Experienced Veterinary Assistant

Summary: The Veterinary Assistant is a vital member of the clinic’s medical support team. They aid the clinic in achieving greater efficiency by assisting in all medical procedures and exams as well as relieving the veterinarians, technicians, or the practice manager of technical work and administrative detail. They have a significant role in communicating with and educating clients about their pets.

As a veterinary assistant, you are a face of the hospital. Client experience, client education, and patient comfort are at the forefront of your duties. You will be responsible for speaking with clients during check in and check out, communicating treatment plans to clients, caring for patients, restraining patients, and assisting your veterinarians and other team members with whatever they may need. Team mentality is extremely important, and it is for this reason that every team member is cross trained in both basic reception duties and basic assisting duties. You will be responsible for invoicing, completing medical records, and completing all duties as assigned in a timely manner.

Education: High School Diploma or Equivalent

On-the-job training in veterinary field preferred

Basic veterinary assisting in a clinical environment preferred

Basic customer service experience

Certificates and Licenses: Certificate of Veterinary Assisting (CVA preferred but not required.)

Qualifications: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required, and are considered essential duties/functions of this position. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

All employees will go through a 10-step training protocol and complete quarterly, as well as yearly, training modules on varying topics.

While existing veterinary medicine skills are beneficial, we are willing to train a candidate who is reliable, ready to learn, and has the right mindset.

Personal Requirements and skillset:

• Genuinely enjoy working with people and can stay calm when clients are stressed or upset.
• Genuinely enjoys working with animals and can safely handle them even when they are stressed, ill, or injured.
• Can stay calm and efficient in ethe event of a medical crisis.
• Well-spoken and approaches his/her job duties in a mature and professional manner.
• Experienced in a team centric approach, as well as working independently, and works well with all members and levels of the hospital team.
• Excellent client communication skills.
• Demonstrates a commitment to lifelong learning. Strives towards personal and professional betterment.
• Demonstrates Superior Veterinary Care’s core values.
• Strives to exemplify Superior Veterinary Care’s mission statement.
• Takes initiative, and thrives in a busy work environment.
  
  
  

Language Ability: Ability to read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals. Ability to write routine reports and correspondence. Ability to speak effectively before groups of customers or employees of an organization.

Math Ability: Ability to calculate figures and amounts such as drug dosages, fluid rates, discounts, proportions, percentages, and volume. Ability to apply concepts of basic algebra.

Reasoning Ability: Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations when only limited standardization exists. The ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form.

Computer Ability: To perform this job successfully, an individual should have knowledge of word processing software, spreadsheet software, and veterinary management software (e.g. eVet/Pulse).

Work Environment: The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of the job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

Physical Demands: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of the job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The employee must frequently lift and/or move up to 50 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus. While performing the duties of this job, employees are regularly required to stand; walk; use hands; reach with hands and arms; talk or hear and taste or smell. The employee is frequently required to stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The employee is occasionally required to sit and climb or balance.

Equipment:

• Gas Anesthesia Machine
• Electrocardiogram
• Blood Pressure Machine
• Doppler
• Capnograph
• Pulse Oximeter
• Dental Ultrasonic Scaler/Polisher
• Centrifuge
• Autoclave
• Digital Radiography Machine
• Intraoral Radiography Unit
• Ultrasound Machine
• Microscope
• Tabletop Lab Equipment
• Stethoscope
• Otoscope
• Ophthalmoscope
• POS Processor
• Phone System
• Walk-On and Pediatric Scale
• Computer Monitor/Mouse/Keyboard
• IPad
• Printer/Copier/Fax Machine
  
  
  

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Provides compassionate care to clients and patients.
• Assist the veterinarian and LVT with all aspects of patient care as required by the veterinarians or assigned by the Practice Manager in all areas of the hospital, Treatment, Exam Rooms, Surgery Room, and Front Desk.
• Assist veterinarian with in-patient care and daily treatments.
• Will review medical records for past medical/vaccine history.
• Gather patient history from the clients. Records history in the medical record and reports history to the appropriate veterinarian.
• Understands all common vaccinations and vaccination protocols and can explain them to clients.
• Can perform physical assessments of patients and can document and report findings to the attending veterinarian.
• Can keep accurate medical records. Records client communications, lab results, and physical assessments in a timely manner.
• Intakes and discharges surgery and drop off appointments.
• Creates estimates and gets the required signature for all procedures above an exam.
• Properly set up fluid bags for IV or SQ administration. Properly administer oral medications, SQ fluids, and SQ injections as directed by LVT or doctor.
• Assist surgical preparation (surgery room and patient) and maintaining a timely start to surgical procedures.
• Accurately set up for and clean up after dental procedures and maintaining equipment.
• Perform anesthesia monitoring, as well as maintaining and uploading detailed records of anesthetic events into the patient’s medical records.
• Properly work with the following, but not limited to heating pads, blankets, scales, thermometers, otoscopes, clipper blades, and perform daily maintenance on all these items.
• Effectively restrain pets, even when large or difficult.
• Can effectively triage patients; able to categorize patients as critical, urgent, non-urgent, or stable.
• Can perform emergency procedures such as control of bleeding, oxygen therapy, opening airways, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) according to the hospital protocols.
• Can place bandages.
• Basic common disease knowledge states and can alert veterinarians when changes occur or when concerns with hospital patients arise.
  
  
  

Diagnostics and Laboratory:

• Effectively position for and obtain diagnostic quality radiographs.
• Prepare patients and set-up machines for ultrasound procedures.
• Assist in/ and perform sample collection, send out, as well as perform clinical laboratory procedures such as fecals, SNAP tests, urinalysis, skin scrapings, ear cytology, and preparation of bacterial culture mediums, and fungal cultures.
• Can operate, clean, maintenance, and maintain laboratory equipment such as chemistry analyzer, hematology analyzer, microscope, SNAP reader, centrifuges, and Imagysts.
• Documents test results and deliver to appropriate personnel promptly.
  
  
  

Housekeeping:

• Properly care for all surgical materials, keep the surgery room stocked and prepared for surgery.
• Prepare surgical packs; understand how to wrap and autoclave surgical packs in a timely manner.
• Keeps counters free of clutter.
• Can maintain the anesthetic machines (e.g. charcoal and sodalime.)
• Prepares, stocks, and maintains the exam rooms, treatment area, and surgery room.
• Understanding the importance of a clean and orderly facility, does not hesitate to clean and organize as part of the normal job duties.
  
  
  

Clerical/ Customer Care:

• Prepare client invoices for services performed.
• Accurately handle payment transactions.
• Build treatment plans at the request of a veterinarian or Practice Manager in a timely manner.
• Accurately and empathetically communicate treatment plans to clients.
• Prepares prescriptions and non-prescription medications to be dispensed to include counting tablets, entering prescription information into the computer, generating prescription labels and notifying clients by telephone when prescriptions are ready for pickup.
• Can intake and discharge patients based on veterinarian’s orders, Practice Managers expectations, and hospital policy. Ensuring that patients are well groomed and in a medically appropriate state.
• Perform follow up phone calls for post-op, recently discharged patients, or exam follow ups and identify signs of potential complications or need for additional assessment or treatment.
• Help with answering phone calls, taking payment, and scheduling.
  
  
  

This job description does not state or imply that these are the only duties to be performed by an employee in this position. Employees are required to follow additional job-related instructions and perform additional job-related duties as assigned by members of the management team of Superior Veterinary Care.

All Full-Time Team Members are eligible for benefits, including:

• Competitive base pay plus revenue share bonus program.
• Best-in-class medical, vision and dental insurance.
• Short-term and long-term disability.
• Life insurance
• 401k with employer match.
• Paid time off.
• Free continuing education.
• Mental health Support.
• Pet care discount.
• And more!
  
  
  

We greatly look forward to your application!