vet techs using the term nurse

Ortho_RN · Jan 3, 2003

I think this whole arguement is POINTLESS!!! I don't think MOST Vet Techs (Cert) would want to be called nurses if things in our field was a lil more regulated.... Buts its not as RN2B2005 pointed out.... But Suzy I don't think by them wanting to be refereed to a VETERINARY NURSES is hanging on the precious coattail of the human nursing profession... And as you think that CVT's have no idea what a nurse does, you have no idea what a CVT truely does... And you never will... I just don't see why everyone can't just realize that CVT's nurse animals as RN's and LPN's nurse humans... Nothing to argue over

Q. · Jan 3, 2003

And by the way, this issue is something very near and dear to my heart; I love being a nurse and love the nursing profession and therefore have strong feelings when it comes to our identity and who we as nurses are. But having this passion does not equate to hating vet techs or hating and abusing animals. It equates to seeing our profession slowly and systematically get torn down, fighting battle after battle of misconceptions, stereotypes and impersonators, and then having to fight to maintain who we are and our place in a broken healthcare system. We are Nurses! And I will fight career-long to hold on to that. We are a unique profession with a unique body of knowledge with unique skills. We haven't had the greatest of abilities in demonstrating this, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. It does, we just have a hard time articulating it.

JLSL95 · Jan 3, 2003

You think you guys have to identify who you are?! You should be in our field! We have no regulation at all, and as you can see from these posts, MOST people have NO idea what we do! They think we play and pet animals all day. At least, people know what nurses do. I'm sure it is very frustrating what you are going through, but it is equally frustrating to have these same issues on anyone calling themselves a tech, and the majority of the public doesn't even know what a tech does! That has been a battle for a long time, and until we have regulation it won't get better.

I agree with you nurs2b! Good point!

Q. · Jan 3, 2003

At least, people know what nurses do.

Sadly, they don't. They really, really don't. Just read through some of the posts here, especially the ones in relation to public perception of nurses and even some of the longer threads on nursing theory. People think nurses follow doctor's orders and have little to no education. And that's the tip of the iceberg.

JLS, I feel your pain, I do. We both work in professions that have a hard time defining who we are. But I maintain, as with the nursing profession, that educating the public about you is the first step.

JLSL95 · Jan 3, 2003

Really? I can't believe that! I thought with a profession so old and so noble that people would know what you guys do! I'm sorry you as a professional are going through that! As for us, with no regulation, the public isn't going to know what we do. The only good things are the shows on Animal Planet like Emergency Vets. They show CVT's in action. But, I doubt many people watch it or connect it to their own vet hospital and it's workers.

As for the nurse title, I would prefer it stayed CVT, but until they quit calling any lay person that, no one respects it or knows what it means. At some clinics you could be hired and given that title just because that is what they are going to train you to do. They don't do all of the same tasks but a lot of them, and are called that. They will even put tech on their nametags!! It's horrible! But, like I said I'm not in the profession anymore. Maybe someday they will have some regulation and it won't be a big deal!

Good luck to you!

Q. · Jan 3, 2003

That is so bizarre how your problems mirror ours.

Our profession is old and noble, yes, and as a result we enjoy the trust of John Q. Public, so you'd think respect, etc would follow. But it doesn't.

We both have a long road ahead.

Good luck to you as well.

JLSL95 · Jan 3, 2003

Thanks! :)

RN2B2005 · Jan 3, 2003

I forgot to add, the various designations given by various states to veterinary technicians who have passed both the NAVTA and state licencing boards are:

C.V.T. (Certified Veterinary Technician), L.V.T. (Licenced Veterinary Technician), R.V.T (Registered Veterinary Technician), L.V.N. (Licenced Veterinary Nurse), A.H.T. (Animal Health Technician), and probably some other variations on the theme. ONLY SOMEONE WHO HAS TAKEN, AND PASSED, THE LICENCING EXAM IN HIS OR HER STATE CAN USE THESE INITIALS.

So, if you see someone with a "C.V.T." (or any of the above) after her name, then she's actually licenced. Each state uses its own terminology--even though all of the above are essentially equivalent. If you see someone with "Veterinary Technician" or "Veterinary Assistant" on his or her namebadge, but without the abbreviation, then it's a safe bet he or she is NOT licenced.

I've never seen an unlicenced assistant referred to as a C.V.T.; I think that would be outright fraud, similar to putting "R.N." after your name if you're really an unlicenced home health aide. The distinction, though, between 'Jane Smith, Veterinary Technician' and 'Jane Smith, C.V.T., Veterinary Technician' is pretty subtle and most owners aren't going to notice or care.

Interestingly, as an L.V.T., I found our most difficult owners to be R.N.'s and M.D.'s--they figured that since they could d/c sutures or intubate or whatever a human, then they could do it on a dog/cat/hamster. More than one medical professional has killed their pet by giving it acetominophen...fine in humans, lethal in dogs. My favourite was an IV therapy R.N. who decided her Chow needed IV fluids (without ever seeing a veterinarian, natch)...then attempted to place a catheter. The thing is, Chows as a breed tend to have very friable skin, which peels off like butter when shaved, and this woman ended up blowing all of the dog's easily accessible veins before finally attempting a femoral cath. The dog ended up bleeding out on her living room floor and had to have surgery to repair the damage, as well as being hospitalised for acute pancreatitis. Even after we saved her dog's life, her attitude was, well, I'm an R.N. so of course I can treat a stupid dog. She never acknowledged her arrogance or her mistake, and she certainly wasn't disciplined for practicing veterinary medicine without a licence.

I wonder how fast C.P.S. would be here if I decided that as an L.V.T. I could place an I.V. catheter in my son?

It doesn't matter what L.V.T's are called (when I worked for the university, my name badge actually read "Veterinary Nurse, Primate Research Unit")--the profession will never receive as much respect as 'real' (read: human) medicine.

And now that I work with humans, I don't have to explain myself or my job, nor do I get peed on or bitten nearly as often, and I've never had a veterinarian come in and announce that he knows how to start an I.V. on his son, so I don't need to charge him for that.

**SKM-NURSIEPOOH, BSN, RN** · Jan 4, 2003

originally posted by rn2b2005
...interestingly, as an l.v.t., i found our most difficult owners to be r.n.'s and m.d.'s--they figured that since they could d/c sutures or intubate or whatever a human, then they could do it on a dog/cat/hamster. more than one medical professional has killed their pet by giving it acetominophen...fine in humans, lethal in dogs. my favourite was an iv therapy r.n. who decided her chow needed iv fluids (without ever seeing a veterinarian, natch)...then attempted to place a catheter. the thing is, chows as a breed tend to have very friable skin, which peels off like butter when shaved, and this woman ended up blowing all of the dog's easily accessible veins before finally attempting a femoral cath. the dog ended up bleeding out on her living room floor and had to have surgery to repair the damage, as well as being hospitalised for acute pancreatitis. even after we saved her dog's life, her attitude was, well, i'm an r.n. so of course i can treat a stupid dog. she never acknowledged her arrogance or her mistake, and she certainly wasn't disciplined for practicing veterinary medicine without a licence....

susanmary · Jan 4, 2003

Here we go again (and again and again) -- legally you are licensed as a nurse if you have completed the requisite nursing curriculum, passed the boards, and have a license to practice. Those who attempt to pass themselves off as nurses (NURSE WANNA B's) are committing fraud -- and it is criminal. Tsk...tsk....

SmilingBluEyes · Jan 4, 2003

Originally posted by RN2B2005
IInterestingly, as an L.V.T., I found our most difficult owners to be R.N.'s and M.D.'s--they figured that since they could d/c sutures or intubate or whatever a human, then they could do it on a dog/cat/hamster. More than one medical professional has killed their pet by giving it acetominophen...fine in humans, lethal in dogs. My favourite was an IV therapy R.N. who decided her Chow needed IV fluids (without ever seeing a veterinarian, natch)...then attempted to place a catheter. The thing is, Chows as a breed tend to have very friable skin, which peels off like butter when shaved, and this woman ended up blowing all of the dog's easily accessible veins before finally attempting a femoral cath. The dog ended up bleeding out on her living room floor and had to have surgery to repair the damage, as well as being hospitalised for acute pancreatitis. Even after we saved her dog's life, her attitude was, well, I'm an R.N. so of course I can treat a stupid dog. She never acknowledged her arrogance or her mistake, and she certainly wasn't disciplined for practicing veterinary medicine without a licence.

I wonder how fast C.P.S. would be here if I decided that as an L.V.T. I could place an I.V. catheter in my son?

.

As an RN, I know much better than to do such a thing to an animal, cause you see I KNOW THE DIFFERENCE between MYSELF and a VETERANARIAN and/or VET TECH, and know my limitations. ARE YOU SAYING THIS IS THE RULE W/YOUR CLIENTS????? I can't believe that RN's as a rule (or MD's for that matter) would as a rule do such things!

Ortho_RN · Jan 4, 2003

They do.. I have experianced it myself..... They are trying to save money, because you know how the vets just charge so much :)