Know Who Is Taking Care of Your Pet!
Know Who Is Taking Care of Your Pet!
How many times have you been to hospital and saw a nurse, medical assistant, technician, nurse practitioner, etc. and had no idea who they were or what their title is? It is just as important in a veterinary hospital to know who the staff members are, what their title is and more importantly, know where their educational achievements are to qualify them to do surgical procedures. You should be able to ask the critical questions and make sure the veterinary hospital that you go to is willing to give you the educational and experience background on all of the team members. The following article will introduce you to many different people at the clinic that make Ash Veterinary Clinic as successful as we are.
At most veterinary clinics, your pet will have a few different staff members taking care of them when they come in for a visit. The veterinarian will do the pet’s exam and recommend treatment. After that, the pet gets transferred to the treatment area where the rest of the veterinary staff takes over. Everyone knows that it takes a lot of schooling to become a veterinarian, but do you know how many years it takes to be a veterinary technician? Do you know the difference between a veterinary technician and a veterinary assistant? We at Ash Veterinary Clinic want to make sure that owners are aware of how different clinics staff their hospitals and who is taking care of your pet.
Our receptionists are the first faces you see when you walk in the door. At Ash Veterinary Clinic, these may be the team members that you are most familiar with. They are the girls you talk to on the phone when you schedule your appointment. They are the people that check your pet in and discuss what your pet is due for. When you leave the clinic, they are the team members that review your chart and check you out. In most veterinary clinics, the receptionist is one of the most vital parts of the team and one of the most valued. Besides the work that you see, they are responsible for entering the doctor’s appointment notes, keeping the lobby area clean and presentable, preparing pet’s charts for the next day and much more. Behind the scenes, some clinics have a Practice Manager, too. This person can start out as an employee that has been promoted or is hired in from the outside. Their responsibilities usually include staff scheduling, accounts receivable and payable, payroll, etc. They are responsible for keeping the hospital running in an orderly fashion and may even fill in other positions when employees are ill or off work. This person also is the one who handles any internal conflicts, client issues, outside contacts and all other business the doctor does not have time to deal with. Frankly, this is the doctor’s “right-hand man.”
A veterinary assistant is more than just an employee that assists a veterinarian. This person is usually trained on the job, but some may have taken a certification course online or through a junior college. At Ash Veterinary Clinic, a veterinary assistant is a very important job in the clinic. It is their responsibility to take care of the pets that are boarding with us. Some clinics will have a separate kennel attendant to do this. These employees ensure that boarding pets are fed, watered and exercised according to their parent’s wishes. They are responsible for coming into the clinic when we are closed to care for these boarding pets. Veterinary assistants are also responsible for assisting veterinarians and technicians when necessary. They restrain pets that are receiving treatments, perform toenail trims, give baths and much more. At Ash Veterinary Clinic, our veterinary assistants have even been trained to groom pets, as well. A veterinary assistant also holds the responsibility of keeping the clinic clean and presentable. They sanitize the exam rooms in between patients, ensure our hospital facility is hygienic and are responsible for routine cleaning maintenance of the clinic.
Veterinary technicians are more than just “pet nurses.” Besides all of the tasks that a veterinary assistant does, veterinary technicians are nurses, groomers, anesthesiologists, dental technicians, x-ray technicians, phlebotomists (draw blood) and more. To become a veterinary technician, you will need schooling from an accredited veterinary technician school. These programs typically take 2 years to become a licensed veterinary technician (LVT), which is identical to a registered nurse (RN). Some continue on to get their Bachelor’s, which is a 4 year degree and equivalent to a BSN in human nursing. Through this schooling a veterinary technician learns vital skills to help keep your pet healthy while they are in our clinic. They learn how to draw up anesthesia doses and what to look for while monitoring your pet under anesthesia. At Ash Veterinary Clinic, we know that putting your pet under anesthesia can be nerve-wracking. With our clinic, you can be sure that your pet is always being monitored by an educated veterinary technician and never by a veterinary assistant or receptionist. When your pet comes in for a dental cleaning, it is the technician’s job to professionally scale the tarter from your pet’s teeth and scale under the gum line and polish them afterwards to make them pearly white. Besides giving vaccinations and drawing blood for routine testing, veterinary technicians take x-rays of your pet and develop them for the doctor. When your pet is ill and needs to be hospitalized, these are the employees that place IV catheters, administer IV fluids and medications and monitor your pet’s health and well-being. The technicians are typically the next most educated person after the doctor. Because of this, here at Ash Veterinary Clinic, you can be certain that if someone’s nametag says “Technician”, they have went through the necessary schooling and graduated. Many clinics use the term “technician” loosely and call assistants technicians which is not only inaccurate and misleading, but disappointing to those that did achieve this title and deserve to have it. It may seem like we are making a big deal about this, but frankly, it is a big deal. Do you want an uneducated or unqualified person doing anesthesia on your beloved family member? This would never be acceptable in human medicine and should not be acceptable with animals either. So please, please, please question your veterinarian about their policy on who will be doing your pet’s anesthesia and monitoring your pet’s surgery. If the technician is not formally educated at your clinic, seek a hospital that appreciates this degree and qualification. It could mean the difference between life and death for your pet.
Being in the veterinary business gives people the chance to find rewarding work with animals and make a difference each day. At Ash Veterinary Clinic we want you to be aware of the different people that take care of your pets on a daily basis. Wherever you take your pet for care or surgery, make sure you know that whoever is caring for your pet has the correct education to do so. Never hesitate to ask the doctor who will be monitoring your pet during surgery. If they are hesitant to answer or try to convince you otherwise, it may be because your pet is being monitored by someone that is not formally educated. At Ash Veterinary Clinic, we know that your pet is important to you and want you to be comfortable with the staff that is caring for your pet. If you have any questions about the differences in veterinary team members, please contact us at 734-782-2827.
