Clarification from the agency

This job is open to the public. NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

Videos

VA Careers - Physical Therapy: https://youtube.com/embed/Gi2hoFqIoqY

The incumbent collaborates with interdisciplinary teams, including physicians, nurses, mental health professionals, researchers, and quality management staff, to identify and mitigate patient safety risks, such as suicide prevention, behavioral health crises, and communication breakdowns. The Psychologist participates in facility-wide safety initiatives, including the Joint Patient Safety Reporting (JPSR) system, Root Cause Analyses (RCA), Healthcare Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (HFMEA), and National Performance Goals (NPGs), with a focus on behavioral health safety, psychological resilience, and system-level learning. The incumbent also supports the National Center for Patient Safety (NCPS) Patient Safety Assessment Tool (PSAT) and NCPS Salesforce Alerts/Advisories/Recalls, contributing to data-driven improvements.

DUTIES INCLUDE BUT NOT LIMITED TO:

• Promotes cultural transformation to ensure all employees are knowledgeable and empowered to identify and report risk and adverse events so process improvement may result. The PSM establishes and promotes a system for recognition of accomplishments of programs, teams, and employees who exemplify patient safety culture and HRO principles including identification of close calls and great catches. Safety Stories are utilized and coordinated to be presented in various meeting settings to highlight success.

• Responsible for strategic implementation and maintenance of the facility-wide Patient Safety Program throughout RLR VAMC with primary focus on the comprehensive identification, awareness, utilization, analysis, and performance improvement associated with Joint Patient Safety Reporting (JPSR). Requires promotion of HRO principles and psychological safety in reporting, education on proper entry of incident reports, gathering and analysis of reports, development of trends and feedback presentations to facility leaders and Services and implementation of system improvements. All reports are investigated to determine root causes and lessons learned. Ensures the JPSR database is maintained timely and utilizes data to monitor trends and target needs for evaluation and improvement. Provides daily updates to executive leadership on JPSR reports and ensures prompt response by coordinating and communicating with leaders of all Services as appropriate.

• The incumbent appropriately scores JPSR events based on an established severity and frequency index tool and determines actual and potential resulting harm. Those events scored as major or catastrophic are scrutinized formally with RCA projects. The PSM develops clinical reviews and audits to analyze problems in depth, including identification of risks requiring review, identification of data required to define the problem, establishing data collection methodologies, analyzing the data, recommending corrective actions, and assessing effectiveness of the actions.

• Maintains facility-wide administrative controls aimed to ensure implementation and sustainment of approved Actions and Outcome Measures resulting from completed RCA projects. This includes tracking and trending of items, provision of status reports to leadership, and collation of data for use in external review processes demonstrating compliance. The PSM ensures all RCA Actions and Outcome Measures are distributed appropriately to responsible Service Chiefs, provides oversight and trending on implantation of items, and ensures closeout in the national SPOT database and tracks sustainment of improvements.

• Identifies any occurrence of serious Sentinel Event at RLR VAMC and is a leader ensuring appropriate immediate harm reduction and risk mitigation, coordination of responses across Service lines, and procession toward any needed clinical review, RCA, and partners with Risk Management to ensure institutional disclosures.

• Functions as the program manager and implementer of patient safety policies and activities developed by NCPS and maintains comprehensive knowledge of the range of VHA and facility handbooks, policies, and standard operating procedures, and other regulations and precedents applicable to the administration of the patient safety program. This includes knowledge of VHA NCPS goals and objectives, the Quality and Patient Safety directive, the sequence and timing of key program events and milestones, and methods of evaluating program accomplishments.

• Provides leadership in the execution of Patient Safety Assessment Tool (PSAT) evaluations required by the NCPS, including but not limited to the Mental Health Environment of Care (MHEOC) Checklist and the Wandering and Missing Patient protocol.

Work Schedule: 7:00am -3:30pm Monday -Friday
Compressed/Flexible: Not Eligible
Telework: Not Eligible
Remote: This is not a remote position
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 92952-0

Conditions of employment

• 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 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).
• 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.

Qualifications

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 and experience. The individual must meet at least one of the requirements below.

(1) Bachelor's degree in Physical Therapy AND five (5) years of progressively independent experience as a physical therapist.

(2) Master's degree in Physical Therapy AND two (2) years of progressively independent experience as a physical therapist.

(3) Doctorate degree in physical therapy.

Licensure. Individuals hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to practice physical therapy in a State, Territory or Commonwealth of the United States, or in the District of Columbia.


Physical Therapist (Program Coordinator) GS -13

Experience. In addition to meeting the basic requirements, one year of progressively complex experience equivalent to the GS-12 grade level. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate all the following KSAs.

1. Ability to apply advanced knowledge of contemporary physical therapy within specialty area to provide clinical guidance, training or education for internal and external stakeholders.

2. Ability to serve as a consultant within the assigned program area for intra-agency and interagency planning and to provide service coordination to optimize program continuity, efficiency and effectiveness.

3. Knowledge of and skill in management, administration and/or education methodologies. This includes the ability to monitor and track data, utilize available resources effectively, evaluate program quality, and generate reports for local, and/or VISN and/or VACO leadership.

4. Ability to develop and coordinate treatment and/or educational programs within a concentrated field or specialty area, such as, but not limited to, amputee, spinal cord injury, chronic pain, student clinical education/residency programming, polytrauma/traumatic brain injury.

5. Ability to establish and maintain collaborative relationships within department and with other departments or affiliated programs.

6. Ability to guide the work of a multi-disciplinary team.

Preferred Experience: 5 years clinical experience. Prior leadership experience including program management preferred. Experience with quality, patient safety, and process improvement. Demonstrated skills in communication, facilitation and collaboration.

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

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS 13

Physical Requirements:

This position may involve considerable amount of standing, walking, stooping, bending, reaching, lifting, and turning. It requires assisting clients with transfers from wheelchairs/stretchers and transporting them to other departments or facilities. Mechanical devices are available and are required to be used for heavy or difficult to lift clients. The work may involve pushing or lifting up to 35 pounds and going up and down flights of stairs. The position requires visual and auditory acuity at a level to provide safe and effective nursing care. The position may require the ability to physically control or defend against emotionally ill clients.

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.

NOTE: You must include qualifying specialized experience in mm/yyyy to mm/yyyy format on your resume and indicate Full-Time or Part-Time (if Part-time, must include # of hours worked per week). AND, if you have held a Government position, that position's grade level MUST be listed on your resume.

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. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such 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.