Veterinary Assistant

Position Overview: The veterinary assistant provides support to the veterinarians and technicians in their daily tasks by cleaning and maintaining equipment, feeding, exercising and grooming patients, preparing and sanitizing surgery suites, restraining and handling patients, and clerical and administrative work. They deliver quality care for all patients and provide exceptional service.

This position is for the Emergency Pet Clinic of Longmont, 1517 Main Street, Longmont, CO 80501, opening in early February. Training will be at Boulder Emergency Pet Clinic, 1658 30th Street, Boulder, CO 80301.

Essential Functions:

Basic Patient Care

• Restrain animals: Veterinary assistants safely hold animals during exams, procedures, and treatments, ensuring the safety of both the animal and staff.
• Feed and hydrate animals: Assist in feeding, watering, and maintaining the general well-being of animals in the clinic.
• Clean and disinfect: Veterinary assistants ensure that kennels, exam rooms, treatment areas, and surgical suites are cleaned and disinfected to maintain a safe environment.
• Monitor animal behavior: Veterinary assistants observe animals for signs of distress, illness, or injury, alerting technicians or veterinarians if any issues arise.

Basic Medical Support

• Assist in exams: Veterinary assistants help with basic procedures like weighing animals, taking temperatures, and recording vitals (heart rate, respiratory rate).
• Assist with procedures: Under supervision, veterinary assistants may assist in taking samples for lab tests (urine, fecal, blood), bandaging wounds, or administering topical treatments.
• Prepare patients for surgery: Assist in bathing, prepping, and positioning animals for surgery under the supervision of RVTs or veterinarians.

Laboratory Assistance

• Prepare lab samples: Assist in collecting, preparing, and labeling lab samples (blood, urine, etc.) for RVTs to process and test.
• Basic laboratory tasks: Under supervision, veterinary assistants may assist with basic tests like preparing blood slides for analysis or running a simple urinalysis.

Administrative Support

• Client interaction: Veterinary assistants greet clients, check in patients, answer questions, and provide information on general pet care.
• Record management: Help with updating patient files, managing inventory, and assisting with billing or payment processing.

Surgical Assistance

• Prepare surgical tools: Assist in sterilizing surgical instruments and ensuring that all necessary supplies are available during procedures.
• Assist with basic tasks: Veterinary assistants may assist during surgeries by handing tools to veterinarians, but they typically do not directly perform complex tasks like anesthesia management or monitoring.

Client Communication and Education

• Basic client education: Veterinary assistants provide clients with basic information on care instructions, including feeding schedules, grooming, and simple post-treatment care.

Emergency Care Assistance

• Help in emergencies: Veterinary assistants may assist in emergency situations, ensuring the animal is properly restrained, taking initial vitals, and helping with patient stabilization.
• Transport animals: Assist in transporting patients between different areas of the clinic, such as from the exam room to treatment areas or recovery rooms.

Equipment Maintenance

• Sterilize and maintain equipment: Veterinary assistants help sterilize surgical tools, clean cages, and ensure the clinic is stocked with necessary medical supplies.
• Inventory management: Assist with maintaining inventory, including ordering supplies, tracking usage, and ensuring that stock is available for daily operations

Competencies:

• Care and Compassion – displays a desire to build rapport, provide personal assistance, and emotional support
• Animal Restraint and Safety – uses sound judgment when handling patients and always takes appropriate precautionary steps when needed
• Communication – uses effective and appropriate methods of interacting with others
• Team Orientation – works cooperatively with the team to address tasks and accomplish goals
• Dependability – demonstrates responsibility in completing all job tasks
• Cleanliness Standards – consistently follows sanitization and sterilization policies and procedures
• Energy and Productivity – completes tasks quickly and thoroughly without prompting
• Time Management – manages time and prioritizes work tasks effectively
• Technical Skills and Learning – keeps up-to-date with new technical skills and knowledge in the field
• Care and Use of Equipment – takes appropriate steps to perform operation checks and maintenance of equipment

Qualifications:

• High school diploma or equivalent
• One or more years' experience in a veterinary environment successfully performing all of the duties of this position
• Vet Tech (VTNE) Certification preferred
• Experience with surgical monitoring, radiology, dental prophylaxis, and client education preferred
• May consider an equivalent combination of education, certification, training, and/or experience

Additional Information: The list of essential functions, as outlined in this job description, is intended to be representative of the tasks performed within this classification. The omission of any job function does not preclude management from assigning duties not listed herein if such functions are a logical assignment to the position.