Careers

Clark, PA Veterinary Careers

Happy Tales is a small animal general practice that takes pride in providing the best surgery and medicine for our patients. Our team loves what we do and we love working together in a fun environment.

Veterinary jobs in Clark, PA

Looking to jump-start a new career? Happy Tales Veterinary Hospital just might be the perfect fit for you. Check out our job listings down below and see if we’re a match!

About Happy Tales Veterinary Hospital

In October of 2017, Dr. Charles and Jennifer Yurkon purchased Baker Animal Hospital from Dr. Daniel Baker and established Happy Tales Veterinary Hospital.

Here at Happy Tales, we honor that legacy with our commitment to continuing to provide the best medical care and experiences for our patients. Our hospital is outfitted with state-of-the-art equipment, including a full in-house laboratory, imaging, critical care chamber (oxygen therapy, thermoregulation, nebulization), surgical laser, cold therapy laser, and more. Although the equipment is important, it is only part of the equation to providing excellent patient care.

We employ a team of highly educated team members with a combination of over 30 post-secondary degrees. With their combined education, skills, and passion for patient care, our team provides the backbone of our care. You can be a part of this team too!

Positions Available

Veterinarian

Happy Tales Veterinary Hospital LLC

VETERINARIAN JOB DESCRIPTION

TEAM! Life Work balance! Passion for veterinary medicine! Great cost of living to live a life you dreamed!

If these are what you are looking for in career and life, we are the hospital for you. We love what we do, and we love working together to take care of lots of family pets in our area. Our area not only has great cost of living but small town to raise a family and positioned between major cities to explore other adventures. If you love the outdoors, we are the place for boating, hiking, camping, golfing, skiing and much more. Not only all this, but we also have very mild weather compared to the surrounding areas.  No on-call shifts, flexible schedule, great benefits, awesome clients, fabulous pay, all the equipment you need and a glorious team. 

We really do exist!

Details below

  • Idexx laboratory station: Procyte, Catalyst, Catalyst One, SediVue, Urine Strip reader and Snap Pro
  • Digital Radiographs both dental and whole body
  • Other equipment: Cornerstone, Xario ultrasound, VetPro scaler/polisher and drills, CO2 surgical laser, Cold therapy laser by Companion, and Tonopen
  • Local emergency hospital coverage for nights, weekends and holidays
  • We have a traveling boarded dentist
  • About an hour from Pittsburgh and Erie, Pennsylvania and Cleveland, Ohio for more cultural aspects, sports, and entertainment activities
  • We offer AVMA, PVMA, NWPVMA, WPVMA membership dues, Health insurance, Dental insurance, Vision insurance, Life insurance, Simple IRA, CE allowance, and PTO days plus room for personal growth!

We are looking for the right veterinarian for our team! Full-time or part-time, we are very flexible. Please email us at [email protected] with your cover letter of why you think this would be the hospital for you, resume and at least 3 professional references.  Visit our FB page (HappyTalesVet) and our website www.happytalesvet.com.

Veterinary Assistant

Happy Tales Veterinary Hospital LLC

VETERINARY ASSISTANT JOB DESCRIPTION

The responsibilities of veterinary assistants vary considerably. They will divide their time between assisting the client service coordinators, helping doctors with physical examinations, dispensing medications, helping veterinary technicians position patients for and process radiographs, preparing patients for surgery, providing nursing and comfort care, and performing treatments or basic laboratory diagnostic tests.

Veterinary assistants must build positive, professional relationships with clients and team members. Assistants should have completed or be in the process of completing their high school diplomas and must pursue significant on-the-job training.

General Knowledge and Tasks

General Knowledge

  • Ability to give directions to the practice.
  • 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 Material Safety Data Sheets quickly.
  • Know and use standard medical and business abbreviations.
  • Use proper medical terminology when speaking and writing.
  • Understand the life cycle and pathology of common parasites (intestinal parasites, heartworms, fleas, ticks), and know the names of most common preventatives, recommended treatments, and diagnostics.
  • Be familiar with zoonotic (contagious) diseases, including their prevention and steps to reduce or eliminate transmission.
  • Know the policies regarding the provision of veterinary care, treatment of stray animals, deposits for hospitalized patients, payments, credit, pet health insurance, and finance fees.
  • Competently speak and write the English language.
  • Competently speak a second language commonly used at the practice.

General Tasks

  • Always be in a position and prepared to work by the start of each scheduled shift.
  • Maintain accurate personal time cards.
  • Enter the practice through the front door so that you see what clients see. Routinely pick up trash or feces from the parking lot, sidewalks, or entryway.
  • Maintain a professional appearance while at work, including clean and pressed uniforms or clothes. Change clothes daily 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 the team.
  • 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 clients, team members, and animals (alive or deceased) at all times.
  • Effectively promote preventive health care, nutrition, and pet health insurance to clients. Support what fellow team members have said to clients.
  • Have the physical strength and ability to stand for an entire shift when needed, and be able to lift pets and objects weighing up to 50 pounds without assistance. Assist in lifting patients weighing more than 50 pounds.
  • Maintain a list of tasks and engage in productive work during slow periods.
  • Assist other employees as needed.
  • Take initiative –avoid waiting for coworkers to ask for assistance.
  • Stock hospital supplies and pharmaceutical, pet food, and over-the-counter products.
  • Ensure that medical supplies are always available. Add new items to the list of depleted supplies.
  • Regularly check for outdated supplies. Remove and replace them as directed by the hospital administrator.
  • Assist in hiring new veterinary assistants by advising candidates of openings, offering them applications, working with them to help evaluate their personalities and skill levels, and providing your opinion to the hospital administrator.
  • Participate in your performance appraisal, and, as requested, in those of others.
  • Participate in all team and training meetings.
  • Conduct tours of the practice and/or kennel. Before each tour, ensure that the facility is orderly and that team and patients are prepared for tours.
  • 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 closing procedures to ensure the security of patients, team, data, revenue, inventory, and the facility.
  • Assist and perform any additional tasks as necessary.

Front-Office Tasks

  • Know phone functions, including hold, intercom, transfer, forward, and three-way calling.
  • Answer the phone by the third ring when CSR’sare preoccupied or unavailable.
  • Assist CSR’sin keeping the facility’s reception area and room(s) clean and tidy. Replace older issues of magazines with current ones, placed neatly in holders or on tables.
  • When assisting at the front desk, know the names of clients and patients that are scheduled to arrive before they appear.
  • Access client information within the practice-management software system. Enter and retrieve client and patient data in the computer.
  • Assist CSR’s with clients’ payments, and provide clients with receipts that detail their transactions.

Client-Interaction Tasks

Patient-Admittance Tasks

  • Cordially greet incoming clients and patients, addressing each by name.
  • Check clients in. Update clients’ or patients’ records as needed.
  • Use clients’ and patients’ names during conversations.
  • Counsel clients on financial and admittance policies, their pets’ medical procedures, and options that require consideration. Answer clients’ questions and ensure that all admittance paperwork is properly completed. Check that clients’ signatures and accurate phone numbers on consent forms match those on new client information sheets.
  • Advise clients of special call-in times to check on patients or speak with doctors and veterinary technicians.
  • Inform clients of recommended services for their pets and obedience training or special health care programs offered by the practice.
  • Provide clients with accurate and thorough information about over-the-counter products. Understand and explain internal and external parasite products as well as diets, dental products, and behavior management tools.
  • Know where brochures and client-education materials are stored. Provide clients with handouts and brochures regarding relevant medical conditions, surgeries, immunizations, internal and external parasites, pet insurance, and diets.
  • Give treatment plans (estimates) for services to be performed on patients.
  • Advise clients of significant changes in policies or services since their last visit.
  • Explain delays that affect clients. Ensure the comfort of clients and patients during their waits. Offer water to clients or patients in need (or withhold water from patients as appropriate). Reschedule appointments as needed.
  • Call for waiting clients using pets’ names and clients’ last names. Lead them to exam rooms.
  • Transfer incoming patients to appropriate wards and ensure the comfort of clients and patients. Identify patients with cage cards and identification collars. Add patients to each day’s census, procedure list, or surgery schedule.
  • Assist clients with unruly or unrestrained pets. When assisting CSR’s, ensure that all dogs are leashed immediately after arrival and that cats and smaller pets are caged. Isolate aggressive pets. Request assistance if needed.

Pet-Identification Tasks

  • Scan new patients and strays for microchips, tags, and tattoos. Identify and record microchip numbers, tattoos, and/or patient markings in patients’ records.
  • Communicate with clients about the various pet-identification systems available, including collar tags, tattoos, and microchips.
  • Assist clients in registering pet-identification information in the practice’s computer system and in the appropriate national database.

Patient-Discharge Tasks

  • Coordinate patient transfers with front desk, kennel and/or veterinarians.
  • 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 the route of administration, such as by mouth or in the ear; and product’s expiration date.
  • Dispense medications. Discuss administration or application of products and potential side effects with owners as instructed by doctors or veterinary technicians.
  • Provide clients with accurate and thorough information about all over-the-counter products. Understand and explain internal-and external-parasite products as well as diets, dental products, and behavior management tools.
  • Accurately invoice clients from charges on travel or circle sheets or medical records.
  • Discharge patients. Instruct clients on the care of patients at home, timing of recheck appointments, and potential adverse effects of surgeries, procedures, or medications.
  • 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 euthanasias or the death of their pets.
  • Provide clients with memorials of their dead-on-arrival, died-during-hospitalization, or euthanized pets, (e.g., locks of hair, paw prints, or paw molds). Return collars, leashes, blankets, and other accessories.
  • Handle angry or grieving clients in a calm, reassuring manner. Escort complaining or angry clients from the reception area to a separate, closed room where their complaints may be heard privately. When necessary, enlist a doctor or the hospital administrator to resolve the complaint.
  • Assist clients to their cars if needed.

Medical-Record Management Tasks

  • Understand the medical-record filing system.
  • Know all possible locations for storage of records of hospitalized patients.
  • Locate medical files for hospitalized, surgical, or incoming patients.
  • Check on the immunizations or reminder status of arriving pets.
  • Properly use bins or slots assigned to doctors, team, pharmacy, lab, and callbacks(follow up).
  • Attach a travel or circle sheet marked with the patient’s and client’s names to the medical record of each arriving client.
  • For patients being admitted to the facility, attach cage cards and completed client forms to the records.
  • Understand and use special record notations, including male, female, aggressive, caution, no credit/charging, and/or inactive.
  • Record doctors’ and veterinary technicians’ notes in patients’ computer records or on paper records.
  • Make notes in patients’ files of relevant phone or in-person conversations with clients, and place your initials after such entries.
  • Verify and/or witness clients’ statements regarding procedures, including euthanasia.
  • Check files for completeness of notes, charges, callbacks(follow-ups), and reminders before refilling. Ensure that records include current laboratory tests, procedure results, current patients’ weights, immunizations, diagnoses, and treatments.
  • Accurately file all paper medical records.

Exam-Room Tasks

  • Possess sufficient strength and assertiveness to effectively restrain patients and ensure the safety of clients and personnel.
  • 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.
  • Assist in measuring and recording each patient’s weight, temperature, pulse rate, and respiratory rate.
  • Answer questions and educate clients about basic pet care and procedures including nutrition; internal and external parasite control; immunization protocols; the administration of topical, oral, otic, and ophthalmic medications; spay and neuter procedures; and behavior and training. Refer questions you cannot answer to appropriate colleagues.
  • Using aseptic procedures, draw up vaccines and/or injections that doctors will administer.
  • Assist in administering vaccines subcutaneously and intramuscularly. Follow the practice’s policies, the manufacturers’ directions, and AAFP guidelines for the placement of vaccines.
  • Dispose of used needles and syringes and other sharp objects as set forth by the practice’s policy and OSHA standards.
  • Perform nail trims.
  • Assist with routine exam-room procedures, such as venipuncture, skin scraping, fine-needle aspirate, corneal stain, ear treatment, etc.
  • Lay out and/or set up instruments that doctors will use during ophthalmic, otic, oral, and/or skin examinations, as determined by the patients’ presenting complaints, prior to the doctors’ arrival in rooms.
  • Take photographs or videos of patients’ conditions and lesions as directed by veterinarians.
  • Record doctors’ findings during medical examinations.
  • Keep a small notebook or personal digital assistant (PDA) in your pocket to record accurate instructions, particularly regarding the preparation and administering of medications to be dispensed.
  • Keep exam rooms stocked with syringes, needles, bandage materials, and prepackaged dispensable products. Regularly restock exam rooms or pharmacy refrigerators with vaccines.
  • Inform the hospital administrator 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.

Nursing-Care Tasks

Basic Patient-Care Tasks

  • Prioritize tasks to maximize clients’ satisfaction and patients’ health.
  • Track and use or store comfort items brought by clients for hospitalized patients.
  • Wash, dry, and store patients’ bedding and the practice’s towels. Maintain bedding in good repair.
  • Place clean, soft bedding in cages as appropriate.
  • 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 vomitus, blood, urine, and feces in the cage, and clean patients and cages as needed. Save excretions if unsure whether it should be examined. Note unexpected incidents on cage cards or charts.
  • Monitor patients’ behaviors and note potentially aggressive behaviors. Use caution when handling aggressive or potentially aggressive pets. Request assistance when needed.
  • Monitor changes in patients’ conditions. Alert doctors or veterinary technicians to significant changes.
  • 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 double leash or on a leash within a fenced exercise area. Ensure that they are restrained and under your control at all times.
  • Prepare meals and feed animals. Note appetite on cage cards or patient records.
  • Assess hospitalized patients’ temperatures, pulse rates, respiratory rates, and respiratory qualities, and record data in appropriate records.
  • De-flea patients with flea combs, flea sprays, spot-on topical, baths, dips, or appropriate medication as directed by the doctor.
  • De-tick patients using proper instruments or techniques as directed by the doctor.
  • Provide medical grooming, including medicated baths, dips, and mat removal.
  • Clip hair in a manner that minimizes clipper burn. Maintain clean clipper blades and lubricate them on a regular basis.
  • Use warning stickers and notations on cage cards and records as appropriate.
  • Prior to discharge, remove patients’ intravenous catheters, clean patients so that no body fluids are detectable, and bathe and/or groom patients prior to transferring them to clients.
  • Disinfect cages as soon as possible after patients are removed from them.

Patient-Treatment Tasks

  • Understand the mechanics and application of basic standards of asepsis.
  • Maintain intravenous catheters so fluids flow freely; flush and clean as needed.
  • Administer IV, IM, SQ, and oral medications and note in charts.
  • Assist in the application of wound dressings and treatments.
  • Swab, clean, flush and treat ear canals without causing trauma.
  • Trim nails to the quick without causing bleeding.
  • Understand how to stop bleeding by using styptic pencils, powder, or other means.
  • Monitor and maintain urinary collection bags. Record urine production on cage cards and in charts.
  • Identify a patient’s level of pain and possible causes of pain, and understand the medications and methods used to control pain.
  • Assist kennel team members in medicating and treating borders as necessary.

Technical Tasks

General Technical Tasks

  • Restrain pets in a manner that allows necessary work to be performed, minimizes stress to patients, and ensures the safety of patients and people. Safely and effectively apply and use restraints such as muzzles, towels, gloves, and cat bags.
  • Collect urine and fecal samples. Use fecal loops for stool collection as needed.
  • Prepare direct and concentrated slides of body fluids. Air-dry and stain them as directed.
  • Make blood smears with properly feathered edges that ensure accurate white and red blood cell interpretation.
  • Maintain stains and other supplies in a manner that avoids contamination and ensures correct results.
  • Use proper stain techniques to maximize diagnostic interpretation of prepared slides.
  • Maintain test kits under proper environmental conditions.
  • Understand the paperwork and procedures of outside laboratories used by the practice.
  • Perform routine ELISA tests, such as heartworm and feline viral tests. Set up and read urine-specific gravities, PCVs, and total protein tests.
  • Perform fecal examinations, including direct, centrifugation, and flotation procedures.
  • Set up and run laboratory equipment including blood chemistries, complete blood counts, and urinalyses.
  • Assist with euthanasia procedures.

Emergency-Care Tasks

  • Assist in applying temporary bandages or splints.
  • Provide basic life support, including CPR, airway maintenance, and oxygen therapy.
  • Control bleeding using pressure bandages and tourniquets.
  • Provide cooling baths and/or enemas for heatstroke patients.

Surgical-Assistance Tasks

  • Know the names of instruments and where they are stored.
  • Prepare the surgery suite(s) for incoming patients.
  • Bring surgical patients to the surgical prep area. Ensure that you have the correct patients by checking cage cards, affixed identifications, and patients’ markings and records.
  • Check surgery schedules and patients’ records to determine procedures to be performed.
  • Assist veterinary technicians in administering preoperative medications.
  • Under the direction of doctors or veterinary technicians, prepare patients for surgery. Trim nails. Clip surgical fields with straight margins. Minimize tissue trauma. Properly scrub and prepare surgical fields. Maintain clean fields when moving patients.
  • Attach cardiorespiratory monitoring devices during anesthesia including pulse oximeter, ECG, blood pressure cuff, and capnograph.
  • Properly position and align patients for surgery.
  • Use warming mats, Bair huggers, and other means to maintain the body temperatures of anesthetized patients.
  • Assist surgeons with aseptic gowning and loving.
  • Record patients’ parameters during surgery including mucous membrane color, temperature, respiratory rate, heart rate, blood pressure, and end-tidal carbon dioxide. Alert veterinary technicians and doctors to changes in condition.
  • Monitor patients’ recovery. Protect patients from aspiration and hypothermia. Deflate cuffs and remove endotracheal tubes as soon as gag reflexes return.

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 after wrapping surgical packs. Pack and autoclave instruments. Using lists of instruments or photos as guides, ensure that packs contain the proper numbers and types of instruments and that they are labeled with dates and types of packs. Apply pressure and temperature sterilization tape and/or monitors, and verify effectiveness after autoclaving. Labeling example: Date, Initials of who wrapped, What type of pack

Radiology Tasks

  • Assist veterinary technicians and/or doctors with restraint and positioning of patients for radiographic procedures.
  • Minimize radiation hazards. Use protective equipment whenever exposing radiographs.
  • Wear personal dosimeters as recommended by the dosimeter provider.
  • Consistently place right and left markers in the image field.
Veterinary Technician

Happy Tales Veterinary Hospital LLC

VETERINARY TECHNICIAN JOB DESCRIPTION

Veterinary technicians may also be identified as registered veterinary technicians, certified veterinary technicians, animal-health technicians, or veterinary nurses. 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, assist in surgery, and perform dental procedures all while maintaining an air of compassion and professionalism.

As with veterinarians, the breadth of tasks that veterinary technicians are required to perform are almost endless. They are often asked to perform additional tasks that they may not be able to reasonably complete themselves in a timely manner. As such, it is extremely important that veterinary technicians develop and utilize the skill of delegation. This allows tasks to be completed efficiently within an appropriate time frame.

General Knowledge and Tasks

General Knowledge

• 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.
• Competently speak a second language commonly used at the practice.

General Tasks

• 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 front door so that you see what clients see. Routinely pick up
trash or feces from the parking lot, sidewalks, or entryway.
• 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 team.
• 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 clients, team members, and animals (alive or deceased) at all times.
• Have the physical strength and ability to stand for an entire shift when needed, and be able to
lift pets and objects weighing up to 50 pounds without assistance. Assist in lifting patients
weighing more than 50 pounds.
• Maintain a list of tasks and engage in productive work during slow periods.
• Direct technical and kennel team.
• Direct on-the-job training of technical and kennel team.
• Assist other employees as needed. Take initiative – avoid waiting for coworkers to ask for
assistance.
• Maintain your personal veterinary technician certificate, license, or registration according to
state requirements.
• Assist in hiring new employees by advising candidates of openings, offering them
applications, working with them to help evaluate their personalities and skill levels, and
providing your opinion to the hiring manager.
• Participate in your performance appraisal, and, as requested, in those of others.
• Participate in all team 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.
• Organize and present training seminars for other support team.
• 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, such as 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, team, data,
revenue, inventory, and the building.
• Assist and perform any additional tasks as necessary.

Front-Office Tasks

• Know phone functions, including hold, intercom, transfer, forward, and three-way calling.
• Answer the phone by the third ring when receptionists are preoccupied or unavailable.
• 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.
• Assist and perform any additional tasks as necessary.

Client-Interaction Tasks

Patient-Admittance Tasks

• Cordially greet incoming clients and their pets, addressing each by name, and check them in when receptionists are busy.
• 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 or the office manager.
• Provide clients with handouts and brochures regarding relevant medical conditions, surgeries, immunizations, internal and external parasites, pet health insurance, and diets.
• 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.

Pet-Identification Tasks

• Scan new patients and strays for microchips, tags, and tattoos. Identify and record microchip numbers, tattoos, and/or patient markings in patient records.
• Communicate with clients about the various pet-identification systems available, including tags, tattoos, and microchips.
• Assist clients in registering pet-identification information in the practice’s computer system and in the appropriate national database.

Procedural Tasks

• As patients are admitted, build a surgery, procedure, and/or treatment schedule for the approval of the attending doctors.
• Develop each day’s hospital census and/or client-update forms, starting with in-hospital patients, and assist with development of these forms as patients are admitted for day- procedures, surgeries, or hospitalization. Deliver copies to the front desk at established times.

Patient-Discharge Tasks

• Coordinate patient transfers with front-desk and/or veterinarians.
• 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 from charges on travel or circle sheets or records. Activate computer reminders and insert computerized notes, treatments, diagnostics, and diagnoses.
• Receive and record client payments.
• 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.
• Provide clients with memorials of their dead-on-arrival, 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. 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’s or deaths of their pets.
• Assist clients to their vehicles if needed.

Medical-Record Management Tasks

• Understand the medical-record filing system.
• Locate medical files for hospitalized, surgical, or incoming patients.
• Record doctors’ and technicians’ notes in patients’ computer records or on paper records.
• Make notes in patient files 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’s.
• Check files for completeness of notes, charges, callbacks, and reminders, making entries as
needed.
• Accurately file all paper medical records.

Exam-Room Tasks

• Possess sufficient strength and assertiveness to effectively restrain patients and ensure the safety of clients and personnel.
• 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.
• Obtain and record patient histories from clients.
• Answer questions and educate clients about basic pet care and procedures including nutrition;
internal and external parasite control; immunization protocols; the administration of topical, oral, otic, and ophthalmic medications; spay and neuter procedures; and behavior and obedience training.
• Complete cursory overall examinations of patients and record your findings in the medical records.
• Identify external parasites.
• Perform suture removals, nail trims, and anal sac expressions.
• Draw up vaccines and/or injections for administration.

• Vaccinate pets. Follow manufacturers’ directions as well as AAFP guidelines for placement of injectable vaccines at appropriate sites.
• Dispose of used needles and syringes and other sharp objects as set forth by the practice’s policy and OSHA standards.
• Keep a small notebook or personal digital assistant (PDA) in your pocket to record accurate instructions, particularly regarding the preparation and administering medications to be dispensed.
• Inform the hospital administrator 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.

Nursing-Care Tasks

Basic and Environmental Tasks

• 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 practice’s towels. 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 vomitus, blood, urine, and feces in the cage, and clean patients and
cages as needed. Note unexpected incidents on cage cards or charts.
• Monitor patients’ behaviors and note potentially aggressive behaviors. Use caution when
handling aggressive or potentially aggressive pets. Request assistance when needed.
• Monitor changes in patients’ conditions. Alert doctors to significant changes.
• Alert doctors to notable pathology identified during patients’ exams.
• 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 double leash or on a leash within a fenced exercise area. Ensure that they are
restrained and under your control at all times.
• Accurately assess patients’ temperatures, pulse rates, and respiratory rates.
• Clip hair in a manner that minimizes clipper burn. Maintain, clean, and lubricate clipper
blades on a regular basis.
• 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.

Patient-Treatment Tasks

• 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 intravenous catheters so fluids flow freely; flush and clean as needed.
• Monitor and maintain urinary-collection bags. Record urine production on charts.
• 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.
• Use cotton swabs to clean ears, bulb syringes to flush them, curettes to remove debris, and
catheters to irrigate ear canals. Administer ear treatments without causing trauma, and teach
clients how to complete this task.
• Trim nails to the quick without causing bleeding.
• Provide physical therapy and hydrotherapy to patients as instructed.
• Provide medical grooming, including medicated baths, dips, and mat removal.
• Understand how to stop bleeding by using styptic pencils, powder or other means.
• De-flea patients with flea combs, flea sprays, spot-on topical, baths, dips, or appropriate
medication as directed by the doctor.
• De-tick patients with tick-removal instruments or medications as directed by the doctor.
• Identify a patient’s level of pain and possible causes of pain, and understand the medications
and methods used to control pain.

Technical Tasks

General Technical Tasks

• 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 venipuncture 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 non- hemolyzed 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, cats, and pocket pets.

• Aseptically place cephalic, saphenous, and jugular intravenous catheters without causing patient trauma.
• Perform needle aspirates and stain them as requested.
• Draw blood for transfusions. Type-match blood samples. Perform blood transfusions: set up
filters for whole-blood administration, oversee the administration of blood and blood products,
and monitor patients for transfusion reactions.
• Set up and record diagnostic multi-lead ECG tracings.
• Obtain ear swabs and cultures for analysis.
• Express anal sacs.
• Properly implant microchips and test their functionality.
• Assist with euthanasia procedures. Hold off veins and release pressure at appropriate times
when catheters are not used.

Emergency-Care Tasks

• 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.
• Provide cooling baths and/or enemas for heatstroke patients.

Laboratory Tasks

• Understand the paperwork and procedures of outside laboratories used by the practice.
• Maintain all laboratory test kits and reagents under proper environmental conditions.
• Maintain centrifuges, microscopes, and chemistry analyzers.
• Make direct and concentrated slides of body fluids. Air-dry and stain them as directed.
• Make blood smears with properly feathered edges to ensure accurate interpretation.
• Evaluate blood smears to accurately assess platelet numbers, red and white cell morphology, and differential white counts. Recognize blood pathogens.
• Maintain stains and other supplies to ensure the best results. Prevent contamination of stains and replace them when ineffective or contaminated.
• Use proper stain techniques to maximize the diagnostic capability of prepared slides.
• Perform urinalyses. Properly use and record data from urine dipsticks. Measure specific
gravity. Evaluate urine sediments for crystals, cells, and other material.
• Perform fecal examinations, including direct and flotation procedures.
• Perform and evaluate skin scrapings and ear smears.
• Complete routine ELISA tests, such as heartworm and feline viral tests.
• Set up, centrifuge, and read PCVs.
• Use refractometer or chemistry analyzers to evaluate total protein levels of serum or other
fluids.
• Use handheld glucometers to measure blood glucose values.
• Collect and prepare samples for bacterial and fungal cultures. Evaluate in-house cultures.

• Evaluate bleeding/clotting times.
• Maintain quality control by running control samples and periodically testing in-house results
against results from an outside laboratory.

Surgical Tasks

• Develop or locate and maintain equipment and instrument maintenance logs.
• Serve as laser safety officer. Ensure the eye safety of veterinarians and team present during
laser surgery.
• Understand aseptic principles and apply them to surgical patients, instruments, equipment,
and rooms.
• Know the names of instruments and where they are stored.
• Prepare the surgery suite(s) for incoming patients.
• Prepare patients for surgery. Clip surgical fields with straight margins. Minimize tissue
trauma. Properly scrub and prepare surgical fields. Maintain clean fields when moving
patients.
• Properly position and align patients for surgery.
• Use heating pads, bair huggers, and other measures to maintain the body temperatures of
anesthetic and surgical patients.
• Properly scrub hands and arms for surgical cleanliness, and aseptically gown and glove
yourself when called to assist or “scrub in.”
• Assist surgeons with aseptic gowning and gloving.
• Anticipate surgeons’ needs for assistance, instruments, and treatments.
• Monitor patients’ recoveries. Protect patients from aspiration and hypothermia. Deflate cuffs
and remove endotracheal tubes as soon as gag reflexes return.
• Stimulate and care for puppies and kittens removed by cesarean section.
• Maintain surgery logs with patients’ names, doctors’ names, procedures performed, types and
amounts of preanesthetic and anesthetic agents, and surgical times.
• Maintain controlled-substance logs with patients’ names, doctors’ names, types and amounts
of drugs used, amounts of drugs remaining, and your signature.
• Maintain logs of the number of hours surgical lasers are in use.
• Keep controlled drugs secured to meet Drug Enforcement Agency and state board
specifications.
• Update patient records with drugs administered, procedures performed, and patient status
during surgeries and recoveries.

Surgical Cleaning Tasks

• Clean operating rooms and equipment after use.
• Clean surgical prep and recovery areas.
• Wash, sterilize, and store endotracheal tubes.
• 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 and/or ultrasonic cleaner.
• Operate and maintain the autoclave.

• Pack and autoclave instruments. Using lists of instruments or photos as guides, ensure that packs contain the proper numbers and types of instruments and that they are labeled with dates and types of packs. Apply pressure and temperature sterilization tape and/or monitors, and verify effectiveness after autoclaving.

Dental Tasks

• Know the names of surgical and dental instruments and their storage locations.
• Understand and use proper attire when operating dental equipment, including masks, eye
protection, caps, and protective apparel such as a gown or scrubs.
• Recognize significant dental and gum disease, record it in patient records, and bring it to the
attention of doctors.
• Perform dental scaling and polishing procedures without traumatizing the gingiva.
• Perform fluoride treatments.
• Maintain proper dental records for each patient.
• Be able to properly position and expose dental radiographs.
• Maintain dental radiology equipment.

Anesthetic Tasks

• Be sufficiently familiar with the anesthetic machines to operate, maintain, and repair them.
• Routinely check and change soda lime. Record dates of soda-lime changes on the machines.
• Check anesthetic hoses for leaks and internal contaminants.
• Ensure that the anesthetic scavenging system is functional.
• Understand the differences between closed- and open-circuit administration of anesthetic
agents, adjustments needed for oxygen flow rates, and anesthetic percentages used for each.
• Regularly check the level of inhalant anesthetic in vaporizers. Add anesthetic as needed.
• Check pressures in oxygen tanks regularly and replace tanks at appropriate times. Check
regularly for leaks in oxygen hoses and couplings.
• Connect oxygen tanks to anesthetic machines without damaging gaskets. Maintain spare
gaskets and replace them if they are damaged.
• Test endotracheal tube cuffs for leaks prior to use and replace them as needed.
• Know the volume of air that should be used to inflate various-sized cuffs to pressure levels
that prevent leakage without traumatizing tracheas.
• Generally understand the various anesthetic agents used for different patients.
• Administer preanesthetic drugs to surgical patients as directed. Record times of
administration.
• Pre-oxygenate surgical patients that are at particular risk for oxygen deprivation as directed.
• Administer IV, IM, and inhalation anesthetic agents safely.
• Safely place endotracheal tubes and ensure proper fits.
• Use a laryngoscope or other light source as needed to place endotracheal tubes.
• Check patients for proper respiratory function during intubation to ensure that tubes are in the
trachea and not the esophagus.
• Monitor surgical patients by tracking anesthetic depths, heart rates, respiratory rates,
temperatures, pulse oximetry, and ECGs during anesthetic procedures.

• Adjust inhalant anesthesia for each patient to safely maintain proper surgical planes. Administer additional injectable anesthetics within safety guidelines as needed to maintain desired surgical depths.
• Use palpebral, toe pinch, and corneal reflexes to assess and maintain necessary surgical planes.
• Maintain anesthetic log books so as to be in compliance with AAHA and state board standards.

Imaging Tasks

Radiology Tasks

• Maintain radiographic and shielding equipment to maximize patients’ and employees’ safety. Record maintenance data.
• Know how to perform radiographic contrast studies, such as barium swallows, upper and lower contrast studies of the GI system, excretory urograms, and cystourethrograms.
• Minimize radiation hazards. Use protective equipment and wear exposure badges during
radiographic exposures.
• Properly measure patients for effective translation to radiograph machine settings.
• Position patients to obtain diagnostic-quality radiographs of skeletal anatomy, internal
organs, superficial lesions, and extremities.
• Consistently use right and left markers.
• Adjust machine settings to avoid technique failures.
• Maintain a radiograph log book that complies with AAHA standards and/or state laws.

Ultrasound and Endoscopy Tasks

• Prepare patients for ultrasound.
• Warm the ultrasound gel before use.
• Properly restrain and position patients for ultrasonography.
• Perform introductory ultrasound surveys as directed.
• Clean and maintain ultrasound equipment.
• Properly clean, handle, maintain, and store all endoscopic equipment.

Inventory-Management Tasks

• Discuss new products in detail with representatives and doctors.
• Assist in maintaining lists of medications, vaccines, pet food, 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 hospital administrator.
• 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 hospital
administrator.

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