Temporary Overnight Vet Tech (2nd shift)

SOUTHWEST VETERINARY SURGICAL SERVICE PC•Scottsdale, AZ

About The Position

Please note this position is a temporary / relief postion. Veterinary technicians may also be identified as registered veterinary technicians, certified veterinary technicians, or animal-health technicians. In many states, veterinary technicians are required to have completed an AVMA-accredited veterinary-technician program prior to passing the state’s requirements for certification or registration. Veterinary technicians must have a broad knowledge of animal science, medicine, and husbandry, including a basic knowledge of pharmacology and sufficient mathematical skills to ensure the administration of accurate drug and fluid doses. They must be able to successfully restrain animals, complete clinical laboratory tests, use multiple radiology techniques, administer and monitor animals under anesthesia, and assist in surgery. Technicians must also deliver compassionate patient care and customer service. At SVSS, the veterinary technicians assist with a variety of specialty surgical procedures. Daily duties include pre and post-surgical diagnostic lab tests, preparing and scrubbing surgical sites for sterile procedures, assisting the veterinarian during surgeries, handing out necessary surgical tools during procedures, bandaging wounds, changing wound dressings as needed, placing catheters, taking radiographs (x-rays) and other functions. Other duties may include operating and maintaining surgical equipment, administering fluids, giving intravenous or intramuscular injections, drawing blood, updating patient charts, filling prescriptions, assisting with consult exams when no surgeries are scheduled, and advising pet owners on post-operative care and medication dosages. Veterinary techs may be required to work at multiple locations, including the Tucson facility based on business needs. SVSS is a specialty services surgical center which means there is a need to address emergency situations as they arise. Techs must also be aware of the risks inherent in working with animals and take proper safety precautions to minimize the potential for injury from bites, scratches, or kicks.

Requirements

Minimum 2 - 3+ years’ experience in clinic setting CVT preferred
Demonstrated knowledge of and skill in adaptability, change management, decision making, customer service, interpersonal relations, oral communication, problem solving, systems thinking, teamwork, initiative, and detail-orientation
Ability to orient and train as needed
Proficiency with computers
Know and use basic medical abbreviations and medical terminology
Ability to read, write and speak the English language fluently
Must be able to work well with team members
Proper restraint of animals
Draw blood
TPR
IV catheter placement
Medical math
Anesthesia monitoring
Radiograph knowledge and safety
Animal anatomy
Pain Management with animals
Ability to work in a fast past with different personality types
OR etiquette
Aseptic technique
Strong Interpersonal and Communication Skills
Exceptional Customer Service Skills
Availability to be on-call, work over nights, or weekends
Availability to travel based on business need (in-state)
Must have availability to travel as business need requires. Individuals must have ability to lift, carry, move and place pets or objects weighing up to 50 pounds without assistance. Have the physical strength and ability to stand, walk, sit, kneel, stoop, repeated bending, pushing, pulling, full use of hands/fingers, and reach above shoulders for an entire shift when needed. Individuals must be able to move with urgency in all physical areas to provide the best patient care. Must effectively be able to read, speak, and write in English. Hearing, vision and speech at a functional level are required to meet the essential functions of the job.

Responsibilities

Assist with a variety of specialty surgical procedures.
Perform pre and post-surgical diagnostic lab tests
Prepare and scrub surgical sites for sterile procedures
Assist the veterinarian during surgeries
Hand out necessary surgical tools during procedures
Bandage wounds
Change wound dressings as needed
Place catheters
Take radiographs (x-rays)
Operate and maintain surgical equipment
Administer fluids
Give intravenous or intramuscular injections
Draw blood
Update patient charts
Fill prescriptions
Assist with consult exams when no surgeries are scheduled
Advise pet owners on post-operative care and medication dosages.
Know the range of services the practice provides and the species it treats.
Be reasonably familiar with breeds and coat colors.
Follow OSHA standards. Be able to find Safety Data Sheets quickly.
Know and use standard medical and business abbreviations.
Use proper medical terminology when speaking and writing.
Be familiar with infectious diseases, including their prevention and steps to reduce or eliminate transmission. Know the most common zoonotic diseases (infections from animals to humans).
Competently speak and write the English language
Always be in position and prepared to work at the start of each scheduled shift.
Maintain accurate personal time cards.
Enter the practice through the receiving door.
Routinely pick up trash or feces from dog walk area.
Maintain a professional appearance while at work, including clean and pressed uniforms or clothes. Change clothes during shifts as necessary to look professional and avoid carrying odors.
Smile and maintain an even, friendly demeanor while on the job.
Perform job tasks efficiently without rushing.
Promote a positive attitude among staff. Take ownership: You create your environment.
Handle stress and pressure with poise and tact. Take ownership: You control your response.
Be willing and available to stay late or through breaks, when needed, to assist with emergency or critical-care patients.
Show respect for clients, team members, and animals (alive or deceased) at all times.
Maintain a list of tasks and engage in productive work during slow periods.
Assist in directing on-the-job training of technical staff.
Assist other employees as needed. Avoid waiting for coworkers to ask for assistance.
Maintain your personal veterinary technician certificate, license, or registration.
Assist in hiring new employees by advising candidates of openings, offering candidates applications, and working with them to help evaluate job knowledge and skill levels, and providing your assessment to the hiring manager.
Participate in your performance appraisal, and, as requested, in those of others.
Participate in all staff and training meetings.
Keep up with new developments in the field by reading journals and attending continuing education. Attend off-site CE as required by the practice manager or as required to maintain your license.
Maintain constant vigilance regarding open doorways that could allow pets to escape from the facility.
Maintain strict confidentiality regarding clients and patients for whom the practice provides veterinary services.
Be prepared to handle any pet or facility emergency that may arise, including dog or cat fights, choking or strangulating animals, and facility fire or weather-related emergencies. Follow contingency plans.
Follow established facility closing procedures to ensure the security of patients, staff, data, revenue, inventory, and the building.
Know phone functions, including hold, intercom, hospital wide all-page, transfer, forward, and voicemail functions.
Answer the phone (including Internal Medicine mobile phone) using the appropriate greeting. Smile while answering and talking on the phone to enhance the friendly quality of your voice.
Retrieve and answer pages from pager. Call doctor for assistance when necessary.
Use patients’ names during phone conversations with clients about their pets. Know each patient’s sex so the pet can be called “he” or "she.”
Possess sufficient knowledge of animal husbandry and basic medicine to answer routine questions or refer calls to appropriate colleagues.
Cordially greet incoming clients and their pets, addressing each by name, and check them in when pre-arrangements have been made to admit a patient outside normal business hours.
Admit patients to the hospital. Provide counseling and compassion for clients, answer their questions unless it is clear that the attending doctor should do so, and ensure that all admittance paperwork is properly completed.
Complete and discuss financial estimates for clients as directed by doctors, management or supervisor. Professionally explain to the client their financial obligations (including required deposit and when remaining balance is due).
Provide clients with handouts and brochures regarding relevant financial assistance (i.e. Care Credit) when necessary.
Receive and record client deposit. Provide client with accurate receipt.
Advise clients of special call-in times to check on patients or speak with doctors.
Assist clients with unruly or unrestrained pets.
Transfer incoming patients to appropriate wards and ensure their comfort. Identify patients with cage cards and neck bands. Check for the presence of appropriate paperwork.
Develop each day’s hospital treatment sheet, starting with in-hospital patients. Deliver copies to appropriate business at established times.
Coordinate patient discharge time with owner and doctor availability.
Ensure all discharge instructions are up-to-date and accurate including when medications were last given. Make sure all medications and their directions listed on the discharge instructions match the medications being dispensed.
Prepare medications and prescriptions for dispensing as directed by the doctor. Ensure that each prescription label contains the following information: doctor’s name; practice’s name, address, and phone number including area code; date; patient’s and client’s name; medication name, strength and volume (or number); administration instructions including route of administration, such as by mouth or in the ear; and product’s expiration date.
Dispense medications. Discuss administration or application and potential side effects with owners as directed by doctors.
Accurately invoice clients on the patient visit list for overnight treatments from treatment sheets. Make up e-collars for patient and enter charge on the patient visit list. Enter computerized hospitalized observation notes, progress notes, treatments, and client communications.
Receive and record client payments. Provide client with accurate receipt.
Discharge patients. Instruct clients on the care of patients at home, the timing of recheck appointments, and warnings of adverse effects of surgeries or medications as directed by doctors.
Assist grieving clients and comfort them. Be familiar with the grieving process. Always be sensitive to background chatter or conversations that could exacerbate the anxieties and grief clients experience during euthanasia or deaths of their pets.
Provide clients with memorials of their died-during-hospitalization, or euthanized pets, (e.g., locks of hair, paw prints, or paw molds). Return collars, leashes, and other accessories.
Handle angry or grieving clients with a calm and reassuring manner. Always be sensitive to background chatter or conversations that could exacerbate the anxieties and grief clients may be experiencing.
Locate medical records within computer system.
Record progress notes or treatments in patients’ computer record.
Make medical notes in patient computer record of all relevant phone or in-person conversations with clients, especially when notifying them of lab results. Place your initials after the entries.
Verify and/or witness clients’ statements regarding procedures, including euthanasia. Document conversation within medical note.
Check records for completeness of notes, charges, callbacks, and reminders, making entries as needed.
Accurately organize all paper medical records and give to front office to scan and attach to patients’ computerized record.
Clean and straighten exam rooms to prepare for incoming patients. Spray disinfectant on exam tables, wipe them clean, and dry them.
Remove sources of offensive odors; empty trash if necessary. Check floors, walls, doors, and counters, and sweep or clean them as needed to remove hair, body fluids, and dirt.
Ensure all exam rooms are stocked with necessary supplies.
Dispose of used needles and syringes and other sharp objects as set forth by the practice’s policy and OSHA standards.
Inform the practice manager or doctors immediately of all bite or scratch wounds you suffer so that reports can be made and you can be referred for timely medical care by a physician if necessary. Clean all wounds quickly and thoroughly.
Prioritize tasks to maximize clients’ satisfaction and patients’ health.
Track comfort items that clients brought for hospitalized patients
Wash, dry, and store patients’ bedding and the surgery practice’s towels/laundry. Bedding should be in good repair.
Provide occupants with clean, soft bedding.
Clean cages when they are soiled, and scoop or change litter boxes as needed.
Maximize patients’ comfort with a gentle and reassuring manner. Understand that actions that would constitute animal cruelty under state or local laws or the practice’s policies will be grounds for immediate reprimand and/or termination.
Monitor patients for vomit, blood, urine, and feces in the cage, and clean patients and cages as needed. Note unexpected incidents in hospital observation note within the computer. Bring to doctors attention if necessary.
Monitor patient’s blood glucose, platelet count, seizure, breathing and heart rate. Note changes in patient’s condition and bring to the doctors attention if necessary.
Monitor patients’ behaviors and note potentially aggressive behaviors. Use caution when handling aggressive or potentially aggressive pets. Request assistance when needed from the EAC.
Monitor changes in patients’ conditions. Alert doctors to significant changes.
Alert doctors to notable pathology identified during patients’ exams.
Obtain patient weight each day the patient is hospitalized.
Follow isolation procedures. Prevent contact between contagious animals and others. Using the designated products and dilutions for disinfectants, properly disinfect your shoes, hands, and clothing before leaving isolation areas.
Walk dogs on a slip leash within a fenced exercise area. Ensure that they are restrained and under your control at all times. Aid assistance with a sling when appropriate for post-op patients. To reduce slips and falls, walk patients on flat and paved area’s within exercise area.
Accurately assess patients’ temperatures, pulse rates, and respiratory rates.
Complete and update cage cards.
Use warning stickers and notations on cage cards and records as appropriate.
Prior to discharge, remove patients’ catheters and clean patients so that no body fluids or excrement are present.
Understand the mechanics and application of standards of asepsis.
Properly calculate medication dosages and volumes of liquids or tablets to be administered to patients.
Maintain IV catheters so fluids flow freely; flush and clean as needed. Replace catheter if needed.
Monitor and maintain urinary-collection bags. Record urine production within patient record.
Monitor and maintain chest tubes. Record fluid production within patient record.
Administer IV, IM, SQ, and oral medications.
Provide IV and SQ fluid therapy to patients. Maintain aseptic conditions. Understand the different types of fluids and additives used in the practice. Calculate, add, and administer medications through fluids. Calculate and administer proper fluid flow rates to patients.
Monitor, adjust, and maintain IV infusion pumps.
Administer routine enemas.
Apply wound dressings and treatments. Maintain a clean site. Understand the applications for wet, dry, and wet-to-dry dressings.
Apply bandages in a manner that ensures that the bandage protects and/or limits mobility and remains properly applied. Cover and maintain bandages as needed to preserve function and cleanliness.
Provide physical therapy and hydrotherapy to patients as instructed.
Use circulating warm-water beds and/or Bair Hugger to maintain the body temperatures of post-op surgical patients.
Identify a patient’s level of pain and possible causes of pain, and understand the medications and methods used to control pain.
Restrain pets in a manner that allows necessary work to be performed, minimizes patient stress, and ensures their safety and that of other people.
Safely and effectively apply and use restraint devices, including muzzles, towels, gloves, and cat bags.
Perform venipunctures using patients’ cephalic, saphenous, and jugular veins in a manner that minimizes trauma to patients and injury to veins and allows you to successfully obtain nonhemolyzed blood samples.
Collect urine and fecal samples. Use fecal loops for stool collection as needed. When required, perform urinary catheterizations on male dogs or cystocentesis on male and female dogs and cats.
Aseptically place cephalic, saphenous, and jugular intravenous catheters without causing patient trauma.
Draw blood for transfusions. Type-match blood samples. Perform blood transfusions: set up filters for whole-blood administration, oversee administration of blood and blood products, and monitor patients for transfusion reactions.
Set up and record diagnostic multi-lead ECG tracings.
Assist with euthanasia procedures. Hold off veins and release pressure at appropriate times when catheters are not used.
Provide basic life support, including CPR, airway maintenance, and oxygen therapy.
Apply temporary bandages or splints.
Know where to find the emergency drug kit. Make sure products have not expired, and understand the basic uses for these drugs.
Control bleeding using pressure bandages and tourniquets.
Provide fluid and pharmacologic therapy under veterinary supervision.
Perform CBCs and differentials.
Set up, centrifuge, and read hematocrits.
Use refractometers or chemistry analyzers to evaluate total protein levels of serum or other fluids.
Set up and read Azostix® and blood glucose test strips.
Use handheld glucometers to measure blood glucose values.
Evaluate bleeding/clotting times.
Assist in the preparation of emergency/on-call cases by pulling pre-meds, setting up the operating room and prepping the treatment area for the arrival of the patient and surgical team.
Set up/tear down the operating room at the end of the day and post-operative on-call cases.
Develop or locate and maintain equipment and instrument maintenance logs.
Understand aseptic principles and apply them to surgical patients, instruments, equipment, and rooms.
Know the names of instruments and where they are stored.
Monitor patients’ recoveries. Protect patients from aspiration and hypothermia. Deflate cuffs and remove endotracheal tubes as soon as gag reflexes return.
Maintain surgery logs with date anesthesia is administered, owners’ name, patients’ names, procedure performed, recovery status, and doctors’ names.
Maintain controlled-substance logs with date drug drawn, clients’ name, clients’ number, patients’ name, species, doctors’ names, time drawn, staff initials logging/drawing drug, initial amount, number of draws, calculated balance, your initials.
Keep controlled drugs secured to meet Drug Enforcement Agency and state board specifications. Conduct a complete drug count at beginning and end of your shift prior to accepting or relinquishing in-use drug box key.
Update patient records with drugs administered, procedures performed, and patient status during surgeries and recoveries.
Clean operating rooms and equipment after use.
Clean surgical prep, scrub sink and recovery areas.
Wash, sterilize, and store endotracheal tubes and masks.
Dispose of used needles and syringes and other sharp objects as set forth by the practice’s policy and OSHA standards.
Clean surgical instruments by hand, ultrasonic cleaner and milk-process.
Properly operate the autoclave and gas sterilizer.
Properly unload and return sterilized items to designated location.
Pack and appropriately identify instruments to be autoclaved vs. gas sterilized. Using lists of instruments or photos as a guide ensure that packs contain the proper numbers and types of instruments and are labeled with dates, type of instrument or pack, and your initials. Apply pressure and temperature sterilization tape and/or monitors, and verify effectiveness after autoclaving.
Maintain lists of medications and/or hospital supplies to determine levels of inventory on hand. Place orders for additional supplies on demand, if so instructed, or report items needed to the ordering manager.
Receive and stock supplies, matching invoices with packaged goods. Report all shortages, overages, and damaged goods.
Ensure that medical supplies are always available.
Regularly check for outdated supplies. Remove and replace them as instructed by the practice manager.