Respiratory Therapist
What you'd do
About the Position: This position falls under the Defense Health Agency Atlantic Network, at the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth under the Directorate of Medicine-Respiratory Therapy, providing respiratory care throughout all areas of assignment including C-section and complicated deliveries. This is a Direct Hire Solicitation
Major duties
As a senior respiratory therapist, the incumbent serves as the therapist in charge of various critical care units to which assigned and will be held responsible for providing treatment to seriously ill patient and emergency conditions. Provide respiratory care throughout all areas of assignment including, but not limited to, multi-service wards, Adult, Pediatric, and Neonatal Intensive Care Units, Emergency Department, Level II Trauma Center. Initiate, conduct, modify, and assist with emergency therapy techniques for airway maintenance including cardiopulmonary resuscitation to avoid patient decline or demise. Provide innovative and adaptive approaches in the use of respiratory therapy devices and therapies when standardized items or techniques cannot be used. Serve as the first assistant in bronchoscopy, demonstrating understanding of all facets of bronchoscopy procedures, including function and maintenance of the bronchoscope and associated tools, and suction equipment. Participate in multidisciplinary critical care rounds, offering technical expertise on respiratory support devices, patients management for respiratory illness, and established respiratory care policies and procedures. Provide comprehensive airway and tube care to ICU patients, tracheostomy site care, endotracheal and tracheostomy changes, monitors cuff pressures, ensures ventilator and equipment function, and performs tracheobronchial suctioning. Serve as an advisor/technical resource for established polices/procedures for respiratory care. The medical personnel rely upon the therapist’s knowledge of capabilities and limitations of the respiratory equipment. Independently make recommendations to the physician regarding alternatives or modifications to treatment. Under the technical director’s auspices, serve as preceptor to new respiratory staff and train other personnel as needed on respiratory treatments, medications, equipment, and safety protocols. Responsible for verifying/reviewing ventilator and respiratory therapy orders. Use critical thinking skills to determine what procedure and equipment is necessary during active respiratory failure and lifesaving situations.
What you need to qualify
Who May Apply: US Citizens In order to qualify, you must meet the education and/or experience requirements described below. 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). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document. Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience which includes, 1) Making rounds on hospital nursing units to review or collect clinical data to insure that the respiratory equipment is operating properly and in compliance with physicians' orders; 2) Transporting, setting up, or testing the operation of and changing simple oxygen administering devices, e.g., masks and nasal cannulas with cylinder or centralized medical gas systems; and 3) Disassembling, cleaning, assembling, and sterilizing reusable respiratory equipment such as oxygen analyzers and regulators, including recognizing and reporting variations from expected results. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the next lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-06). OR Education: One full year of graduate level education in a field directly related to the work of the position, such as Respiratory Therapy. OR Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) by 18. Add the two percentages.
Before you apply
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