Pharmacy Technician - Controlled Substances

Description:

The incumbent is responsible for assuring facility (West/East Campus) compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, directives, policies, and procedures applying to the dispensing, storage, transfer, inventory and accountability of controlled substances. They are also responsible for checking the work of other technicians working in the inpatient or outpatient pharmacy who are processing controlled substances.

Requirements:

Preferred Experience: Possess a current Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT) or ExCPT with an understanding of the goals, objectives and performance measures associated with Pharmacy Operations. 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. Education or Experience: A high school diploma or equivalent; or at least 3 months experience. Certification: Certification by the National Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) or National Health Career Association (NHA)? is required at grades GS-7 and above. English Language Proficiency: Pharmacy technicians appointed to direct patient care positions must be proficient in spoken and written English. Grade Determinations: GS-8 Level: One year experience at the next lower level, and must fully meet the KSAs at the next lower level.
-Knowledge of pharmacy technician principles, practices, concepts and theories providing for sound independent work.
-Knowledge of the computerized prescription process and input of prescriptions and medication orders or electronic equivalent.
-Ability to resolve pharmacy/medication issues with other members of the healthcare team, Veterans and external customers.
-Ability to train developmental pharmacy technicians and students.
-Ability to dispense medication or sterile products following all regulations, policies and procedures to ensure safe medication distribution.
-Ability to troubleshoot automated dispensing equipment (ADE) or technology platforms/databases
In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following technical KSAs.
-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.)
-Skill in training and orienting new and existing pharmacy facility employees and students on proper policies and procedures.
-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 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.

Certification: PTCB or NHA certification is required at this grade level and above.

Physical Requirements: Employees are typically expected to work forty hours per week. This may include evenings, midnights, weekends and/or holidays as assigned. Principle duties require repetitive use of hands and fingers (e.g., preparing IV admixtures, use of a computer keyboard, etc.). May require lifting and carrying light loads (up to 44Ibs.), including boxes, equipment, unit dose-cassettes, and IV solutions; stooping or kneeling (e.g., to pick up items from the floor, remove and replace items on lower shelves, and to file documents in lower file drawers, etc.); sitting, walking, or standing for long periods of time (4-8 hours). Normal ranges of hearing and vision are required to perform work and communicate effectively; must have the visual ability to distinguish between basic colors and shades of color. An ability to perform tasks requiring rapid mental and muscular coordination functions simultaneously is necessary. Employees must be physically capable of operating various types of equipment used on the job. Employees may be required to work at various pharmacy locations as assigned.