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Click here for a copy of the VVTA's most recent newsletter!

Dear Veterinary Technician Association Officers,

NAVTA has been representing and promoting the veterinary technology profession by providing direction and support for 25 years. In recognition of NAVTA's 25th Anniversary, I would like to ask you use the attached NAVTA Anniversary Banner on your association's web site and your newsletter to show your support of NAVTA.

All NAVTA State Reps should have gotten information about the 2006 State Challenge and hopefully it has been disseminated to the state veterinary technician association officers and the association members. Grow the number of NAVTA members in your state association and win $1000.00. The state with the largest increase in NAVTA members and the state with the greatest percent increase in NAVTA members win $1000.00. NAVTA has reduced the membership fee to $40.00 for the state association member who also joins or renews their NAVTA membership. The deadline is 2006 State Challenge is May 1, 2006. More information is available on the NAVTA Web site, www.navta.net If you have any questions please feel free to contact me. dlively@rapidnet.com 605-484-2215

Thank you for your support.

Dennis Lively

NAVTA State Rep Chair

NAVTA Past President

NAVTA 25th Anniversary Banner

ANIMAL HEALTH TECHNICIAN

By, Dr. Thomas L. Munschauer, Member of the Vermont Veterinary Medical Association, www.vtvets.org

JOB DESCRIPTION

In general, animal health technicians wear many hats. They assist veterinarians with care and surgery of patients. They assist clients with their animals by restraint and through client education and sharing of information. They assist the front office staff during busy times by answering the phone, assisting/processing clients at the front desk, releasing and admitting animals to the hospital, filling prescriptions, etc. The successful technician is a person who sees something that needs doing and does it without being asked or leaving it for someone else to deal with. This means a general awareness of the big picture. Do animals have proper bedding, food and water? Are medications being given to boarding animals? Has anybody cleaned up that mess in the waiting room? Are surgical patients recovering as expected? With time, it is expected that the successful technician will anticipate the needs of the veterinarian and keep one step ahead.

Duties are divided into office, surgical and treatment work.

Treatment/AM Appointments:

  • Assist veterinarian with morning rounds.
  • Put medications up for animals going home.
  • Update or create the day sheet.
  • Update the front office staff about patients' status.
  • Discharge animals going home during the morning. Make sure client understands discharge instructions. Make sure client understands how to give medications and when. Demonstrate if necessary.
  • Assist doctor with appointments. The primary goal is to help clients and keep the doctor on schedule by restraining animals, getting vaccines ready, weighing animals, putting up medications, running fecals, filling out lab forms and running other laboratory tests as requested. Clean up rooms after use.
  • Help relieve back-ups at the front desk when they occur.
  • Admit animals to the hospital and properly identify them with cage cards and collars.
  • Some vaccines will be administered by technicians without a doctor being present. These include kennel cough vaccines and some leukemia virus boosters. Heartworm tests and some blood tests may be drawn by technicians on the request of a doctor. Nail trims and suture removals will be done by technicians. Some wound care and bandage changes may be done on the instruction of a doctor.
  • If appointments are slow, go to where the action is. This may be surgery or helping in the back. If appointments start up, be prepared to shift back to office appointment work.

Surgery:

  • Sets up operating room. Ready packs. Check oxygen tanks. Check isoflurane level in machine. Set anesthesia machine up with proper tubing and bag.
  • Assist with induction and maintenance of anesthesia
  • Monitor anesthesia. Hook up monitoring equipment as required.
  • Keep the anesthesia log
  • Express bladders of abdominal surgical patients
  • Perform dental prophys and put up brush/paste etc. to go home
  • Monitor surgical recovery. Included in this is taking and recording temperatures, monitoring color and hydration and assessing pain.
  • Put up medications for surgical patients as instructed
  • Update the day sheet and communicate changes with the front desk and the other technician.
  • Clean surgery and clean/put up and autoclave packs
  • Assist with afternoon appointments as detailed above.
  • Release surgical and procedure patients in the afternoon as detailed above.
  • Fill out lab forms as requested and run lab tests as requested.
  • Empty garbage, including garbage at front desk and in doctors' offices.
  • Bed down patients at night, making sure all medications and food and water instructions have been followed.
  • Start day sheet for the next day.

General Duties:

Listed below are general tasks that require constant attention and completion. These duties are not assigned to a specific technician, but it is expected that communication between co-workers will assure that what needs to be done is being done in a timely manner.

  • Stock exam and treatment rooms daily.
  • Keep a supply of commonly dispensed medications put up: anthelban in two sizes, soloxine, prednisone in two sizes and two counts, phenylpropanolamine and others as requested or as seem appropriate.
  • Keep supply of Rx vials in three sizes in three drawers
  • Keep supply of pens and hi-lighters and scrap paper in treatment/ pharmacy /laboratory and exam rooms.
  • Run laboratory tests as required, i.e. heartworm tests
  • Clean autoclave monthly.
  • Clean x-ray processor every two months.
  • Change CO2 absorber in anesthesia machine monthly.