Hello, I am a RVT (registered veterinary technician). There has been much debate within our profession about our title. There was a time when different states and organizations had made a push to change our title to veterinary nurse. Overseas, people are called veterinary nurses. As far as I understand, the US and Canada are the only countries that call us technicians. Please before anyone explodes, understand that I am not talking about using the term in a disrespectful way. I am an educated person who has acquired my associates degree in veterinary technology and I am currently working towards my bachelors. I had to take and pass a national examination to receive my license and I am required to maintain so many CE hours yearly to renew my license. I was required to take many core classes such as college english, math, bio and chem. After those classes I went on to my professional training which included A&P, path & dz, pharm, and anesthesia to name a few. I was required to perform an internship for 1 year while taking other classes (which lucky for me was at the university level beside many senior vet students). I also have taken a specialty internship in dentistry procedures.
Anyways, I guess what I want to know is do you as nurses have a problem with someone in my field using the term? I understand the legality of it and will not. However I was curious if any of you personally think it is inappropriate for those of us who have gone to college and received our degrees.
The reason I ask is at this point the legislation allows joe schmoe off the street with NO education to use the title technician. :angryfire If ANY of you have tips or would be willing to help out in informing the public about what TRUE technicians are I would greatly appreciate it.
I think the legislation has to come first. Or like I said anyone off the street can use it. Even though I am only a student I feel your pain. These aren't easy classes and we are working for our titles. I would be spitting nails if they grabbed someone off the street and called them RN's or LPN's.
How about Registered (licensed or certified) Veterinary Associate. I think that there would be less opposition if the term nurse was left out. You don't want to fight to be recognized while at the same time defending the title. It would be alot easier if you didn't have to address issues a BON or other nursing entity would raise.
If I think of any good titles I will let you know.
I am starting a list of the states where nurse is a protected title. Not to argue whether it should be used but as information to anyone who might be following this and wondering. I think that is where you might wind up with problems with establishing a nationwide title. As I am sure you know in some states you would not be able to use the title vet. nurse. BTW, hubby brought me a large caramel frappacino. So I am wired. :roll Yippee. Anyway I do think that degree prepared (Associate or bachelors) vet techs should have a recongnized title. But you want one that is standard and can be used in each state, right?
Some states only prohibit the term RN or LPN. But many are ambiguous (sp) And others say you cannot use the term nurse. Also, there are other legal implications of using the title Vet nurse. One is that if someone misunderstands you or flat out lies and says you said you were a nurse and you had to adminster CPR or first aid to a human then you could be legally held responsible for the same level of care a nurse would have given. If you are sued this would be bad news. unlikely a human would need it in a clinic but it sounded like you wanted all info. Are you writing a paper or just curious? Or more likely ran into an uneducated tech at work.
Anyway good luck.
Thank you for the input and link back to the other thread. I honestly am appalled at some of the anger written in the thread.
I do not agree with the use of the term veterinary nurse at all, and simply cannot believe nurses agree with the use of this term. What this will do is cause even more confusion in this field as to who is a nurse and who is not. Most people would probably assume, like my friend did, that this is a nurse (RN) who decided to take care of animals than ppl, and went for some course on vet tech. NO WAY>>>>MY VOTE IS NAY !
Well thanks for the input anyways. I would advise you to ask who is taking care of your animal next time the go into the Vets office.
Most people would probably assume, like my friend did, that this is a nurse (RN) who decided to take care of animals than ppl, and went for some course on vet tech. NO WAY>>>>MY VOTE IS NAY !
I respect your opinion and am not interested in a debate. But I seriously don't think that the public is going to think a vet nurse is a people nurse who after graduation decided to care for animals instead of people..
Does the general public think Veterinarians (who go by the title of "Doctor so and so") are M.D.'s who took a course in med school to take care of animals?
Seems a very strange way for your friend to look at it.
I think like doctors, if it's clear in their title and where they work, such a "Vet. Nurse" it would be very clear in most peoples eyes. But I could be wrong, people are funny.
Thank you for the input and link back to the other thread. I honestly am appalled at some of the anger written in the thread.
Don't be appalled. Many people don't even think of nursing as a "profression". Many people don't realize nurses have college degrees. They think of us as bedpan emptiers. It's been a long hard battle since Florence Nightengale for us to get any semblence of respect in our profression.
Many of us take pride in our image, our the public perceives us, our education, and our profression.
Nursing has been through similar soul searching and battles that your profression is going through now.
We are still fighting for respect and our own separate identity as a profression in and of itself outside of medicine.
I can't tell you how to feel, but maybe this makes it a little easier. You would think this would make some of us more empathetic to your cause, but it also makes us defensive, as you can see.
I have nothing but the utmost respect for your profression and your qualifications and definately don't think of your work as technical anymore than I think of ADN RNs as "technical" and BSN's profressionals. (that's a whole other debate. LOL). Good luck to you.
Well, I have always considered the vet techs the nurses of the (non human) animal world, but I think the term Registered Vet Tech would work better than 'vet nurse". It sounds more professional and gives people a better idea that you went to school for your job.
Thank you for the input and link back to the other thread. I honestly am appalled at some of the anger written in the thread.
Try to see it from their point of view. Aren't you angry that someone other than a properly educated person is using the title RVT? Of course you do otherwise you would not be here. Not saying that your education is not to the same level as a nurse, just in a different field, just that nurses before us have fought a long battle to establish education levels for nurses and many feel protective of the title. At one time any person could have on the job training and become a nurse. It is through lobbying and legislation that those before us have protected our title. That is what the RVT's need to do. You cannot piggyback on another professions title and expect to have the same protections. All you will create is another title that can be used by anyone. And the opposition you will face from the ANA and such will almost ensure that any mention of the word nurse in your title will be fought. I cannot see the legislation being changed in the states that protect the title of nurse without a huge fight. Your issue is not with the title but establishing parameters for who may be called RVT's.
As for others calling themselves doctors. Dr is a title that signifies a certain education level. Their actual title is physician.
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
Try to see it from their point of view. Aren't you angry that someone other than a properly educated person is using the title RVT? Of course you do otherwise you would not be here. Not saying that your education is not to the same level as a nurse, just in a different field, just that nurses before us have fought a long battle to establish education levels for nurses and many feel protective of the title. At one time any person could have on the job training and become a nurse. It is through lobbying and legislation that those before us have protected our title. That is what the RVT's need to do. You cannot piggyback on another professions title and expect to have the same protections. All you will create is another title that can be used by anyone. And the opposition you will face from the ANA and such will almost ensure that any mention of the word nurse in your title will be fought. I cannot see the legislation being changed in the states that protect the title of nurse without a huge fight. Your issue is not with the title but establishing parameters for who may be called RVT's.
As for others calling themselves doctors. Dr is a title that signifies a certain education level. Their actual title is physician.
THANK YOU. You said what I would have. I will save the bandwidth and say no more.
Thank you everyone for your insight and points of view. I totally respect all that you have done to earn your titles. I never meant any disrespect in any way or form. I am however very frustrated with our own battle. I know there are many issues we need to approach to get better recognition. I really DO NOT want the title nurse...was just sort of soul searching since MANY MANY of the PR people come into clinics across the country and say we should all change our titles to nurse so the public would better understand us. This is NOT what I truly want...just recognition and definitive rules as to who can really use the title technician. Any thoughts or ideas? Anyone willing to help me in the way of perhaps a list of what you have had to endure as a profession and the levels so I can compare them to those of us in our profession? Do you know of any organizations outside of veterinary medicine who might be a backer (?) to our cause? Would the ANA be willing to lend a voice to something of this nature if we didn't approach the title war?
Gosh I am at a lost for words for once. I have no idea where to start. I will have to think about it and do some research. How about some of the animal protection organizations. Surely they want well trained people caring for their sick or injured animals. If I think of anything I will let you know.
I don't see why you aren't called veterinary nurses, you are a nurse, just with animals... so obviously you wouldn't have a ADN, BSN, MSN, or DNP or apply at a hospital as a nurse. I also think certain parts of your job could be complicated as well, like knowing the anatomy of so many animals. I am not a nurse yet, but find it perfectly fine to call yourself a veterinary nurse.
I think last year I would have said that I don't mind the term "vet nurse" at all. This year I've changed my mind. The reason is that my husband is in year two of his associate degree program as an RVT. Holy cow. No pun intended! There is a LOT more to an RVT than I would have guessed, even with an idea in mind previously that they were similar to nurses in the animal world.
Nurses, how many of you can do a manual differential under a microscope? How many of us do fecal exams and are able to identify what parasites the patient has? How many of us learned anatomy on more than one species?
There aren't too many of us who trained to close surgical incisions either. (There are some, I know, but it isn't part of our general nursing education.) Any nurses out there learn how to take, develop and read x-rays during nursing school?
I'm impressed with the variety and scope of an RVT's education, even at the associate degree level. It's really not nursing, it's not comparable to nursing. I vote for RVT as a title over "vet nurse" and I also recommend that RVT's take steps to make that a protected title, and to educate the public about just what it is they do and how valuable they are. You guys don't make much money, but you are worth every cent.
mrparhamrvt
37 Posts
Thank you for the input and link back to the other thread. I honestly am appalled at some of the anger written in the thread.