Clarification from the agency

This announcement is open to the public and employees of other Federal agencies. Current, permanent VA employees should apply to announcement CBSY-12422269-24-GPA.

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Functions or Scope of Assigned Duties:
- Leads dietitians and specialty multidisciplinary teams in developing diabetes related services, policies, procedures and/or protocols.
- Provides comprehensive diabetes care applying the NCP in a specialty program, and/or a variety of patient care settings. Bases individualized diabetes interventions on the best available research and/or evidence-based guidelines and best practices.
- Provides diabetes education to individuals, small and large groups, peers, licensed practitioner(s), medical students, interns, and residents as applicable.
- Provides consultative services regarding advanced diabetes therapies, policies, procedures, and research in the provision of quality care.
- Develops, monitors, and directs practice-specific benchmarks based on standards of care or national initiatives.
- Utilizes knowledge, expertise, principles and/or current research to plan, implement and evaluate organizational initiatives.
- Leads the implementation of new nutrition initiatives or a change in practice to achieve strategic goals.
- Establishes goals, measures outcomes and reports progress toward meeting goals to medical center committees, health care teams and/or professional groups.
- Leads staff, creates, and validates competencies and develops training activities.

• Leads nutrition research studies or performance improvement and communicates findings through reports, abstracts, presentation and/or peer reviewed professional publications.
• Presents at seminars, workshops, and lectures to convey current diabetes information on new and changing concepts.
• Educating patients on use of glucose self-monitoring devices and interpreting laboratory data in the management of their disease
• Evaluating and modifying carbohydrate intake related to current insulin regimen
• Educating on symptoms/treatment for frequency and severity of hypoglycemia/hyperglycemia
• Evaluating and prioritizing the nutrition diagnoses based on complications and risks of developing chronic macrovascular complications (i.e. ischemic heart disease, stroke, peripheral vascular disease) and/or microvascular complications (i.e.
• neuropathy, nephropathy, retinopathy), and advising on appropriate care plan
• Assessing the appropriateness of patient for intensive glycemic control to prevent or reduce the progression of chronic complications, per request, and providing education of diabetes self-management
• Evaluating and recommending physical activity considering intensive diabetes therapy and appropriate activities
• Evaluating risk/history of disordered eating and related factors (i.e. medication adjustment, food issues, physical activity)
• Evaluating behavioral mediators related to dietary intake, self-care skills and behaviors, feelings about living with diabetes, and lifestyle factors for the prevention of diabetes
• Instructing staff and patients on all aspects of the National Standards for Diabetes Self-Management and Support (DSMES):
• Educate and case manage veterans on insulin pumps

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8am-4:30pm
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: PD99523S
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• 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

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.
• Registration. All applicants must hold the RDN credential from the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) the credentialing agency of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Note: Applicants who hold the RDN credential have met the education requirement (e.g. bachelor's degree or higher) of CDR, as such this occupation is considered professional and scientific with a positive education requirement and the procedures in Part I, Chapter 4 of this Handbook will be followed when applying Veteran's preference.
• English Language Proficiency. Dietitian candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7403(f).

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 Determinations:GS-12
Advanced Level Practice
Experience. One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-11), which is defined as: Delivering patient care using the NCP (e.g., assessment, diagnosis, intervention, monitoring and evaluation); Interpreting research to apply evidence-based nutrition practices to improve patient outcomes; Developing patient-centered goals; Analyzing data for performance improvement studies; Collaborating with stakeholders; Complying with various accrediting, regulatory and agency authorities.

Certification. Must hold an advanced practice certification from a nationally recognized certifying body such as the Commission on Dietetic Registration, the Association of Diabetes Care and Education Specialists or the National Board of Nutrition Certification. The certification must be directly related to the assignment being filled. For example, where the assignment requires diabetes management, a Board Certified-Advanced Diabetes Management or Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialists certification is qualifying.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities. In addition to the experience and certification above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:
(a) Skill in leading a team in the implementation of nutrition-related activities.
(b) Skill in utilizing evidence- based practice guidelines to establish or modify goals and improve patient outcomes.
(c) Ability to communicate in writing to develop policies and standard operating procedures.
(d) Ability to serve as a nutrition expert, providing technical guidance, direction and staff development.
(e) Ability to lead research or performance improvement studies.
(f) Ability to present complex nutrition information to a large group of health care providers to persuade and influence provision of care.

All qualifying experience you possess must be clearly described in your application package. We will not make assumptions when reviewing applications. Failure to demonstrate your experience in your resume may result in disqualification. It is strongly recommended that you write to each KSA in your application package.

Assignment. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity (difficulty) and range of variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. Employees in this assignment serve as an Advanced-Level Dietitian. They conduct comprehensive nutrition assessments for Veterans using the NCP assuring high-quality nutrition care under an advanced and expanded scope of practice. Advanced-Level Dietitians lead a multi disciplinary team developing nutrition-related services, policies, procedures and/or protocols. They provide consultative services regarding advanced therapies and research in providing quality nutritional care. Advanced Level Dietitians develop, monitor and direct practice-specific benchmarks based on standards of care or national initiatives. They utilize knowledge, expertise, principles and/or current research to plan, implement and evaluate organizational initiatives. Advanced-Level Dietitians lead the implementation of new nutrition initiatives or a change in practice to achieve strategic goals. They establish goals, measure outcomes and report progress toward meeting goals to medical center committees, health care teams and/or professional groups. Advanced-Level Dietitians lead staff, create and validate competencies and develop training activities. They lead nutrition research studies or performance improvement and communicate findings through reports, abstracts, presentations and/or peer-reviewed professional publications. Advanced-Level Dietitians present at seminars, workshops and lectures to convey current nutrition information on new and changing concepts. This assignment must represent substantial additional responsibility over and above that required at the full performance grade level and cannot be used as the full performance level of this occupation.

Preferred Experience: Required to be a Certified Diabetes Educator. Preference for certified trainer in Continuous glucose monitors (Dexcom, Libre & Medtronic). Preference for certified trainer in insulin pumps (Medtronic, Tandem & Omnipod)

References: VA HANDBOOK 5005/154 PART II APPENDIX G20 October 14, 2022

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-12.

Physical Requirements: You will be asked to participate in a pre-employment examination or evaluation as part of the pre-employment process for this position. Questions about physical demands or environmental factors may be addressed at the time of evaluation or examination.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for 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; 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.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.