Veterinary Assistant

Petco•Decatur, AL

12d

About The Position

The Veterinary Assistant provides medical care and customer support at a Vetco Total Care full-service hospital, representing Petco’s mission and values to clients. The role helps ensure that patients’ needs come first, clients receive an exceptional experience, and the hospital team works effectively toward shared goals. The assistant supports veterinarians and veterinary technicians with appointments, emergency visits, surgery, dentistry, euthanasia, anesthesia, patient treatments, and discharge or transfer. The role also includes welcoming clients and patients, recording histories and visit details in electronic medical records, collecting samples, handling medications as directed, scheduling appointments, communicating test results, and maintaining patient and client records. Under direction, the assistant may help train new staff and is responsible for keeping the hospital environment clean and orderly. The position is primarily conducted in a veterinary hospital and involves frequent direct contact with clients and pets. It requires bending, kneeling, lifting up to 30 pounds as necessary, and standing for long periods. The role has no immediate supervisory duties and reports to veterinarians and veterinary technicians for patient care, and to the hospital operations manager, hospital leader on duty, or supervising technician for overall direction.

Requirements

Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Compassionate and sympathetic manner, with the ability to maintain a professional attitude and demeanor during emotional and stressful situations.
Telephone and computer skills.
Ability to work as a team player, learn new techniques and treatments, offer creative ideas, and accept change.

Nice To Haves

At least one year of previous experience working in a veterinary practice, or sufficient relatable animal-care experience to ensure excellent performance in the listed duties.

Responsibilities

Greet clients and patients, escort them to exam rooms, obtain weights and vital signs, and record this information in the electronic medical record.
Collect thorough patient histories and document patient visits in electronic medical records.
Assist doctors with routine and emergency appointments, surgery, dentistry, and euthanasia under supervision.
Restrain patients, obtain and process laboratory samples, handle and dispense medications as directed by a veterinarian, and help maintain electronic medical records.
Schedule appointments, provide client education, relay test results to doctors and clients, and maintain and update client and patient records.
Prepare patients for surgical and dental procedures and assist doctors or veterinary technicians with anesthetizing patients.
Under supervision, maintain patients safely under anesthesia while monitoring vital parameters, monitor recovery, and prepare patients for discharge or transfer to an overnight care facility.
Under supervision, perform in-hospital treatments for sick patients, including administering injectable and oral medications and intravenous fluid therapy.
Keep patients clean, watered, and fed when indicated and directed by a doctor, and safely walk canine patients when necessary for elimination.
Under direction, assist in training new staff and disseminating knowledge as required.
Keep the hospital environment neat and clean and perform cleaning according to need and a predetermined maintenance schedule.
Perform additional duties as assigned and provide backup phone and front desk support as needed.