Pet Care Assistant

**Company Profile**:
Linnaeus is a forward-thinking partnership of highly respected primary care and referral veterinary practices across the UK and Ireland, comprising some of the best clinicians in the profession.

We are all individual but two important things bring us together; a commitment to excellence in everything we do and our passion to make A BETTER WORLD FOR PETS.

At Linnaeus we carefully select the practices we partner with to ensure the highest levels of patient care across our group. Together we provide a growing community of like-minded veterinary professionals who are passionate about what they do. We work with different types of practices, in every field of veterinary medicine, including small animal, farm and equine.

We also have our Five Principles which form the foundation of how we do busines today and every day and we put these at the centre of every decision we make. This means:

- We are committed to Quality of work and contributions to society.
- We embrace our Responsibility (as individuals and a company) to act now.
- We base decisions on Mutuality of benefit to our stakeholders.
- We harness the power of Efficiency to use our resources to maximum effect.
- We have the financial Freedom to make our own decisions, unrestricted by motivations of others.

**Overview**
I The role of a Patient Care Assistant is to support the nursing and wider practice team in achieving the highest standards of care. The Patient Care Assistant role will involve working in a variety of areas within the practice to support the team. It will be necessary to accept instruction from a variety of people including Management, Veterinary Surgeons and Registered Veterinary Nurses. Working enthusiastically within the team you will help maintain a happy, efficient and effective working environment.

**Main purpose & goals**
Ensure the highest standard of care is provided to our patients and clients.
- Work and communicate effectively with colleagues and clients. Demonstrate the ability to be reliable, adaptable, understanding and empathetic.
- Manage your areas of responsibility; working with other team members order to achieve this.
- Demonstrate a professional appearance reflecting the highest standards of professional practice.
- Ensure that you are clear of your roles, responsibilities and boundaries; demonstrating an awareness of the professional responsibilities of other team members.
- Participate and engage in training appropriate to your role, this may be in-house and/or by an external provider.
- Promote our team members, services and products, both in and out of the practice, at all times
- Understand and implement practice and group policies.

**Key responsibilities**
- Assist with patient handling and restraint. Ensuring that all handling and restraint is carried out in a ‘patient friendly’ approach to ensure no unnecessary stress or discomfort to the patient.
- Prepare and maintain patient accommodation taking into account the condition and welfare of the patient, environmental enrichment and additional supporting aids as necessary.
- Cleaning and disinfection of patient accommodation to include ward and isolation accommodation.
- In-patient care to include exercising, feeding and grooming of hospitalised patients.
- Monitoring, recording and providing supportive care to patients, under the direction of the Veterinary Surgeon or Registered Veterinary Nurse.
- Assisting with laboratory diagnostic techniques to include preparation of equipment, processing samples and packaging for external laboratories.
- Assisting with diagnostic imaging to include maintenance and preparation of equipment and patient preparation and positioning.
- Cleaning, packaging and sterilisation of sterile supplies.
- Maintenance of theatre to include preparation of the environment and equipment and cleaning.
- Assist with patient preparation, surgical team support and recovery under the direction of the Veterinary Surgeon or Registered Veterinary Nurse.
- Assist with the management of the pharmacy to include unpacking of orders, stock rotation and environmental temperatures. Prepare and dispense a range of medication under the direction of the Veterinary Surgeon or Registered Veterinary Nurse.
- Cleaning, disinfection, equipment and consumable maintenance throughout the practice environment.
- Assist with reception and client care to include answering the telephone, dealing with enquiries, booking procedures and taking payments.
- Follow standard operating protocols at all times to include:

- Wearing of appropriate personal protective equipment
- Waste disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous waste
- Handling and restraint of patients
- Area and equipment specific procedures
- Assist the Veterinary Surgeons, Registered and Student Veterinary Nurses, Reception staff and any other team member who requires support, where and when required.
- Attend and contribute to practice meetings and events.

Person specification

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