Navajo Preference Employment Act

In accordance with Navajo Nation and federal law, TCRHCC has implemented an Affirmative Action Plan pursuant to the Navajo Preference in Employment Act.  Pursuant to this Plan and corresponding TCRHCC Policy, applicants who meet the necessary qualifications for this position and (1) are enrolled members of the Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe, or San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe will be given preference in hiring and employment for this position, (2) are legally married to enrolled members of the Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe, or San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe and meet residency requirements will be given secondary preference, and (3) are enrolled members of other federally-recognized American Indian Tribes will be given tertiary preference.
Overview

POSITION SUMMARY

This position provides services at the TCRHCC main campus in the Specialty Care Center.  Oncology pharmacy services are provided to patients who need infusion/chemotherapy infusion services.  This position involves the review, preparation, document-checking, labeling, dispensing and quality assurance of medications. Responsibilities include maintaining a sanitary work environment and patient area, managing, and restocking pharmaceutical inventory, and ordering of supplies, preparing sterile infusion products and delivering infusion doses to patient care areas.  This position may require rotating shifts: day, evening, nights, weekends, and holidays. The position also provides the opportunity for career advancement through tier levels as determined by pharmacy experience and certification. 

Qualifications

NECESSARY QUALIFICATIONS

Education (II/III): 

High school diploma or GED

 

Certification: 

Certified Pharmacy Technician II/III:

• • Must have and maintain a valid Pharmacy Technician Certification from the Pharmacy Technician Certified Board (PTCB) or National Pharmacy Technician Association (NPTA)
  • Must have and maintain a current Pharmacy Technician licensure in any state or territory of the United States.
  • Must have and maintain a valid Basic Life Support (BLS) certification from the American Heart Association; if none, must obtain within ninety (90) days of hire

Certified Pharmacy Technician III: 

• • Must have and maintain a valid Certified Compounded Sterile Preparation Technician (CPST) certification and Hazardous Drug Management Certificate

Experience:

Certified Pharmacy Technician II/III:

• • Must have one (1) year of healthcare experience as a certified pharmacy technician in an inpatient or ambulatory infusion setting compounding sterile products

Certified Pharmacy III: 

• • Must have two (2) years of healthcare experience as a certified pharmacy technician with one experience. Must have demonstrated experience in the safety and aseptically preparing chemotherapy and other medications for patients.

Other Skills and Abilities:

A record of satisfactory performance in all prior and current employment as evidenced by positive employment references from previous and current employers.  All employment references must address and indicate success in each one of the following areas:

• Positive working relationships with others.
• Possession of high ethical standards and no history of complaints and no prior records of substance abuse.
• Reliable and dependable; reports to work as scheduled without excessive absences.
• Electronic Medication cabinet experience.
• Articulation skills (writing and verbal) and communicate with other caregivers and patients in an effective and positive manner. 
• Demonstrates emotional control and intelligence in managing work relationships, actively participates in team huddles and meetings. 
• Successful completion of and positive results from all background and reference checks, including positive employment references from authorized representatives of past and current employers demonstrating to the satisfaction of TCRHCC a record of satisfactory performance and that the applicant can perform the essential functions of the job.
• Successful completion of fingerprint clearance requirements, physical examinations, and other screenings indicating that the applicant is qualified to be employed by TCRHCC and demonstrating to the satisfaction of TCRHCC that the applicant can perform the essential functions of the job.
• Submission of all required employment-related documents, application, resumes, references, and other required information free of false, misleading or incomplete information, as determined by TCRHCC.

 

MENTAL AND PHYSICAL EFFORT

The physical and mental demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 

 

Physical:

This position involves prolonged standing, maintaining balance and reaching, frequent walking, bending and twisting and occasionally sitting, climbing, kneeling and crouching. Must be able to push and pull up to 10 lbs. and intermittently up to 75 lbs. of equipment.  Must be able to carry up to 50lbs of equipment such as drugs, moderate lifting of totes of drugs, charts, and boxes. Must be able to hear alarms, client calls, and instructions from physician/department staff. Must have the ability of close, distant, peripheral, and color vision with the ability to adjust focus as needed and see fine details, Must have ability of Depth Perception. Must be able to do prolonged repetitive motion actions regarding both hands, grasping of both hands in a slight/light manner, and, fine dexterity utilizing both hands. Must be able to use both hands for firm/heavy grasping in both hands intermittently.

 

Mental: 

Immediate response to telephone requests and verbal requests. Mental attention and assertiveness are required at all times. The ability and willingness to learn new information is an expectation. Must be able to cope with high levels of stress, make decisions under high pressure, concentrate, handle high degree of flexibility, hand multiple priorities in a stressful situation, work alone, demonstrate high degree of patient, adapt to shift work, work in close areas that are close and crowded and occasionally manage altercations. 

 

Environmental: 

Working in this position you may be exposed to infectious disease, chemical agents, dust, fumes, gases, extremes in temperature or humidity, hazardous or moving equipment, loud noises for a prolonged period of time and occasionally unprotected heights.

Responsibilities

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

1. Relies on limited experience and judgment to plan and accomplish goals and performs a variety of complicated tasks, routinely inspects assigned drug storage areas monthly to ensure proper storage, security and prepares proper documentation.
2. Reviews basic chart screening procedures, which include allergies, and weight/age-based dosing information during prescription data entry into pharmacy management software.
3. Receives and fills orders from the inpatient units, field clinics, etc. with appropriate drugs followed by a final check by the Pharmacist.
4. Must keep records of patient doses and drug mixtures, usually through an electronic filing system, for health and billing purposes.
5. Performs intravenous admixture procedures. Assures the calculation and preparation chemotherapy products and other admixtures are properly prepared as required. Prepares labels for all IV’s, assure sterile technique and record productivity.
6. Dispense medications following the organization's policies and procedures. Places all medications in a transport bag for dispensing to the Nursing staff.
7. Mixes chemotherapy and biologics only within the biological safety cabinet (BSC) using proper aseptic technique. Cleans BSC daily or as stated in policy and procedures.
8. Coordinates efforts with nurses and other health professionals to ensure adequate supply levels are always available in the Specialty Care Center and restocks automated dispensing cabinet.
9. Maintains a safe and clean work area by complying with procedures, rules, and regulations.  Documents regulatory requirements such as temperature logs, scheduled activities, and training in an accurate and timely manner.
10. Maintains accurate and appropriate inventories of medications and supplies.  Accurately and timely completion of assigned inventory audits such as cycle counts and nursing unit inspections.
11. Follows appropriate procedures and requirements when cleaning the compounding environment, which includes the clean rooms and anterooms. Disinfects on a regular basis, in accordance with USP requirements, which includes floors, hoods and countertops. Uses the proper cleaning agents so that all microorganisms are eliminated.
12. Appropriately uses personal protective equipment (PPE) and chemotherapy spill kits in the event of a cytotoxic spill and follows all safety standards for handling chemotherapy and hazardous drugs. Properly disposes all waste materials used when mixing chemo or non-chemo.
13. Participates in scheduled and organized continuing education programs as conducted by the Pharmacist, Nursing or Medical Staff. Must demonstrate leadership in the work environment, promote harmony and customer service.
14. Assists with pharmacy caregiver and student training.  Shares responsibility for accomplishment of the team’s tasks and goals.
15. Ensure proper PPE is always worn while on duty including but not limited to, face mask, gloves, gown, isolation gown, NIOSH-approved N95 filtering facepiece respirator or higher, if available), and eye or face shield.
16. Complete all donning and doffing tasks in a safe acceptable method and discard of used PPE accordingly. (see CDC website for most current updates)
17. Complete task training for all routine cleaning and decontamination processes for all surfaces contaminated by a communicable disease to ensure a high level of patient, visitor, employee, and external customer satisfaction.
18. Performs all other duties as assigned.