Social Worker (Program Coordinator)
Company
Department of Veterans Affairs - Veterans Health Administration
Location
Indianapolis, Indiana
Type
Full Time
Job Description
Summary
The Social Worker (Program Coordinator) Patient Safety Manager serves as a advanced practice specialist within the Quality, Safety, and Value (QSV) Service at the Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center.
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Duties
VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU
Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional
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:
Responsible for promoting 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.
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). This task 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.
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. 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. 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.
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 #:92966-0
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.
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: Have a master's degree in social work from a school of social work fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). Graduates of schools of social work that are in candidacy status do not meet this requirement until the School of Social Work is fully accredited. A doctoral degree in social work may not be substituted for the master's degree in social work. Verification of the degree can be made by going to http://www.cswe.org/Accreditation to verify that the social work degree meets the 4 accreditation standards for a masters of social work.
Licensure: Persons hired or reassigned to social worker positions in the GS-0185 series in VHA must be licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work at the master's degree level. Current state requirements may be found by going to http://vaww.va.gov/OHRM/T38Hybrid/.
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 Determination:
Social Worker (Program Coordinator ) GS-12
Experience/Education: One year of experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. Experience must demonstrate possession of advanced practice skills and judgment, demonstrating progressively more professional competency. Candidate may have certification or other post-master's degree training from a nationally recognized professional organization or university that includes a defined curriculum/course of study and internship, or equivalent supervised professional experience.
Licensure/Certification: Individuals assigned as social worker program coordinator must be licensed or certified at the advanced practice level, and must be able to provide supervision for licensure
Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate, in their resume, all of the following Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs):
(a) Knowledge of program coordination and administration which includes consultation, negotiation, and monitoring.
(b) Knowledge and ability to write policies, procedures, and/or practice guidelines for the program
(c) Ability to supervise multidisciplinary staff assigned to the program.
(d) Skill in organizing work, setting priorities, meeting multiple deadlines, and evaluating assigned program area(s)
(e) Ability to provide training, orientation, and guidance within clinical practice
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.
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 12.
Physical Requirements: The physical demands of the position involve standard office requirements such as using the
telephone, retrieving files, writing reports, data entry and maintenance of computer databases, etc. Work is typically performed sitting at a desk and using a computer. The position requires periods of walking, standing, sitting and bending.
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: http://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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.
Additional information
Receiving Service Credit for 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. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. 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.
During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.
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.
If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.
Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.
VA Healthcare System Serving Ohio, Indiana and Michigan (VISN 10) advocates for a Whole Health System of care in each of the Medical Centers. This is an approach to healthcare that empowers and equips people to take charge of their health and well-being and live their lives to the fullest. As an employee operating in a Whole Health System of care, you will operate in a model with three core elements, seeking to create a personalized health plan for each Veteran. This is done in the context of healing relationships and healing environments and a connection back to the Veteran's community. This aligns with the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Mission Statement to Honor America's Veterans by providing exceptional health care that improves their health and well-being.
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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.
Benefits
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 windowLearn 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.
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Date Posted
04/03/2026
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