Emergency Veterinary Assistant - SHIFT LEAD - Alexandria, VA

WHO WE ARE

VEG is a rapidly growing emergency company with hospital locations across the United States. Our mission is helping people and their pets when they need it most. We are revolutionizing emergency medicine with a “customer first” mentality and a true, employee-centric work environment. 

TALENT + CULTURE AT VEG

At VEG, we want people and their pets to feel safe, secure, and valued; we want our employees to feel the same way. What we’re aiming to achieve on the customer side is equivalent in nature to what we want for our employees: to have the best experience possible. With the highest NPS score in our industry, we’re ready to ensure that VEG remains the place where the best and brightest in the emergency world not only want to work, but stay and grow. For our customers and their pets, we strive to find a way to say, “yes.” We do the same and more for our teams. In fact, VEG is one of this year’s nominees for INC Magazine’s Best Places to Work!

FOCUS

To facilitate and manage workflow of the nursing care team at VEG practices each shift. There will be a group of shift leads working as a team to create 24/7 coverage to have a presence on the floor. Shift leads will aim to distribute the workload to appropriately trained individuals in as efficient a manner as possible to deliver uncompromised standards of nursing care. The shift lead is not expected to know every detail about every patient at all times, but is expected to serve as a coordinator and have an overall picture of the status of the floor at any given time. By promoting a supportive atmosphere among the team and facilitating the work flow, shift leads will help ensure the quality of patient care, team wellness, and professional growth.

WHO WE NEED

You are passionate and motivated. You value learning and are a team player that is honest and respectful to your peers. You love what you do. You love working with animals and people. You are comfortable adapting to new scenarios, willing to learn new techniques, and think outside the box. You have excellent interpersonal capabilities across a diverse group. You’re happy to pitch in wherever and whenever you are needed, with a positive attitude. You demonstrate the ability to accomplish assigned tasks for all areas involved, knowing when to ask for assistance. You display excellent communication skills to your peers, customers, and team. You excel at organizational skills and are able to facilitate the workflow and optimize the efficiency of patient/customer care. You have leadership skills to effectively motivate the team in a positive and proficient manner.

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT TO DO

• Assume responsibility to maintain the flow of nursing care during the shift.
• Know the status of the patients, treatments to be performed, and gauge workload based on staffing level of the hospital.
• Ensure that all shift roles have been designated and are in communication with the team regarding any changes needed. The shift lead may fill roles themselves where help is needed.
• Flexibly provide on-the-floor help during shifts where most appropriate as a floater.
• Guide the team to use downtime productively including identifying opportunities for training, projects, and self-care.
• Facilitate shift start and wrap up activities such as patient and facility rounds and workstation organizing to smoothly transition between shifts.
• Coordinate and contribute to team huddles with the doctor at the beginning of every shift to establish team focus and set a positive and collaborative tone.
• Direct team member patient care questions and requests to the appropriate team member.
• Facilitate breaks for team members (including your own) and keep up-to-date on the status of breaks.
• Address interpersonal conflicts in the moment that arise on shift, ensuring that interpersonal conflicts are not affecting workflow or patient care. Communicate with the hospital leadership for documentation to be incorporated into the development meeting and resolutions.
• Maintain integrity of all shifts for standard policies (e.g. presence of food on treatment floor, mask compliance, etc)
• Work with the team on communication of incidents on the floor (medical mistakes, notable events/issues, status report) from a team and improvement focused perspective.
• Determine when on-call staff needs to be utilized and coordinating with the doctor on shift. Call-outs and coverage will be arranged in coordination with the technician manager

WHAT YOU NEED

• High school diploma or equivalent.
• Credentialed as a veterinary technician (CVT, RVT, LVT, LVMT) in the location of the VEG practice (or enrolled in the VEG Credential Support Program) strongly preferred.
• Veterinary technician specialist (VTS) certification will lead to additional considerations in practice role and compensation.
• Strong understanding of VEG practice workflow, team communications, and situational awareness.
• Ability to read, speak and hear sufficiently to understand, complete tasks instructed in all forms of communication, written, verbal, or other.
• Provide information in person & over the phone communicating clearly, appropriately & professionally.
• Properly communicates information to all personnel including management, medical staff & customers.
• Ability to stand for prolonged hours, kneel, work on the floor as well as ability to lift up to 25 kg on own and able to support up to 40 kg with assistance.

WHY YOU SHOULD CHOOSE US

Because emergency is all we do, so we do it best! We also offer:

• Industry-leading‌ ‌compensation‌
• We build our hospitals from scratch. You’ll be using all of the latest equipment and technology.
• Generous employee pet discount
• Referral rewards - tell your friends why they should come work for VEG too!
• Health‌, Vision, and Dental ‌Insurance‌ ‌ ‌
• 401K‌ ‌w/‌ ‌company‌ ‌match‌ ‌ ‌
• Paid‌ ‌parental‌ ‌leave‌ ‌-‌ ‌up to 10‌ ‌weeks‌ ‌of‌ ‌paid‌ ‌leave‌ ‌at‌ ‌100%‌ ‌of‌ ‌regular‌ ‌salary‌ ‌
• Unlimited‌ ‌Continuing Education opportunities - we want to help you grow in your career!
• Flexible‌ ‌work‌ ‌schedules‌ ‌for‌ ‌a‌ ‌true‌ ‌work-life‌ ‌balance‌ ‌ ‌
• Growth‌ ‌potential‌ ‌ ‌
• Groceries‌ ‌sent‌ ‌to the hospitals weekly for the staff to enjoy,‌ ‌monthly‌ ‌and‌ ‌quarterly‌ ‌contests,‌ ‌quarterly‌ ‌hospital‌ ‌outings,‌ company-wide retreats,‌ ‌etc!‌ ‌
• Lastly, because while our work is serious, we believe that it should also be fun!

VEG celebrates diversity and is committed to creating an inclusive workplace that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. You've found the equal opportunity employer you are looking for. We can't wait to meet you!