent), or an internship in course matter with a major that included courses directly related to the work of the Health Technician position. This education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university. Note: You must submit a copy of your transcript (unofficial or official) or a course listing that identifies for each course completed: the college or university, semester or quarter hours earned, grade, and grade-point average received. Education cannot be credited without documentation.

OR

GS-7 Combination of Specialized Experience and Education: Must have an equivalent combination of related graduate level education and specialized experience to meet the total experience requirement. (Transcripts Required)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.

Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities.

Physical Requirements: The work requires walking, standing, bending, lifting and carrying of light items, such as food trays, instruction materials, books, and manuals. NCC Associate functions require long periods of sitting and moving about in an office environment, including repetitive motion activities of the hands and fingers for extensive keyboard and computer mouse use, and office tasks such as answering and holding a telephone and writing. The work may require walking indoors, outdoors or to and from other areas of the medical center. It may be necessary to lift and/or push equipment. Incumbent is subject to periods continuous standing, sitting, walking and frequent stooping, reaching, pushing, pulling, and bending. Frequently lifts or moves objects weighing up to 20 pounds.

You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at .

Education

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: . 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: .

Additional information

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.

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. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. 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.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified: applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at .

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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