Pharmacist(clinical specialist)

Summary

The Inpatient Clinical Pharmacy Specialist (CPS) at VA Sierra Nevada Health Care System (VASNHCS) functions at the highest level of clinical practice and works under a scope of practice as approved by the Executive Committee of the Medical Staff (ECMS). The CPS functions to initiate, modify, discontinue, and monitor medication therapy and acts as a consultant for comprehensive medication therapy management services.

Duties

Sierra Nevada Healthcare System has an immediate opening for an Inpatient Clinical Pharmacy Specialist. The inpatient pharmacy service provides pharmaceutical care services to our 120-bed hospital system that includes (Intensive Care Unit, OR/Recovery Room, Acute Care/ Medicine, Surgery, Long Term Care, Short Stay Rehab, Hospice, Inpatient Mental Health and the Emergency Department) with centralized operations for Unit Dose and Sterile Compounding. The inpatient clinical pharmacy specialists provide comprehensive clinical and distributive pharmacy services to patients at the Palo Alto Acute Care Division, as well as remote order screening/verification and problem solving for the extended care patients.

Specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Direct Patient Care Activities: Comprehensive medication management in accordance with their scope of practice including prescribing (initiating, adjusting, discontinuing drug therapy) and monitoring of anticoagulation, pharmacokinetic dosing of antimicrobials and other medications requiring renal/hepatic dose adjustments, parental nutrition, conversions between dosage forms (IV to PO, tablets/capsules to solutions, etc.), and other disease state management.
• Clinical Activities: screening and verifying medication orders; making drug therapy recommendations; monitoring and assessing medication effects; documenting clinical activities; adverse drug reaction reporting, renal and hepatic screening, medication reconciliation, Code Blue participation and Code Stroke participation.
• Education/Training Activities: providing education to physicians, medical residents, and nursing staff; providing education to patients and caregivers about medications and side effect management; providing training to pharmacy trainees (PGY2 and PGY1 pharmacy residents and pharmacy students).
• Distributive Activities: checking inpatient and outpatient medication orders filled by pharmacy technicians; overseeing the technicians to ensure distributive duties are met in a timely manner; following up on missing doses; and assisting nursing, providers and patients as needed.

Work Schedule

Monday through Friday, 1130-2000. May include Weekends and Holidays

Telework

Not Available

Virtual

This is not a virtual position.

Position Title/Functional Statement #

Pharmacist(Clinical Specialist)/PD09215F

Financial Disclosure Report

Not required

Requirements

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. You will be required to serve a probationary period. Subject to background/security investigation. Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Must pass pre-employment physical examination. 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 Department of Veterans Affairs Personnel.

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: (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: 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.) [ TRANSCRIPTS MUST BE SUBMITTED WITH APPLICATION ]
• (2) Graduates of foreign pharmacy degree programs meet the educational requirement if the 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 Internet-Based Test (TOEFL iBT). [ YOU MUST SUBMIT COPY OF FPGEC CERTIFICATION WITH THE APPLICATION PACKAGE ]

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. [ YOU MUST SUBMIT A COPY OF CURRENT LICENSE WITH THE APPLICATION PACKAGE ].

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) 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-13 Clinical Pharmacy Specialist 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:

• Ability to communicate orally and in writing to persuade and influence clinical and management decisions.
• Expert understanding of regulatory and quality standards for their program area.
• Ability to solve problems, coordinate and organize responsibilities to maximize outcomes in their program area or area of clinical expertise.
• Expert knowledge of a specialized area of clinical pharmacy practice or specialty area of pharmacy.
• Advanced skill in monitoring and assessing the outcome of drug therapies, including physical assessment and interpretation of laboratory and other diagnostic parameters.

Preferred Experience:

Completion of a PGY-1 Pharmacy Residency or 1 year work experience in an inpatient setting.

References:

VA Handbook 5005/55, Appendix G15. VA Licensed Pharmacist Qualification Standard GS-660, dated June 7, 2012. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-13.

Physical Requirements:

The work requires standing, light carrying and lifting (under 15 pounds); walking, bending, reaching above the shoulder, and ability to distinguish basic colors. The work also involves working around machinery with moving parts and working closely with others.

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: www.ope.ed.gov/accreditation. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Additional information

Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status. VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority.

As required by Executive Order 14043, Federal employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 regardless of the employee's duty location or work arrangement (e.g., telework, remote work, etc.), subject to such exceptions as required by law. If selected, you will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination before your start date. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required exception from this requirement using the reasonable accommodation process.

Due to COVID-19, VA is currently in an expanded telework posture. If selected, you may be expected to temporarily telework, even if your home is located outside the local commuting area. Once employees are permitted to return to the office, you will be expected to report to the duty station listed on this announcement. Management officials will provide information about returning to the official, pre-pandemic worksite, when applicable. At that time, you may be eligible to request to continue to telework depending upon the terms of your organization's telework policy and the duties of the position.

If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application. Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution. A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new window Learn more about federal benefits. Review our benefits Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.