Veterinary Assistant

Petco Petco · Retail · Salem, OR

This role involves providing medical and customer care in a veterinary hospital, assisting doctors with appointments, surgeries, and patient care, handling laboratory samples, dispensing medications, and maintaining patient records. It also includes scheduling, client education, and ensuring a clean hospital environment.

What you'd actually do

  1. Greet clients and patients arriving for appointments and escort them into an exam room, obtain weight and vital signs (temperature, pulse, respirations) and record the electronic medical record. Veterinary Assistants will collect thorough patient histories and document the patient visit in the EMRs.
  2. Assist doctors with appointments (routine and emergency), surgery, dentistry, and euthanasia, under supervision from the veterinarian credentialed veterinary technician, , HOM and HLOD.
  3. Perform patient restraint, obtain and process laboratory samples, handle and dispense medications at the direction of the veterinarian and help maintain the electronic medical record.
  4. Schedule appointments, provide client education, relay test results to doctor and clients, and maintain and update client/patient records.
  5. Help prepare patients for surgical and dental procedures and assist doctor and/or veterinary technician in anesthetizing patients. Under supervision of the veterinarian and/or veterinary technician, assistants will maintain patients safely under anesthesia while monitoring vital parameters, help monitor patients during recovery and prepare them for hospital discharge or transfer to an overnight care facility.

Skills

Required

  • excellent written and verbal communication skills
  • compassionate and sympathetic
  • maintain a professional attitude and demeanor during emotional and stressful situations
  • telephone and computer skills
  • team player willing to learn new techniques and treatments, offer creative ideas, and accept change

Nice to have

  • at least 1-year previous experience working in veterinary practice or sufficient relatable animal care experience