Clarification from the agency

NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below. All qualified candidates encouraged to apply. Only open to all current permanent Veterans Health Administration employees and must be located within 50 miles of any VA Medical Center. Location negotiable upon selection.

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Clarification from the agency
All qualified candidates encouraged to apply. Open to all current permanent VHA employees within 50 miles of any VA Medical Center.

Note clarification below under Telework regarding Return to Office Executive Order.

DUTIES: The following covers primary duties; others may be assigned. The NESSU Clinical Pharmacy Practitioner will treat all individuals with respect, respond promptly to Veteran and staff needs, and serve as a collaborative member of the health care team.

-Direct Patient Care Responsibilities

1. Executing therapeutic plans utilizing the safest and most cost-effective medication treatments
2. Performing objective assessments necessary to ensure the patient's appropriate clinical responses to therapy
3. Ordering, subsequent review, and action on appropriate laboratory tests and other diagnostic studies necessary to monitor, support, and modify the patient's drug therapy
4. Ordering and prescribing medications, vaccines, devices, and supplies to include initiation, continuation, discontinuation, monitoring, and altering therapy.
5. Ordering consults and referrals, as appropriate, to maximize positive drug therapy outcomes; examples include, but are not limited to, referrals for routine care or assessment to clinical nutrition professionals, prosthetics, social workers, integrated mental health professionals, or other specialty areas
6. Achieves minimum productivity expectations as set forth by the NESSU Leadership Team, National Clinical Resource Hub Leadership Team, and CPPO
7. Follows-up with patients in a timely manner and monitors for drug therapy response, potential adverse drug reactions, allergies, compliance, laboratory results, and other monitoring measures as appropriate; treatment plan adjustments are made accordingly based on assessed measures
8. Reviews patient medication regimens for clinical effectiveness, drug selection, dosing, contraindications, side effects, potential drug interactions, pharmacokinetic impact, and therapeutic outcomes as required; information is communicated with team members and appropriate alternatives to current treatment plans are provided
9. Coordinates with and refers to appropriate diagnosing providers when disease progression or events occur that are outside the pharmacy staff SOP.
10. Documents appropriate subjective and objective information, as well as clinical interventions in the electronic medical record and in a timely, professional manner
11. Reports and documents drug errors, adverse drug reactions, and allergies according to policy
12. Maintains a good working knowledge of information resources, both written and electronic, as well as therapeutics and disease management
13. Provides timely and accurate responses to drug information inquiries

Indirect Patient Care Activities

1. Review patient medication regimens for clinical effectiveness, drug selection, dosing, contraindications, side effects, potential drug interactions, and therapeutic outcomes as required. Communicates findings with prescribers and provides appropriate alternatives to current treatment plans as needed.
2. Apply knowledge of normal laboratory values in the evaluation of patient care, recognizes significant abnormalities, and makes dose adjustment recommendations based on objective laboratory findings.
3. Reviews and verifies inpatient and/or outpatient medication orders during prescription processing.
4. Conducts drug utilization reviews, quality assurance activities, and utilization reviews as required

Peer Support
After achieving proficiency in Federal Electronic Health Record (EHR), incumbent will develop and provide peer support to NESSU and facility end-users based upon guidance from Oracle-Cerner and NESSU Peer Support Program subject matter experts. Development may include creating documents, presentations, curriculum, and updating the SharePoint. Such modalities include presentations, demonstrations, answering real-time questions from end-users, email communications, or video calls. Peer support is primarily through virtual communications, but some in-person peer support at a facility may be required based on the needs of the facility and the availability of NESSU staff.

Work Schedule: Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm -Tour may vary, based upon time zone of facility being supported.
Compressed/Flexible: Available
Telework: Authorized. Pending exemption for remote status: Under the 180-day Mid-Term Extensions (MTE). This position could be approved for Mid-Term Extensions (MTE). MTE allows for the facility leader to grant employees in the identified positions an extension up to 180-days to RTO; in which case approved positions would be approved locally to grant telework/remote for those 180-days.
Remote: Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: GS -13 0660 Clinical Pharmacy Specialist, VISN 20 Clinical Resource Hub
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

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 identification 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.
• Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit e-verify.gov
• Salary range reflects Vancouver, WA salary table. Actual salary will be determined by duty station/location upon selection.
• Location negotiable after selection is made.

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:

Citizenship. Citizen of the United States. (Noncitizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3g, this part.)

Education.

1. Graduate of an Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) accredited College or School of Pharmacy with a baccalaureate degree in pharmacy (BS Pharmacy) and/or a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree. Verification of approved degree programs may be obtained from the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education, 20 North Clark Street, Suite 2500, Chicago, Illinois 60602-5109; phone: (312) 664-3575, or through their Web site at: http://www.acpe-accredit.org/. (NOTE: Prior to 2005 ACPE accredited both baccalaureate and Doctor of Pharmacy terminal degree program. Today the sole degree is Doctor of Pharmacy.)
2. Graduates of foreign pharmacy degree programs meet the educational requirement if the 2 graduate is able to provide proof of achieving the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Examination Commission (FPGEC) Certification, which includes passing the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Equivalency Examination (FPGEE) and the Test of English as a Foreign Language InternetBased Test (TOEFL iBT).

Licensure. Full, current and unrestricted license to practice pharmacy in a State, Territory, Commonwealth of the United States (i.e., Puerto Rico), or the District of Columbia. The pharmacist must maintain current registration if this is a requirement for maintaining full, current, and unrestricted licensure. A pharmacist who has, or has ever had, any license(s) revoked, suspended, denied, restricted, limited, or issued/placed in a probationary status may be appointed only in accordance with the provisions in VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, section B, paragraph 16.

Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019.

English Language Proficiency. Pharmacists must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), and 7407(d).

Grade Determinations: GS-13

Preferred Experience: At least 3 years of VA experience in inpatient pharmacy.

Experience. In addition to the GS-12 requirements, must have 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level.

Assignments. Candidates at this grade level are to be in one of the assignments listed below. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher level duties must consist of significant scope, administrative independence, complexity (difficulty) and range of variety as described in this standard at the specified grade level and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time.

Clinical Pharmacy Specialist. The clinical pharmacy specialist (CPS) functions at the highest level of clinical practice, works independently under their scope of practice as defined by the individual medical center to directly care for patients. A CPS plays a defined role in budgetary execution and serves as a mid-level provider who functions to initiate, modify or discontinue medication therapy and as a consultant for intensive medication therapy management services. This includes, but is not limited to, the following: designing, implementing, assessing, monitoring and documenting therapeutic plans utilizing the most effective, least toxic and most economical medication treatments; helping achieve positive patient centric outcomes through direct and indirect interactions with patients, providers, and interdisciplinary teams in assigned areas; performing physical assessments; and ordering laboratory and other tests to help determine efficacy and toxicity of medication therapy.

Pharmacists assigned to this position must demonstrate the following KSAs:
a. Ability to communicate orally and in writing to persuade and influence clinical and management decisions.
b. Expert understanding of regulatory and quality standards for their program area.
c. Ability to solve problems, coordinate and organize responsibilities to maximize outcomes in their program area or area of clinical expertise.
d. Expert knowledge of a specialized area of clinical pharmacy practice or specialty area of pharmacy.
e. Advanced skill in monitoring and assessing the outcome of drug therapies, including physical assessment and interpretation of laboratory and other diagnostic parameters.

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

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.