Senior Veterinary Assistant

Senior Veterinary Assistant

Salary: $20.72 per hour

Spanish-speaking differential: Additional $1.00 per hour for employees who demonstrate and maintain Spanish language proficiency and are willing to use this skill for Wayside Waifs' business purposes.

Position Summary

The Senior Veterinary Assistant position is an advanced level position within the vet clinic. As a Senior Veterinary Assistant the primary responsibilities are managing the flow and environment of surgery, performing any Veterinary Assistant task, and supporting leadership in the clinic. With this position you will be able to mastery basic and mid-level skills while learning and honing advanced skills. Flexibility and adaptability are keys to success as you will be providing a spectrum of care to shelter animals and pets through our community outreach programs. The Senior Veterinary Assistant may also assist with community outreach events on an as needed basis.

The vet clinic provides 365 days of care to the shelter animals. The approach the shelter veterinary team takes is one of exploring realistic treatment options, seeking improvements in standards that are sustainable. Flexibility and adaptability to meet the many changing variables, and responsibility to make teamwork and supportive collaboration a priority.

Veterinary Assistant Responsibilities

• Daily assessment of medical items and/or general population issues by running reports and entering items.
• Performing vaccinations, medicating animals, collecting and running lab work tests (includes blood and feces), and microchipping.
• Safe and effective restraint of animals for examinations, procedures, and sedation.
• Primary responsibilities within the surgical area, including intubation and sterile preparation of patients, monitoring of surgical patients, recovery and extubation of patients. There are opportunities for further surgical experience after mastery of skills and with demonstrated interest in growth.
• Review, treatment, and collection for testing of ringworm patients.
• Complete care and cleaning of animals within our canine isolation area and/or animals housed within the vet clinic.
• General and deep cleaning of all areas of the vet clinic and isolation on a scheduled rotation.
• Filling and logging of various medications prescribed by the veterinarians and for surgery patients.
• Calm, professional communication with members of the public for post adoption concerns or general questions, and with other members of the staff and volunteers.
• An interest in and demonstration of growth over time in skills and abilities.
• Assistance with and support of all Vet Clinic Tasks.
• Comply with all of Wayside Waifs policies and best practices.
• Additional tasks as necessary.

Senior Veterinary Assistant Responsibilities

• Primary management of animal surgery preparation and anesthesia monitoring. This includes sedation, intubation and/or appropriate masking, real-time anesthesia monitoring and adjustments, preparation of surgical margins and field sanitizing, appropriate movement of surgical animals, recovery, and extubation.
• Pulling and review of surgery medications, including controlled drugs, from a pre-made dosing chart. This will be for multiple patients at a time.
• Primary management of logging controlled substances.
• Triage of critical or emergency cases.
• Aid in the instruction and teaching of Vet Assistants or Clinic Volunteers with assistance from the Veterinary Clinic Manager and/or Veterinarians.
• Provide leadership and ability to run upper level tasks with Community Outreach programs facilitated through the vet clinic.
• Provide assistance and/or involvement in clinic specific programmatic changes or developments.

Requirements

Position Requirements:

• Schedule of 5 days at 8 hours during weekdays with varying start and finish times to account for a 365 day operation. This will include 1 weekend day at 8 hours.
• Rotation of holiday or inclement weather coverage with all other clinic staff.
• Education = High school diploma or GED.
• Experience with companion animals.
• 1 year of veterinary clinic experience required.
• Knowledge of common and less common diseases
• Prefer 6 months of leadership or management experience.
• Excellent written and verbal communications skills and good problem solving skills.
• Ability to work with people and animals in a variety of high-stress and emotional situations while maintaining a composed and professional demeanor.
• Physical Requirements:
• Must be able to lift 50 pounds to waist height for various tasks.
• Repetitive bending, kneeling, stopping, and similar movements required.
• Must be able to physically restrain animals weighing up to and including 125 pounds.
• Able to work with exposure to wet and/or humid condition and outside weather conditions.
• Must be able to perform a significant amount of standing during a typical day, exposure to fumes, airborne particles, and possible zoonotic diseases.
• Noise level is moderate to high.
• Exposure to animal waste.