Assistant Assigned Locations Refresher
All information can be covered in the “Assistant Framework” in Notion. Starting 4/24/23, assistants will be assigned to areas daily, and we will review what is expected from each role.
Policy
In this practice, veterinary assistants fill many roles; for example, assistants are responsible for drop-off appointments, scheduled doctor’s appointments, surgery appointments, and technician appointments. These are a few examples of an assistant’s role in the hospital; however, assistants are always expected to help where needed.
The technician lead will post assigned positions daily at the end of each shift. A list of assigned roles for the day can be found on the whiteboard in the treatment area. Every assistant that is assigned to a site will be required to maintain that assigned role UNLESS that assistant is desperately needed for another task.
Assigned Locations And Requirements
Drop-off assistants: Drop-off appointments vary for sick pets coming in for visits, homeless pets, pets that need specialized testing done (Low-dose dex tests, glucose curves, etc.), grooming pets that require sedation, and so on. Each day 1-2 assistants will be assigned to drop-off appointments; as an assistant assigned to drop-offs, it is your responsibility to take the patient out at least three times a day for a walk, make sure the patient has food and water, and communicate with the pet owner throughout the day, updating them on their pet’s visit. Drop-off assistants can also be extra hands wherever needed and should always prioritize the drop-off pets. Another requirement as an assistant working drop-off is to assist with running in-house lab work, as well as labs to be sent out, and to assist in seeing the technician appointments for the day.
Surgery assistants: There will typically be two assistants in the surgery suite. A surgical assistant is responsible for checking surgeries in the morning, printing required presurgical paperwork, placing IV catheters, running any additional labs that may be needed the day of the surgery, filling medications to go home, discharge instructions, and discharging surgeries. Surgical discharges typically happen at the end of the day; if the owners all come at once, the surgical assistant can ask for help from the department lead, the drop-off assistant, or the floater, depending on who is available. Suppose an assistant is scheduled to be in surgery with a doctor who will be seeing appointments after surgery. In that case, that assistant will finish all requirements for shutting down the surgery suite and then be on the floor as a floater.
Doctor’s assistant- Although all assistants are expected to help the doctors, each doctor will require one assistant to allow them to see their scheduled appointments and one assistant to help with room appointments waiting (this assistant will be the floater planned for the day) As the primary assistant scheduled with a doctor, your main responsibility is to STAY WITH your assigned doctor! If you are asked to do an additional task not for the doctor you are given, you may do so if you do not have any appointments to assist your doctor. Doctors will see drop-offs between appointments; in these cases, the assigned drop-off assistant’s job is to help your doctor see those pets.
Floater- One floater will be assigned each day (more if there is enough staff). A floater is to help all other assistants complete their tasks, be it rooming appointments that have been waiting in the lobby too long, helping fill medications for appointments, doing surgery discharges, or whatever any assistant or doctor needs you for; however the primary responsibility of the floater is to ensure the flow of the treatment area by making sure in-house labs are being run for assistants in rooms and taking pictures of the labs sent out before they leave the hospital. The drop-off assistant and floater will both oversee technician appointments.
Lead Assistant- The lead assistant will oversee all assistants to ensure that each individual completes assigned tasks efficiently. A lead will also post areas for the following day at the end of each shift. The lead assistant can be pulled to complete tasks falling behind at any time.
Callbacks for lab work fall on all assistants and should be started at 8 am until scheduled appointments arrive.
Procedure
Drop-Off Assistant: Drop-off appointments typically arrive at the practice between 7 am-8 am; however, drop-off appointments can be added to the schedule as the day progresses. When called to the lobby to check in for a drop-off, the first thing to do is clean an exam room to put the patient and the owner into. After a room has been prepared, the next step is to collect the patient’s chart from reception and record on the selected exam room whiteboard “Drop-off check in” so that everyone knows the room is in use, from there you will go to the whiteboard in the treatment room and add the patient to the board for the day, following the information requirements on the board. When going to the room, the pet and owner, be sure to STOP at the scale in the lobby and weigh the patient. This is a must with every patient unless it is a feline patient or a small dog (less than 10 lbs). Once the owner is in the room, you may begin to TPR and follow the questions on the patient’s chart to ensure we are getting all of the information we need. After the owner has left, take the pet to the designated drop-off location (surgery hall). If the patient is at the practice for specialized testing or critical, place them into a kennel in the treatment room and inform a doctor of the patient IMMEDIATELY. Place the printed ID collar on the patient and put them into a kennel with water and a towel to lay on (if the owner ok’s bedding for their pet). Doctors will begin to see standard drop-offs that are not critical or at the practice for specialized testing, at around 11 am. It is your responsibility to ensure that this patient is seen and not forgotten; any labs requested for drop-offs are YOUR responsibility, stay with your case and ensure charges are being entered correctly for your patient. Communicate with owners during their pet’s stay to make sure they know our treatment plan, how their pet is doing, and when they will be ready for pickup.
Surgery Assistant: Surgeries arrive at the practice between 7 am-8 am. Surgical assistants must check these patients in; much like drop-off check-in, you must first make a room available for the pet and owner. Write “Surgery check-in” on the board, so others know it is in use. Following the same standards as the drop-offs, grab the chart and add the patient to the whiteboard in the treatment room. Once the owner has completed the surgery consent form, you may TPR the patient. If any preoperative bloodwork or ECG is needed, obtain these before putting the patient into a kennel in the surgery hall. The most important thing to remember is never to leave for the day unless medications are filled, packs are wrapped, and the surgery room is cleaned.
Doctor’s assistant- Before rooming an appointment that has arrived, review the patient’s chart to check for any medical conditions, vaccine reactions, current medications, or pertinent information that will help to triage the patient run smoother; we do not want to come out of the room unsure of medications the patient is on or condition the patient may have, if the appointment is a K9A ALWAYS check to see when the patient last filled heartworm flea/tick prevention so that you can discuss a refill when getting history from the owner. Before rooming your patient, please write on the whiteboard for your selected room “Patient’s name, last name, species, altered/unaltered, the reason for the visit, time the patient was roomed, the doctor seeing the patient, and the assistant responsible for the room” assistants are assigned to doctors. Still, this additional step is to ensure assistants stay with their doctor and we know at a glance who to ask for updates on the room.
Reporting
A big thing to discuss is reporting for labs being sent out and reporting for drop-offs. The floater(s) and drop-off assistant will be responsible for taking pictures of labs being sent out in AM and PM and then immediately logging them, as well as having the complete process checked off by a manager once finished.
Reconciling labs will be the lead assistant’s responsibility at the end of each week, checking the spreadsheet for labs that are not on the sheet or have yet to be called.
Process street- End-of-day reporting must be done daily to refresh those who may not know how to print the report.