I went with FI to the vet today, and the Vet Tech comes in, looks at the pup, and does her thing. Then says, the nurse will be in shortly. Um, kay?
'Nurse' comes in. I read her badge and it says, "Jane Doe, PetNurse"
We talk about the pups issues, and then I ask her, "So, what do you have to do to become a PetNurse"
and she replies, "Oh well, (Vet Hospital Name) will send you to school for a year or something and you take some classes. You don't have to do it though. I never did, I don't have the time, it's like five days a week. Why were you interested in becoming a PetNurse?"
I try to keep from slapping her and laughing at the same time, and say. "Oh no, just wondering."
OMG! I am tempted to report this to the Texas BON. We have a Title Protection law that does not allow anyone to call themselves "nurse" or any form of anything that implies "nurse" unless they are licensed LVN/LPN/RN's. I think that is more for 'impostors' though and I don't know if this applies.
To add insult to injury, at the front the girl that rings up the bill (and is all of 17 years old) has a badge that states, "PetNurse Aid"!
Sounds like petsmart. Their animal hospitals call their vet techs and assistants petnurses. I don't like it either. Most are assistants and have never even had any schooling. I worked there as an assistant. They didn't even require a high school diploma when I worked there (I was already taking college courses then). They sure aren't nurses and most aren't even vet techs. But they train these people to assist in surgery, administer anesthesia.... I know some states don't allow assistants and only allow techs with a college education. But in my state they allow the assistants. If you ask them questions they will say they are a nurse and leave out the "pet" part.
When I was younger and immersed in kids and cleaning up messes and getting bills paid and cooking and so on, I didn't have the time nor the energy to care about what it meant to be a practicing partner in my nursing profession.
My rationale was that I was just trying to make it through another day. My kids sure appreciated that I gave them the attention that they required. We all experience different stages of life and have different priorities.
Thank Goodness that other nurses cared enough about my profession to take up the mantle of proactive leadership in the nursing profession for me back then. Now it's my turn, since I don't have "other things to worry about".
If there is a state law that says that the title "Nurse" is protected, it is because someone worked their buttocks off to get the bill shaped and ready for legislature and promoted it and pushed it, and baby-sat that bill like it was their firstborn child until it finally got voted on to become a LAW.
The title "Petnurse" may seem pretty innocuous right now, but things have a way of becoming the norm and accepted if nothing is done. Just wait until you start seeing all sorts of "nurse" titles showing up left and right.
If it doesn't bother you now, that's okay, I understand that you are busy with other concerns - I was in your shoes too. Don't worry, I've got your back for now, it's my turn, after all.
If I saw the title "Petnurse" on a badge I would find it annoying as hell. I'd deal with it the same way I did when my doc's MA introduced herself as a nurse.
"Oh, you're a registered nurse," big smile, because they are so qualified.
They reply no, and explain who they really are. I mention that I thought the term "nurse" was only legal for RN's, but I haven't checked recently. I'll ask what their education was like, was it tough, what was included, if there is time.
So it gives them food for thought, I've made my point without being a jerk.
If I was a vet tech I'd prefer that title to nurse because it indicates a very different and broader set of abilities. I certainly wouldn't be any good in Xray or the lab as an RN, and they should take credit for that.
Ugh, my friend is trying to get into Vet Tech school (yes there is a school..you dont have to go though haha). She LOVES to compare what she does to what I do in actual nursing school. So annoying.
*raises hand* Hi, my name is sheepwithagun and I used to be a "Pet Nurse."
Honestly, I don't care that much about someone in another profession calling themselves a nurse. It's pretty clear in the office setting that I wasn't an "real" nurse and if I talked to anyone outside of work about what I did I'd call myself a vet tech (since who knows *** a Pet Nurse is anyways.) I always thought it was kind of silly title but the company was all about phrasing things to make them sound "better." We gave injections not shots. We put your pet in a kennel not a cage. Whatever..
When I was younger and immersed in kids and cleaning up messes and getting bills paid and cooking and so on, I didn't have the time nor the energy to care about what it meant to be a practicing partner in my nursing profession.
My rationale was that I was just trying to make it through another day. My kids sure appreciated that I gave them the attention that they required. We all experience different stages of life and have different priorities.
Thank Goodness that other nurses cared enough about my profession to take up the mantle of proactive leadership in the nursing profession for me back then. Now it's my turn, since I don't have "other things to worry about".
If there is a state law that says that the title "Nurse" is protected, it is because someone worked their buttocks off to get the bill shaped and ready for legislature and promoted it and pushed it, and baby-sat that bill like it was their firstborn child until it finally got voted on to become a LAW.
The title "Petnurse" may seem pretty innocuous right now, but things have a way of becoming the norm and accepted if nothing is done. Just wait until you start seeing all sorts of "nurse" titles showing up left and right.
If it doesn't bother you now, that's okay, I understand that you are busy with other concerns - I was in your shoes too. Don't worry, I've got your back for now, it's my turn, after all.
The title "Petnurse" may seem pretty innocuous right now, but things have a way of becoming the norm and accepted if nothing is done. Just wait until you start seeing all sorts of "nurse" titles showing up left and right.
If it doesn't bother you now, that's okay, I understand that you are busy with other concerns - I was in your shoes too. Don't worry, I've got your back for now, it's my turn, after all.
Thanks anyway but I would prefer you speak for yourself and your concerns because in this case they are not the same as mine. Exactly what horrible things would happen if all sorts of "nurse" titles show up? Frankly I would have much preferred if the person who "babysat" this bill like their first born child would have given birth to a law enforcing safe nurse:patient ratios instead but thats just me.
You are too sensitive.. and are over thinking this.. PerNurse did not try to give you any medical advice.. I fell sorry for someone who has to have that on a name badge but at 17 yo it might be cute. I do not think BON would be involved a she is not impersonating a human registered nurse variety is she?
i take more offense at the young woman at my internist's office who calls herself a nurse and actually gives medical info.. Now we know she is probably maybe not any type of nurse maybe she is a med tech or just told my Doctor to say she is a nurse. What bothers me is how many other people actually go about their business believing she is a RN! It happens every day.
Specializes in Emergency, Critical Care (CEN, CCRN).
I wouldn't get too bent out of shape about it. Clearly she's not handing out human medical advice, nor performing assessment or diagnosis, so neither the role nor the title of "nurse" applies. Frankly, I feel kind of bad for the girl; I'd rather tell people straight up I was a vet tech than some cutesy corporate brand-name like "PetNurse ." As others have said, one is an actual professional title.
The flipside, of course, is when you have veterinary professionals who are just as ignorant of human medicine as we frequently are of their field. I had a rather amusing experience in that line with my younger Labrador, a notorious food thief, who stole several steak bones out of the trash one night and was vomiting and refusing food the next morning. I rushed home from work, picked him up and went to the veterinary emergency center near my home. The following exchange occurred over the X-ray light box, while we were looking at the contents of his stomach and discussing canine bowel protocol...
(As I'm standing there, in my ciel blue work scrubs, with my hospital ID badge with the huge RN stripe and "Emergency" clearly visible...)
Vet: You seem to know a lot about this. Are you a vet?
Me: No, I take care of humans. (Smile, laugh.) I'm a nurse.
Vet: Oh, is that an aide or a tech?
Me: No, a nurse. An RN. I work in Emergency at (Community Hospital).
Vet: That's nice. Whose office do you work for?
In fairness to the vet, it was 0745 and maybe her morning coffee hadn't kicked in, but - Really?!?
Thanks anyway but I would prefer you speak for yourself and your concerns because in this case they are not the same as mine. Exactly what horrible things would happen if all sorts of "nurse" titles show up? Frankly I would have much preferred if the person who "babysat" this bill like their first born child would have given birth to a law enforcing safe nurse:patient ratios instead but thats just me.
Here's the thing, though: all of these little disrespectful things that happen in our our society towards nurses add up to why nurses are so undervalued in the healthcare setting. Petnurses, sexy nurses in advertising, and the absolute lack remotely realistic/powerful nurse characters on medical dramas, to name a few, demonstrate the value that the public sees in nurses. Sure, they trust us, but they don't think that much about us; they think that we help out the doctors and do what they say and they respect us for doing things they don't want to (dealing with bodily fluids and death). People think that the hard thing about being a nurse is giving shots; that this is what we go school for. But that is why MAs in medical offices get away with calling themselves nurses, people see us doing the same physical tasks.
But my job is not to assist the doctor. My job is to assess you and act as a safety check on the doctor. I've been a nurse for six months and I have already saved my patients from their doctors. Because I have my own education, and my own responsibilities. But my patients don't know that, because I will never tell them just how close their doctor came to killing them. They will never know about the near miss, or the save that I made.
To prove my point about the value of nurses in society, just look at the lead article on allnurses today. There is something fundamentally wrong if we are still at a place were we have to prove that safe staffing and the availability of RN attention has a positive effect of patient mortality. That should be self evident.
One of the reasons why doctors are so respected and powerful in society is because they stick together and the AMA is ferocious in protecting their professional interests.
Nurses are amazing. What do you think we could accomplish if we stuck together?
So, I think you have to do both, work to protect our professional image in order to advance the profession.
Pet Nurse Aid = Kennel Attendant ( They do all the nasty jobs you know like CNA's)
I think the girl who seen you first was a Tech but it wasn't her room you know like tech's have certain rooms.
Also i think its cute and really you have to think. Did they hurt your pet? Did they hurt you in any way? Did they not give the care your pet needed? And did they not comfort you and smile and make you feel good about being a pet owner. Then i would say they did their job like a Nurse would or a CNA. Now most people would think it's silly to have a name tag like that but maybe that's how they want it. And i would be proud to be a pet nurse or pet murse ( I'm male). I love animals of all kinds and i have thought about being a Vet Tech time and again Sure there's not a lot money in it really but doing what you love to do isn't that what counts?. These are my thoughts use them as you wish
Using the term "pet nurse" is almost as rediculous as spending $4000 on an animals surgery with a vet and then complaining about your kids not having good health care..... that analogy was in no relation to the origional poster but to someone that I know personally..... makes no sense to me...
My animals see the vet when they need the required shots to be cohabitants with me and my family..... After that they live until they die. I pretty much plan to do the same thing myself.... Fortunately they all have lived long lives, longer than their breeds expectancy and none have gotten sick that I have noticed....
SDALPN
997 Posts
Sounds like petsmart. Their animal hospitals call their vet techs and assistants petnurses. I don't like it either. Most are assistants and have never even had any schooling. I worked there as an assistant. They didn't even require a high school diploma when I worked there (I was already taking college courses then). They sure aren't nurses and most aren't even vet techs. But they train these people to assist in surgery, administer anesthesia.... I know some states don't allow assistants and only allow techs with a college education. But in my state they allow the assistants. If you ask them questions they will say they are a nurse and leave out the "pet" part.