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Veterinary Assistant

**VCA Shaker Animal Hospital** has opportunities available for Veterinary Assistants to join our team in Latham, NY

VCA Shaker Animal is the perfect environment to explore and expand your veterinary skills and support the medical team.

The successful candidate will share our commitment to delivering the highest quality patient care with exceptional client service.

Why Join The VCA Shaker Animal Family?

We are passionate about supporting Veterinary Assistants and are committed to your personal career development. VCA is a community of dedicated professionals that will encourage you to explore everything a career veterinary medicine has to offer. We create and support an inclusive work environment where you can focus on your growth, your happiness, and the patients you serve. Below are some of the many benefits of joining the VCA team!

+ Access to the people and financial resources of a large veterinary community

+ Leadership opportunities

+ Career development programs

+ Opportunities to give back through strong Shelter partnerships and VCA Charities

+ Tuition support and sponsorships

+ Free wellness subscriptions (Head Space)

+ Referral bonuses

+ Competitive wage

+ Medical, dental & vision insurance

+ Life, long and short term disability insurance

+ Paid parental leave

+ Paid vacation and sick time

+ 401(k)

The salary range for this position is $16 - $18 / hour based on experience

**Job Summary:** Assist Technicians, Doctors and other hospital staff by care and cleaning of patients and facilities including completing patient treatments, assisting in executing treatment plans and all other animal care functions as well as other tasks involved in the operations of a veterinary hospital.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

+ Previous experience or training/education working in a veterinary facility preferred.

+ Must be friendly, outgoing, “people oriented.”

+ Excellent communications skills.

+ Must be capable of being cross-trained for front office receptionist duties that will be expected in the job.

+ Telephone and computer skills are necessary.

+ Must be a team player willing to learn new techniques and treatments and to accept change.

**Education and Experience** : High School Diploma

**Physical Requirements** :

+ Dependable attendance is required.

+ Any allergies to animals must be controllable through medication.

+ Must be able to lift 40 pounds.

+ Must be willing to work long or irregular hours under pressure conditions.

+ This position requires the ability to walk, bend, stand and reach constantly during a minimum 8-hour day.

+ Visual acuity sufficient to maintain accurate records, recognize people and understand written directions.

+ Ability to speak and hear sufficiently to understand, give information in person and over the telephone.

+ Fine motor skills adequate for utilizing hospital equipment such as electric clippers, syringes, radiology equipment, laboratory equipment,

Duties:

+ Ensure that clients and pets feel welcome and comfortable.

+ Service as “Ambassadors” of creating and maintaining goodwill for the hospital.

+ Build rapport with clients and pets. If there is a delay, keep clients informed of expected wait times.

+ Must support reception staff by providing telephone support to ensure that clients’ calls and requests are being processed in a timely manner.

Care:

+ Compassionate nursing care is the top priority for all patients.

+ Make certain all patients are kept clean and as comfortable as possible.

+ Assist in treating hospitalized animals under veterinary supervision.

+ Continuously monitor all patients admitted to the hospital.

+ Ensure all patients are clearly identified including entry on hospital day sheet, cage card, and ID collar

+ Flexibility in working hours is required to ensure that the job is done properly.

Housekeeping and Maintenance of Hospital:

+ Make certain entire hospital both inside and outside, including treatment, surgery, kennels, runs, parking lot and entry is kept extremely clean throughout the day (so that a client could come back and see their pet without any notice). This includes your own clothing and appearance.

+ Clearly communicate your findings to doctor. Refuse to make a diagnosis. Records:

+ Keep records up to date. This includes client records with charges, medical history, vaccine status, medications administered, laboratory reports, etc.

+ Maintain all log books (radiology, surgery, anesthesia, laboratory and controlled substance logs).

+ Handwriting must be neat and legible.

+ Maintain and sterilize surgical instruments and packs.

+ Radiology:

+ Position animals properly to the radiographs.

+ Know how to properly use positioning devices so that patients may be radiographed without the requirement of assistants holding animals in place whenever possible

Apply for this wonderful opportunity today!

If you are a current associate, you will need to apply through our internal career site. Please log into Workday and click on the Jobs Hub app or search for Browse Jobs.

Benefits: We offer competitive compensation along with a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, vision and paid vacation/sick days, 401(k), generous employee pet discounts and more!

The information in this position description indicates the general nature and level of work to be performed. It is not designed to be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required of associates assigned to this job. Management reserves the right to revise the job description or require that other tasks be performed when the circumstances of the job change (for example, emergencies, change in personnel, workload, or technical development)

We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer - Veterans / Disabled. For a complete EEO statement please see our career page at vcacareers.com