Emergency Veterinary Nursing Shift Lead

Emergency Veterinary Nursing Shift Lead

Requirements

• 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.

Responsibilities

• 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.

Preferred Qualifications

• Veterinary technician specialist (VTS) certification will lead to additional considerations in practice role and compensation.