Veterinary Assistant

Roots Veterinary Hospital; Tappan (NY); On-site; USD 42,000 - 62,000; Full time

Job summary

The Veterinary Assistant at Roots Veterinary Hospital supports veterinarians and technicians to ensure high-quality care for all patients, educates clients on pet health, and helps maintain a safe, efficient hospital environment. You will assist with procedures, prepare for surgeries, monitor hospitalized pets, and educate owners about wellness plans and preventive care.

You will also collect patient histories, maintain accurate medical records and collaborate with the team to deliver

Qualifications

• One year related experience preferred.
• High School Diploma or equivalent required.
• Fluent English communication and strong interpersonal skills.
• Ability to multi-task and stay organized in a busy hospital setting.
• Comfortable using a computer and specialized medical software.

Responsibilities

• Act as the extra eyes, ears and hands for the veterinarian and veterinary technician to ensure the best quality pet care.
• Communicate with veterinarians, technicians and associates to maintain patient flow.
• Provide professional, efficient and exceptional service at all times.
• Prepare and assist procedures that do not require direct veterinary supervision and educate clients about wellness plans.
• Obtain client histories and maintain complete medical charts.
• Ensure safety by following protocols and maintaining clean treatment areas.
• Assist with surgery as applicable and mentor junior staff.
• Other duties as assigned.

Skills

Leadership

Action Oriented

Customer Focus

Listening

Peer Relationships

Personal Learning Functional

Ensure medical quality

Effective communication

Drive for results

Functional Skills

Priority Setting

Education

High School Diploma or equivalent

Tools

Medical software

Job description

The Veterinary Assistant supports the veterinarians and veterinary technicians in ensuring quality veterinary care for all pets, advocates for pets, educates clients on all aspects of pet health, and ensures a safe and effective hospital environment.

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES AND TASKS

Act as the extra eyes, ears and hands for the veterinarian and veterinary technician to ensure the best quality pet care and to maximize the veterinarian's and veterinary technician’s productivity. Communicate with veterinarians, veterinary technicians and all other associates to maintain the flow of patients. Provide professional, efficient and exceptional service at all times. This includes performing or preparing procedures that do not require veterinarian or veterinary technician assistance, completing preparatory work for other procedures, ensuring that clients and pets are comfortable in the hospital, and monitoring hospitalized or surgical pets as allowed in the state practice acts. Educate clients about wellness plans, preventive care, pet health needs, hospital services and other issues. Obtain relevant information and history from clients and maintain proper and complete medical charts. Ensure the safety of pets, clients and associates by utilizing safe restraining techniques, following standard protocols, and maintaining clean, sterile and organized treatment areas, exam rooms and labs. Assist with surgery as applicable. Utilize technical skills to the fullest, within state practice acts and as outlined in the NAVTA guidelines for veterinary assistant skills and duties. Mentor other paraprofessionals in the hospital. Other job duties as assigned.

HIRING QUALIFICATIONS COMPETENCIES

• Leadership
• Action Oriented
• Customer Focus
• Listening
• Peer Relationships
• Personal Learning Functional
• Ensure medical quality
• Effective communication
• Drive for results
• Functional Skills
• Priority Setting

CAPABILITIES AND EXPERIENCE (CAN DO)

Ability to multi-task- Manages multiple tasks at one time; quickly and accurately shifts attention among multiple tasks under distracting conditions without loss of accuracy or appearance of frustration. Communication skills - Reads, writes and speaks fluent English, using appropriate grammar, style and vocabulary. Correctly spells commonly used English words and job specific terms. Demonstrates exceptionally strong written and verbal communication skills. Organizational ability - Demonstrates a systematic approach in carrying out assignments. Is very orderly and excels at cutting through confusion and turning chaos into order. Problem solving skills - Demonstrates a strong ability to identify, analyze and solve problems. Translates problems into practical solutions. Client service skills - Consistently ensures the team provides the client with attentive, courteous and informative service. Gains and shows personal satisfaction from delivering great service. Intellectual ability - Accurately and consistently follows instructions delivered in an oral, written or diagram format. Can provide directions. Mathematical ability - Ability to add, subtract, multiply and divide, and to compute rate, ratio and percent; ability to convert units of measurement. Computer skills - Comfortably and confidently uses a computer and specialized medical software.

ATTITUDES (WILL DO)

Initiative - shows willingness and aptitude to take appropriate steps in finding solutions to problems; presents options and ideas to enhance current processes or procedures. Takes on additional responsibility when both big and small tasks need to be done. Integrity - Firmly adheres to the values and ethics of Roots Veterinary Hospital. Exhibits honesty, discretion, and sound judgment. Cooperativeness - Willing to work with others, collaborating and compromising where necessary; promptly share relevant information with others. Flexibility - Is open to changing situations and opportunities and is willing to perform all tasks assigned. Independence - Able and willing to perform tasks and duties without supervision as appropriate. Tolerance for Stress / Resiliency - Maintains a positive "can do" outlook, rebounds quickly from frustrations and unpleasantness, and maintains composure and friendly demeanor while dealing with stressful situations.

SPECIAL WORKING CONDITIONS

Ability to work at a computer for long periods of time. Ability to be confident around pets (i.e., dogs, cats, birds, reptiles, etc.) Client needs and work volume may often require more than 40 hours per week to complete essential duties of this job. This position requires special hours including working weekends ,evenings, and holidays. Must have mental processes for reasoning, remembering, mathematics and language ability (reading, writing, and speaking the English language) to perform the duties proficiently. The noise level in the work environment is moderately high. Requires sufficient ambulatory skills in order to perform duties while at hospital. Ability to stand, walk, stoop, kneel, crouch, and climb as well as manipulate (lift, carry, move) up to 50 pounds. Requires good hand-eye coordination, arm-hand-finger dexterity with the ability to grasp, and visual acuity to use a keyboard and operate equipment. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus. An associate is routinely exposed to a variety of pets that may bite or scratch, and on occasion, exposed to anesthesia, radiation, biological hazards and medication/controlled substances.

EXPERIENCE, EDUCATION AND/OR TRAINING

One year related experience required with customer service preferred. High School Diploma or equivalent required. Must be at least 18 years old to perform duties involving radiography (x-ray) and exposure to radioactive substances.