Looking for support and respect with little to no results

[mrparhamrvt]

Hello. I am a RVT in GA. For those of you who do not know what this means ... I am a registered veterinary technician. I graduated from a 2 year degree program that covered the many different disciplines applied to many different species of animals. After graduation, I took a national exam to "prove" my level of acquired competency. I do NOT want the title of Nurse nor do I like the thought of using it in any way. However, there are many in our profession who feel that it describes what we do more accurately. I have tried repeatedly to find support with people who work in the nursing field. Every single time, I have received negative responses and ridicule from Nurses who feel that my education and hard work were a joke. Why is this? Why do members of your field believe that our profession (veterinary technology) holds no value? While it is true that I may not work on humans (who yes I agree are worth more than animals) my job is just as demanding and heartbreaking. I work in surgery & anesthesia, and as a result I am required to know many different drugs and their effects on our anesthesia cases. Not only do I maintain anesthesia on our surgical patients, I also am responsible for their induction/intubation & recovery. I also work in our local practice, educating clients on normal/abnormal behavior, vaccination protocols, preventative medicine, nutritional counseling, and dental disease which is often followed by full cleaning (which require me to not only clean their teeth but also maintanence of anesthesia while I am doing so). There have been weeks when I have dealt with euthanasia daily, which not only includes performing the task but also helping our grieving clients work through the loss. I do all of this on an income that most of you would be appalled by, just like many others in our field. Would someone please explain to me why my job and what I do daily is looked down upon by members of your profession? Why is it that not one single nurse I have spoke to, looking for support, thinks that it is worth the time and effort to work together towards better recognition and respect for both of our professions?

Sorry if this infuriates those of you who feel my profession is not worthy, but I am alittle upset after reading some of the many mean spirited and down right ignorant (in the way of what our profession entails) responses from others throughout this forum. I came here looking for help in getting our profession recognized and found some extremely negative attitudes.

[Jules A, MSN]

Although what an RVT does may be medically similar to that which a nurse does, they are distinctly different. The nurse administers care to a human which involves emotional, mental, psychological, and spiritual elements which are not found in veterinary medicine.

I would disagree with this statement because a huge part of being a veterinary nurse (in my opinion that is exactly what they are) is dealing with the emotional, mental, pyschological and spiritual elements of the animal's human. Their AA degree program is almost exactly the same as our ADN, at least in my state, same pre-reqs etc. But guess what? Their pay is about 1/3 what we make.

My serious hope is that as time passes and the specialities expand and veterinarians start running their practices more like a business things will improve. However as much as I respect your profession I do think that RVTs need to get their act together and demand better wages, benefits and respect. The states should be encouraged to enforce what techs and assistants are legally allowed to do etc. We as human nurses might be able to brainstorm with you but truthfully our professions really don't belong together. I am not saying one is more important than the other because my view is that giving excellent health care to my animals is every bit as valuable as giving good health care to my Sister but they are different professions.

Wow this is a great thread and one very near to my heart. Thanks for stopping by. Jules

[Fiona59]

I can hold the hand of a dying human, but taking our dog for his final visit was the hardest thing I ever had to do. Holding his paw at the end of well lived and loved life is a very hard thing to do. With any luck I won't have to do it again for at least a decade.

In my homeland, you are called a vet. nurse and its well accepted. You nurse a patient that cannot communiate and (I believe) has emotional, spiritual, and psychological needs. Keeping your patient calm and at ease cannot be easy. (But at least you can put a muzzle on some of them, something I'm sure every nurse in the human arena has probably wished they could do at some time in their working life)

If animals don't have souls, well lets not even go there...

[Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN]

(But at least you can put a muzzle on some of them, something I'm sure every nurse in the human arena has probably wished they could do at some time in their working life)

LOL!!!!!!!!!

[dougRN2BE]

I think to help you understand why you get such a lack of respect from Nurses please peruse some of the threads here regarding ADN vs. BSN, LPN vs. RN, Wars with the floors (ER nurses vs. floor nurses); so on. Nurses can show a significant lack of respect amongst ourselves if one group feels their education or experience is superior to another's.

:yeahthat: Lots of people, regardless of the profession, are trying to assert dominance over others...try not to let it bother you becaue we all have unique and special tasks in this world and quite frankly, we wouldn't enjoy the kind of lives we do if we didn't have so many diverse fields and professions.

[mrparhamrvt]

While I can place some "human" characteristics on my own little Yorkie, who does feel emotion/pain etc., it is not the same as human emotion and thus would be addressed differently in the nursing sense. I do not think that RVTs are similar to nurses in the nursing realm of care.

I agree with you on this, somewhat. However, I think to say that our "nursing skills" are any less because our patients are not human would be incorrect. I can not tell you how many times I have sat with a patient recovering from anesthesia who is in painful and possibly dysphoric from the meds used. Not only must we quickly decide whether more meds would benefit the patient, we often have to climb into their cage and soothe them. Often it may be easy, other times all we can do is sit back and pray since some of our patients can be quite vicious. I have seen many in the field end up in the hospital because our patients unfortunately come to us in pain with no way of telling us what could be going on and often the pain incites fear which becomes aggression in many. I know all of you have experienced some of what I am talking about ... I am a very needle phobic person and often when I was younger, required heavy physical restraint. I guess my point is ... just because our patients do not exhibit the same human emotions that yours do, that does not mean we don't feel the same spectrum of feelings or deal with the same amount of emotional trauma. Please remember that often we deal with our clients ... trying to be advocates for our patients, their pets ... kind of like dealing with parents of small infants at times and yes I have kids so know how bad I can be on that front too - I apologize to all for the neurotic mother episodes).

[nurse4theplanet, RN]

I agree with you on this, somewhat. However, I think to say that our "nursing skills" are any less because our patients are not human would be incorrect. I can not tell you how many times I have sat with a patient recovering from anesthesia who is in painful and possibly dysphoric from the meds used. Not only must we quickly decide whether more meds would benefit the patient, we often have to climb into their cage and soothe them. Often it may be easy, other times all we can do is sit back and pray since some of our patients can be quite vicious. I have seen many in the field end up in the hospital because our patients unfortunately come to us in pain with no way of telling us what could be going on and often the pain incites fear which becomes aggression in many. I know all of you have experienced some of what I am talking about ... I am a very needle phobic person and often when I was younger, required heavy physical restraint. I guess my point is ... just because our patients do not exhibit the same human emotions that yours do, that does not mean we don't feel the same spectrum of feelings or deal with the same amount of emotional trauma. Please remember that often we deal with our clients ... trying to be advocates for our patients, their pets ... kind of like dealing with parents of small infants at times and yes I have kids so know how bad I can be on that front too - I apologize to all for the neurotic mother episodes).

I don't want you to misunderstand my position as thinking that "RVTs are less than Nurses." I just think they are similar in medical ways, and distinctly different due to the care administered to the complex human spirit. I am glad you feel comfortable and welcome here to post and encourage you to continue! My advice to you is to draw support about respect for your particular profession and not focus so much on the similarities to nursing. As someone said, we have protected legal titles, professional standards of care, nurse practice acts, NANDA approved nursing diagnoses and interventions, etc. etc. specific for the scope of providing nursing care to our human patients. Perhaps you should advocate for your own profession to put forth such definitive standards that sets you apart as an RVT! What you do is very unique, compassionate, and skilled and should shine in its own respect

[mrparhamrvt]

Thank all of you again for the replies. I am very active in my profession on the state level. There have been many changes in our laws on who can legally do what and what titles can or can not be used and by whom. Now we are at the point where unfortunately we just can not get compliance. While the state has set the laws, it is up to the vets to adhere to them. As long as our clients don't know or care who does what with Fluffy behind closed doors, there will never be a change. That is one of the biggest reasons I came onto this board some time ago. I was looking for innovative ideas and ways to get the public more aware of what we even were to begin with. I guess I also thought that even though we are vastly different, that perhaps with enough similarities, nurses would feel some sort of compassion towards our struggle with recognition and perhaps be willing to help ... even if it is as simple as asking "who is running anesthesia on FiFi today", "does your 'tech' have the credentials to call themselves such" etc.

[Jules A, MSN]

Perhaps you should advocate for your own profession to put forth such definitive standards that sets you apart as an RVT! What you do is very unique, compassionate, and skilled and should shine in its own respect

This is where I was trying to go but you said it much better.

[Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN]

And quite honestly, there's not many webplace for an RVT to go to, so why not create one? If you build it they will come.

[Pat_Pat RN]

I thought about being a vet tech a few years ago. Purdue has a completely 'online' program. You video tape all procedures, 'clinicals', etc. Someone then watches the tapes and grades them. But to do that cost nearly $22K. I am going to nursing school cheaper than that.

[rach_nc_03]

I am so sorry you've been disrespected by anyone who cares for others as a profession. Personally, I'm not one who thinks one living creature is more valuable than another, and I'm closer to my pets than I am to most of my two-legged family members. My beloved cat of 14 years passed away this past March, and I literally felt like I was dying. I have been with many patients while they died- both adults and children- and I can't even watch the emergency vet shows for more than three seconds. I get woozy when I see an animal in pain.

I think, as an earlier poster said, you're seeing the nastiness that occurs when someone tears others down to build themselves up. That happens when a person is insecure about their own worth, and it happens far too frequently in healthcare, I'm afraid.

I have tremendous respect for what you do- I recently moved to another state, and I'd been taking all my critters to the same vet hospital for 12 years; I cried when we went in for final vaccinations, as the techs and my pups had clearly formed a bond. No one can tell me that's less important than a bond I develop with a human patient.

Thank you for everything you do. If my dogs and cat could speak english, I'm sure they'd thank you, too!

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

We've had a couple of threads about this over the years. Most posts were unsupportive.

You have my support to call yourself a nurse, because in my mind that's what you are. Just as I consider a Vet a "doctor", I consider you a "nurse".

As you've said in your thread almost universally, you've received negative feedback, so don't expect things to change soon.

ADN's scream "we are not technical degree's" and I afford the same respect to your degree. :)