Vet tech to RN?

[jmbjmb]

I am starting NS in sept and have been stalking all nurses since I started my pre-recs. I worked as a vet tech for 10 years and have seen mention on a couple of threads of experiences people had as vet techs. I was just wondering how common this change is? How many other former vet techs are on here? :)

[Lennonninja, MSN, APRN, NP]

I was an OTJ trained vet assistant for about 4 years before nursing school and it definitely made me feel a lot more prepared. I do miss working with animals a lot. Since so much of your assessment is done on non-verbal patients it will cause you to be a lot more clued in to your human patients and their non-verbal cues, especially pain. On the first day of nursing school, my fundamentals teacher said that the doctors and nurses who were the best at picking up on this stuff were those who worked with babies, kids, and animals :) You'll rock the parasitology exam in Pharmacology too

[Racer15, BSN, RN]

Myself and two nursing school classmates went to vet tech school together. It helped a little, but being a nurse is a whole different ball game, IMO.

[brownbook]

A co-worker (Susie) was a vet tech. Currently works as a CNA in our out patient surgery clinic. When we (RN's) have a question about drugs, procedures, etc., we jokingly but seriously say, "ask Susie, she will know."

She is IV certified and is our go to person for hard sticks.

We all scratch our heads about why she is "just" a CNA. (Nothing against CNA's.) Our manager has asked, told her, several times, "You need to go to nursing (or medical) school."

[jmbjmb]

I was an OTJ trained vet assistant for about 4 years before nursing school and it definitely made me feel a lot more prepared. I do miss working with animals a lot. Since so much of your assessment is done on non-verbal patients it will cause you to be a lot more clued in to your human patients and their non-verbal cues especially pain. On the first day of nursing school, my fundamentals teacher said that the doctors and nurses who were the best at picking up on this stuff were those who worked with babies, kids, and animals :) You'll rock the parasitology exam in Pharmacology too [/quote']

I had thought about the non verbal aspect and was hoping it would work to my advantage!! I however had not thought abut parasitology but have no doubt I will be pretty confident lol.

I do worry at times I might slip into "animal mode" and do something silly, like forget to put on gloves for an IV. I have placed hundreds of IVs but most of the time we didn't wear gloves. Did you ever have those worries, or do something like that?

[jmbjmb]

A co-worker (Susie) was a vet tech. Currently works as a CNA in our out patient surgery clinic. When we (RN's) have a question about drugs, procedures, etc., we jokingly but seriously say, "ask Susie, she will know."

She is IV certified and is our go to person for hard sticks.

We all scratch our heads about why she is "just" a CNA. (Nothing against CNA's.) Our manager has asked, told her, several times, "You need to go to nursing (or medical) school."

I loved placing IVs. Give me the tiniest, sickest , angriest kitten and I could usually get it placed and get what we needed for labs. I'm really hoping this stays with me!!!