Specialty Veterinary Technician

$23/hr-$30/hr

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

• Required: 5+ years previous veterinary technician experience
• Required: 3+ years previous ER and/or specialty medicine experience, cardiology preferred.
• Required: Active CO state technician license

JOB SUMMARY

The Specialty Veterinary Technician (CVT) has pertinent responsibilities and plays multiple roles within the hospital within our specialty services. The Specialty CVT will apply their professional skills in anesthesia, emergency, laboratory testing, patient nursing, and client education. They will also have extensive experience from their 3+ years working in the field of veterinary specialties- preferably cardiology, however, emergency, surgery, or anesthesia will be considered. Finally, they will need to have a certification in the state of Colorado. VTS is not required but encouraged, with opportunities to obtain certification if there is interest.

The Specialty CVT will be routinely entrusted with patient assessments/triage, anesthesia, procedures, drug doses, and treatments. They will be responsible for in-patient care, patient follow-up, maintenance of patient records, and assist with booking appointments. Additionally, they will be expected to maintain regular client follow-up, technician appointments, and maintain timely patient reminders (automated emails and postcards), and answer owner and referring veterinarian cardiology-related questions. The Specialty CVT must be a detail-oriented person who has effective decision-making skills, responds quickly and calmly to crises, and maintains high standards of patient care. They will also need to communicate clearly with doctors, other hospital personnel, and clients to ensure patients receive the care they need.

Finally, the Specialty CVT should enjoy working with diverse people and animals and be friendly, flexible, and consistent in the face of varying expectations from clients and co-workers. They must share a firm belief in the quality of care we provide and communicate this sense of assurance to clients. It is important to know and understand our services and recommendations and be able to clearly convey the value of our services to the clients. Excellent client communication skills and a commitment to outstanding client service are essential. The Specialty CVT reports to the CVT supervisor. Hours may vary and on-call for emergency specialty procedures may be required.

JOB DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

General Knowledge:

• Know the range of services the practice provides and the species it treats
• Be familiar with breeds and breed predisposition to disease
• Follow OSHA standards and be able to find Material Safety Data Sheets quickly
• Know and use standard medical and business abbreviations
• Use proper medical terminology when speaking and writing
• Competently speak and write English language legibly
• Computer knowledge for maintenance of cardiology database, generation of patient medical records and reports
• Nursing skills for daily management of in-hospital patients
• Understanding of pathogenesis of heart failure
• Knowledge of commonly used CV drugs, side effects, and main indications

General Tasks:

• Always be in position and prepared to work by start of each scheduled shift
• Have proficiency in all software and database systems
• Maintain a professional, friendly demeanor while on the job
• Promote a positive attitude amongst staff
• Handle stress and pressure with poise and tact
• Be willing and available to stay late or through breaks, when needed, to assist with emergency or critical-care patients
• Show respect for and to clients, team members, and animals (alive or deceased) at all times
• Have physical strength and ability to stand for an entire shift when needed and be able to lift pets and objects weighing up to 40 pounds without assistance and assist in lifting patients weighing more than 40 pounds
• Demonstrate and/or have willingness to train to obtain a full working knowledge of EzyVet and Instinct practice software
• Be a leader to other technicians and tech assistants while demonstrating strong training and technical skills

Exam-Room Tasks:

• Possess enough strength and assertiveness to effectively restrain patients and maintain constant safety of clients and personnel
• Measure and record each patient’s weight, temperature, pulse rate, and respiratory rate
• Triage patients appropriately
• Answer questions and educate clients
• Using aseptic procedures, draw up injections that doctors will administer
• Dispose of used needles and syringes and other sharp objects as set forth by the practice’s policy and OSHA standards
• Assist with routine exam-room procedures such as venipunctures, fine-needle aspirates, corneal stains, and ear treatments
• Record doctors’ findings during medical examinations as needed

Basic Patient-Care Tasks:

• Prioritize tasks to maximize clients’ satisfaction and patients’ health
• Maximize patients’ comfort with a gentle and reassuring manner and understand that any actions taken constituting animal cruelty under state and/or local laws and the practice’s policies will be grounds for immediate reprimand and/or termination
• Monitor patients’ behaviors and note potentially aggressive behaviors while using caution when handling aggressive or potentially aggressive pets and request assistance when needed
• Assess hospitalized patients’ temperatures, pulse rates, respiratory rates, and respiratory qualities, and record data in appropriate records as requested by doctors
• Prior to discharge, remove patients’ catheters, clean patients so that no body fluids are detectable, and bathe and/or groom patients prior to transferring them to clients

Patient-Treatment Tasks:

• Understand mechanics and application of basic standards of asepsis
• Maintain IV catheters so fluids flow freely and flush and clean as needed
• Administer IV, IM, SQ, and oral medications and note in charts
• Assist in application of wound dressings and treatments
• Monitor telemetry and perform 6 lead ECG

General and Cardiology Technical Tasks:

• Perform venipunctures and artery puncture using patients’ cephalic, saphenous, and jugular in a manner that minimizes trauma to patients and injury to veins and allows the success of obtaining a non-hemolyzed sample
• Place sampling catheter and introducer catheter
• Understand paperwork and procedures of outside laboratories used by the practice
• Perform routine ELISA tests, such as heartworm and feline viral tests while also setting up and reading urine specific gravities, hemocrits, and total protein tests
• Ability to obtain a 10-lead ECG
• Place and remove Holter monitoring equipment and edit Holter monitors using Trillium software
• Ability to identify catheters commonly used for interventional techniques and cardia catheterization
• Ability to grade cardiac murmurs, identify PMI (point of maximal intensity), and correlate possible clinical diagnoses
• Operate and maintain and train staff on use of Snyder oxygen cage
• Knowledge of standard Mmode and 2D echo views
• Understanding of principles of Mmode, 2D, pulsed wave, continuous wave, and color flow Doppler
• Ability to obtain standard M-mode and 2D echo views
• Ability to identify many common and acquired cardiac disorders including DCM, HCM, pericardial effusion, CVD, PDA, VSD, ASD, PS, SAS and Tetrology of Fallot from echocardiography
• Assist with restraint during echocardiography procedures for EVS and Pulse

Emergency-Care and Cardiology Tasks:

• Provide basic life support, including CPR, airway maintenance, and oxygen therapy
• Control bleeding using pressure bandages and tourniquets
• Recognize common arrhythmias including SVT, VPCs, V-tach, sinus arrhythmia, sinus arrest, and various forms of AV block
• Be able to note severe chamber enlargement on thoracic radiographs and echocardiography
• Accurately measure Doppler blood pressure
• Understand basic physiology and engineering of pacemakers including pacing modes and lead systems

Surgical-Assistance Tasks:

• Know names of instruments and where they are stored
• Prepare surgery suite(s) for incoming patients
• Bring surgical patients to surgical prep are and check that the correct patient(s) by checking cage cards, affixed identifications, and patients’ markings and records
• Set up and operate fluoroscopy
• Check surgery schedules and patients’ records to determine procedures to be performed
• Assist Veterinarians in administering preoperative medications
• Under the direction of doctors, prepare patients for surgery and clip surgical fields with straight margins, minimize tissue trauma, and properly scrub and prepare surgical fields
• Maintain clean fields when moving patients
• Attach cardiac and respiratory monitors and pulse oximeters or ECG monitors to anesthetized patients
• Properly position and align patients for surgery
• Have ability to calibrate transducers to measure intracardiac and intravascular pressures
• Monitor patients during surgery for depth of anesthesia, color, temperature, respiratory rate, and heart rate and alert doctors to changes in conditions
• Monitor patients’ recovery and protect patients from aspiration and hypothermia
• Deflate cuffs and remove endotracheal tubes as soon as gag reflexes return
• During surgical procedures, serve as the ‘lead’ to the surgeon’s support staff

Surgical Cleaning Tasks:

• Clean operating rooms and equipment after use
• Clean floors and counters in surgical prep and recovery areas, treatment rooms, and wards after use and as needed
• Wash, sterilize, and store endotracheal tubes using techniques that prevent the spread of disease
• Clean surgical instruments by hand and/or ultrasonic cleaner
• Operate and maintain the autoclave
• Pack and autoclave instruments while using lists of instruments or photos as guides, to ensure that packs contain proper numbers and types of instruments and that they are labeled with dates and types of packs and apply pressure and temperature sterilization tape and/or monitors and verify effectiveness after autoclaving
• Instruct other technicians and tech assistants on the proper organization and maintenance of surgical space and equipment.

Radiology Tasks:

• Restraint and positioning of patients for radiographic procedures
• Strive to position animals for optimum viewing of the body parts being radiographed
• Maintain up to date telemedicine records using Asteris software
• Obtain feedback on radiograph quality when sending for review
• Send echocardiography and radiology images to referring veterinarians when requested using Asteris software