Veterinary Technician III- Hemodialysis

Cumming School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University provides 24-hour care for pets 365 days of the year. Since 1985 we have offered high quality medical care, consultation, referral, and emergency veterinary services for the care of dogs, cats and exotic pets. The Foster Hospital for Small Animals is home to one of less than 30 veterinary dialysis facilities in the United States. The Dialysis Center service has expanded over the years to an extracorporeal therapy service providing not only hemodialysis treatments but also therapeutic plasma exchange for immune mediated disease as well as hemoperfusion treatments for emergent toxicity cases. For small patients requiring treatment, Cummings School is the first veterinary school in the country to have a Carpediem enabling treatment of patients weighing 2-10kgs. The Dialysis service is currently supported by two full-time VTS (ECC) technicians, one of which is also a VTS (SAIM) and is seeking another experienced and talented technician to join their team.

This position qualifies for a $2,000 sign on bonus following successful completion of 6 months of employment for newly hired employees.

Under the direction of the Internal Medicine veterinarians, the Hemodialysis technician works as a part of a team performing extracorporeal therapy services as well as providing intensive care to the services' inpatients. The Hemodialysis technician will perform and assist in all areas of patient care in this section including but not limited to; placing central IV catheters, sedating patients, placing dialysis catheters, feeding tubes, initiating treatments, monitoring and performing serial patient assessment and bloodwork. In addition to managing patients during treatments, the Hemodialysis technician provides integral support to the inpatient teams by providing intensive and advanced patient care to patients receiving extracorporeal therapy and support to all hospitalized internal medicine patients.

The Veterinary Technician III performs advanced and more specialized technical procedures with limited direct supervision from the attending veterinarian or a supervising technician. Under minimal supervision, the Veterinary Technician III makes decisions and provides advanced veterinary patient nursing care, respecting the directions of the attending veterinarian. This technician also coaches and mentors junior staff and provides on-the-job training to new technicians. The Hemodialysis Technician is considered an essential employee within the hospital and the schedule may include providing University and calendar holiday coverage for emergency needs. A substantial holiday premium pay is applied to any University designated holiday. The University observes a minimum of thirteen holidays throughout the calendar year. Once trained, this position will participate in a rotating on-call emergency schedule with generous pager and emergency call in stipends and emergency hourly rates.

Essential Functions as a Hemodialysis Veterinary Technician will be:

Nursing Care:

• Provide high quality patient care including the following:
• Prioritize management, monitoring and treatment of any dialysis case in a progressive, high-quality manner.
• Implementing and facilitating clinicians' care decisions and treatment plans to ensure prompt, thorough, and accurate patient care.
• Development, training, and coordination of technicians capable of providing back up extracorporeal therapy case cover
• Provide quality technical assistance for clinical, academic and research applications daily and as needed.
• Although focus is extracorporeal therapy services and managing intensive care inpatients, cross training to provide care to patients in any other section is expected.
• Ensure adequate record keeping and ensure the submissions of proper charges for each case.
• Responsible for ordering supplies and ensuring that the dialysis unit is clean and well stocked
• Collaborate with administrative and clinical care team members throughout the hospital to coordinate and prioritize patient care.
• Complete diagnostic testing as ordered by clinicians including bench-top lab tests.
  
  

Teaching:

• Instruct veterinary students, student technicians and house officers in all technical aspects of extracorporeal treatments
• Participate in formal continuing education lectures and labs as needed
• Provide one on one on the job training for students, house officers and technical staff in high level skills and patient care
• Maintain and update the service SOP's and digital files to ensure consistent and high-quality care by all staff and clinicians.
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Client Service:

• Serve as point of contact for the Extracorporeal Therapy Services and Internal Medicine services.
• Communicate with clients and referring veterinarians to answer questions and relay patient information as directed by clinician

Department Maintenance:

• Coordinate and prioritize daily care of service inpatients and maintain adequate inventory for the Dialysis service.
• Clean/stock/maintain service areas.
• Maintain equipment and ensure that all equipment is kept in good working order.
• Facilitate the maintenance of clinical equipment by identifying malfunctioning equipment and scheduling service.
• Oversee service contracts if applicable for equipment.
• Establish and maintain infection control protocols for the service areas.

Research:

• Assist in faculty and house officer studies and projects as needed including treating research/laboratory animals.

Other:

• Participate in hospital wide initiatives such as infection control, patient care improvements and staff training
• Cover in other areas of internal medicine or the inpatient areas as needed
  
  

Basic Requirements:

• 3 years related work experience
• Certified Veterinary Technician in good standing
• Demonstrated leadership skills and resourcefulness.
• Advanced technical ability and strong knowledge of internal medicine and critical care.
• Demonstrated ability to provide exceptional service to both internal and external customers.
• Highly motivated enthusiastic self-starter with a professional attitude
• Ability to work in a busy, stressful environment with diverse personalities while maintaining a calm, professional demeanor.
• Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to work effectively as a member of a diverse team of clinical and administrative professionals.
• Experience with Microsoft Office and Hospital based programs.
• Ability to lift up to 50 lbs. with or without accommodation.
  
  

Required technical skills include:

• Advanced IV catheterization
• Phlebotomy
• Dosage calculations
• Fluid therapy
• Familiarity with sedatives and tranquilizers.
• Comprehensive understanding of medical terminology and veterinary pharmacology.
• Monitor and troubleshoot physiological patient parameters.
• Be able to independently initiate steps to perform CPR in absence of an attending veterinarian
  
  

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor's or associate degree in Veterinary Technology preferred
• 5 or more years experience in a referral or academic hospital
• Experience with extracorporeal therapies
• VTS tracking
• Demonstrated ability teaching other technicians, veterinary students, veterinary technician students
• BLS and ALS RECOVER certified
• Fear Free Certified