RN in a Vet's office

Nurses Career Support

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Hi everyone,

I noticed here in Baltimore when I took my dog to a vet that they hired RN's to work in the clinic. I didn't get to ask about it but I distinctly remember that they advertised that RNs worked there. This was over two years ago and I have since moved and switched vets and have never heard of this situation again.

I was wondering if there are any nurses in this forum that work in a vet tech capacity or were hired as RN's in a veterinary hospital or clinic. Is a vet tech salary similar to that of a CNA or nursing tech I wonder?

I've always thought about how happy I would be to get out of the bed if I knew that I would be working with animals all day. Just thought I would ask if anyone else had heard of nurses working with animals. Thanks!

Specializes in ortho, hospice volunteer, psych,.
My question to sharpeimom. Did the nurses receive additional training? I know that many pharmacists are receiving extra training in veterinary pharmacology because many pharmacies have started carrying veterinary drugs. You can be a darn good RN but a lousy CVT because our scopes of practice are different. I know that I would make a lousy RN. I'm sure that there are people who are excellent at both in fact I know of a few CVTs that work in peds but I've never heard an RN working out well in veterinary medicine unless they went to veterinary school. Again an orange and grapefruit are not the same.

We've had a few RNs shadow us over the years. They take a step back when they see that we do the lab work AND the chemo treatment on the dog with cancer. They cannot believe that we are generalists. I can tell you that RNs have excellent people skills and conflict management which is something that many of us in vet medicine need to work on at times

Fuzzy

The post above wouldn't let me add your post when I forgot it, so here it is, Fuzzy.

Perhaps a silly question but could a RN working in a veterinary hospital be held accountable as a nurse for the care he provides? Could he be charged with neglect? Brought up before the board for pt abondonment?[/quote']

I wonder this too. I once worked with a nurse who was also a vet tech. She was charged with abuse as a nurse and lost her nursing license and the state revoked her vet tech license as well. So, it seems to me that if you can lose your vet tech license for something you did as a nurse, you could lose your nursing license for something you did as a vet tech...

I am also a Vet Tech (approximately 8 years now) and a student nurse. My ultimate goal is to be a CRNA. The pay varies greatly in the veterinary field. Many small day practices cannot afford large salaries. If you happen to specialize and go into emergency, critical care, surgical or other specialty (cardio, internal, etc.) you can make pay equal to that of a newer nurse. I worked in a large emergency/ICU practice in a large metropolitan area (worked mostly in the OR) and made close to 60,000 annually. The job itself has many similarities and just as many differences as that of being an RN. My recommendation would be to work as an RN and volunteer your time within veterinary practices/shelters if that's a passion of yours.

Jw..all these ppl saying i like animals more than ppl...are you nurse students/working? Thanks. I love animals but it seems nursing is a smarter choice to make for the time being.

Specializes in Veterinary: Critical Care & phlebotomy.

Ok NYS LVT (New York state licensed veterinary technician) here,

firstly the the thought of a human nurse (RN) working in a veterinary hospital is just appealing, neglegant, and dangerous! Probably how you'd feel if you heard of an LVT working in a human hospital. We have either associates or bachelors degrees in veterinary science and must pass a state board exam in order to obtain a license to practice. We are highly skilled and take pride in our work! I personally work in an emergency and critical care hospital as an ICU nurse (that's my job title) we hav a cardiology dept, internal medicine dept, surgery dept., oncology dept, etc and they each have their own boarded DVMs (dr. Veterinary med) and LVT's. Each LVT is dubbed with their job title aka... Surgery tech= anesthesiologist, internal medicine tech = ultrasounographer, etc. as an ICU tech I am responsible for bi hourly patient rounds/ tx, phlebotomy, radiological images, I am a lab tech in my own right as all our bloodwork is run in house by the tech who drew the sample, I also am a dental hygienist who does teeth cleaning while running anesthesia at the same time. I run hyperbaric oxygen chamber treatments, MRI's, CT's, and administer chemo. I could go on but the point I'm making is that I think you'd need a different RN/ technician each time in human medicine, we do it all! There's only 2 jobs in vet med... DVM or LVT (or assistant/ orderly type) not the wide array that there is in human medicine. And we deal with hundreds of species daily. Our education is just as expensive an my salary is around 50k plus benefits & 401k. Please do not belittle us or say you'd love to do it as a 'fun' part time gig or hobby! This is a serious profession! Oh did I mention daily euthanasia and death on a scale human nurses couldn't fathom.... Rant complete!

Specializes in Veterinary: Critical Care & phlebotomy.

The vet tech licensing board requires that you be "of good moral character" amoung other things!

a tech can definitely loose her license for both on and off the job offenses!

It also must be mentioned that most of our job as technicians involve dealing with people. The animals are the easy part. So if you are wanting to get into this profession to get away from people (crazy or otherwise) you need to consider a different career choice. Every animal comes attached to a human in some way. Granted there are positions where you do not have to work with the public but those positions still involve dealing with people.

Fuzzy

Because education is important to some of us.

LVTs do sooooo much more in a clinic than an average RN. We actually do everything with patient care. We anesthetize, obtain blood samples, run the labwork, obtain samples for pathology, examine these samples, radiographs, patient care before and after a procedure, assist in procedures, dentistry, cleaning of bedding, dishes, equipment repair and maintenance, ordering, inventory control, pharmacy, the list goes on and on. After 20 years as an LVT I am tired of everyone thinking we just "play with puppies and kittens" all day long. I have had black eyes, fat lips, bites that needed sutures, scratches, exposure to zoonotic diseases. All these RNs with a stick in their rear can just bite me! I worked 30 plus hours a week, went to school full time, had student loans to repay, State and National board exams to pass. I have to do CE every year to maintain my license. We do just as much if not more than all of you that feel you are the only people that qualify as a nurse. Even though I have many friends and relatives that are RNs, I am proud to say that I am only a Licensed Veterinary Technician and not a nurse.

Well said!

Specializes in Nurse Scientist-Research.
I have had black eyes, fat lips, bites that needed sutures, scratches, exposure to zoonotic diseases.

I'd say that when I visit the vet's office, I almost always see one of the employees, either the vet or one of the techs with bandages or visible scratches of some sort. I know that my greatly loved and completely non-violent kitties always turn into vicious demon cats at the vet's office, even biting me. I know you guys have it rough.

Years ago, I worked in a Veterinary office. At the time, I was a licensed LPN. I did work for low wages but I love the job. The vet I worked for was awesome and so was working with the animals.

I now have my BSN and I work in a CVICU unit. I would definitely consider doing this work again. I could see working on the side or doing it full time after age 62.

I love animals and the work is very rewarding.

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