Veterinary Assistant

Position Purpose

The incumbent must be able to perform all the following duties and responsibilities with or without reasonable accommodation: - Greet clients and patients arriving for appointments and escort them into an exam room, obtain weight and vital signs (temperature, pulse, respirations) and record the electronic medical record. - Assist doctors with appointments (routine and emergency), surgery, dentistry, and euthanasia, under supervision from the veterinarian credentialed veterinary technician, HOM and HLOD. - Perform patient restraint, obtain and process laboratory samples, handle and dispense medications at the direction of the veterinarian and help maintain the electronic medical record. - Schedule appointments, provide client education, relay test results to doctor and clients, and maintain and update client/patient records. - Help prepare patients for surgical and dental procedures and assist doctor and/or veterinary technician in anesthetizing patients. Under supervision of the veterinarian and/or veterinary technician, assistants will maintain patients safely under anesthesia while monitoring vital parameters, help monitor patients during recovery and prepare them for hospital discharge or transfer to an overnight care facility. - Under supervision of the veterinarian and/or veterinary technician, perform in-hospital treatments for sick patients including giving injectable and oral medications as well as intravenous fluid therapy; keep patients clean, watered, and fed (when indicated and directed by doctor), safely walk canine patients when necessary for elimination. - Under direction of the HOM/HLOD, assist in the training of new staff members and general dissemination of knowledge as required. - Keep hospital environment neat and clean; perform regular cleaning of environment based on necessity as well as based on a pre-determined maintenance schedule.

Nature of Supervision

In all activities related to the care of individual patients, the incumbent will take direct supervision from the veterinarians as well as the Veterinary Technician. For purposes of overall supervision, the incumbent takes direction from the HOM/HLOD or from the supervising technician for the shift.

Essential Job Functions

- Perform all the listed duties and responsibilities with or without reasonable accommodation. - Take direct supervision from the veterinarians as well as the Veterinary Technician. - Take direction from the HOM/HLOD or from the supervising technician for the shift.

Planner and Problem Solver

Like all team members, the Veterinary Assistant plays a crucial role in ensuring that day-to-day operation of the hospital is efficient and provides an optimal experience for our patients and clients.

Impact

This position will impact the organization by contributing to the growth of productive practice while focusing on a high-quality standard of care. From an overall hospital organizational standpoint, this position in critical to ensuring that we have a cohesive, well-trained, and motivated technical team. The desired end-result is the creation of an optimal environment that ensures employee retention, patient well-being, and customer satisfaction.

Supervisory Responsibility

This position has no immediate supervisory duties.