Hey esteemed nurses! Please firgive typos, I'm using AN on my phone...So I would like y'all's thoughts on this... Long story short, the other day I managed to leave a bunch of my class notes in my favorite little neighborhood shoe shop (because who doesn't need a little shoe oogling fun after an afternoon of studying??)... I didn't realize I left them til almost home, so I called and they told me they were closing soon but they'd wait if I could hurry back (gotta l love small business!). So I got back there and they were finishing ringing up their last customer... They asked me when I came back "what in the he!! Are you in school for? You gone be a surgeon or something?" (they always tease me when i come in :-).) I said "no, I'm studying to be an RN." So the lady at the counter starts commiserating and saying "oh man, I know all about that, it's so hard! But good luck I'm sure you'll do great." We walked out to our cars together and I said "thanks! So you're a nurse, I take it?" She said "Yep," with no hesitation. Me: "oh neat, what is your specialty?"Her: "Oh, I'm a nurse for animals!"Silence...Ummmmmm does anyone else see a problem with this? I don't know her and I don't know about veterinary medicine... I thought there were vets and vet techs...and vet techs are like CNA+MA+RN+LPN, but I didn't think there was an actual term for vet nurses...I think what vet techs do is really important (Lord knows I don't mess around when it comes to getting good healthcare for my sweet pets!!) and I'm sure it's suuuuuper hard to start an IV on a squirmy puppy, but when I'm carrying a set of notes about interventions for PEs, aortic dissection, MIs, and unstable angina, it's really irks me that a vet tech called herself a nurse. I get how if you're explaining your job to a kid as a vet tech you might use a comparison of "nurse to people patients is the same as tech to animal patients"... But I'm not a kid, and I'm clearly not your average non-healthcare aware bear since I just said I'm in school to be an RN...I don't know. I didn't say anything because really, why bother with someone I'll probably never see again. But it really rubbed me the wrong way. What are your thoughts on this??
