It’s National Vet Tech Appreciation Week! This week is dedicated to celebrating the vet techs within your facility by organizing and planning fun events, but also, more importantly, it’s about educating the public on what a veterinary technician does. The image below is one of my favourites and says it all!
I myself am a veterinary assistant and I work with many incredible veterinary technicians. They do it ALL. These individuals are there to provide care for the animal first and foremost and to always be their advocate. They never falter and even though they might be sleep deprived, food deprived or haven’t been able to pee in 12 hours – they always provide the best care.
We often hear “your job must be so much fun, you get to play with puppies all day”. The days are filled with so much more than that; giving medications, performing CPR, monitoring anesthetic during surgery, recovering a surgery patient, being vomited on, cleaning up that vomit, talking with clients, and dealing with compassion fatigue. It can be a very challenging career, but they always push through because of their love for animals.
I know of many vet techs who take on a ‘champion’ role within their practice on top of everything else. Be it the champion of running dental month, or running a heartworm education campaign, or being the champion of implementing Fear Free within their practice.
There are also vet techs who become the champion of infection prevention! These techs are the ones that make sure they know all about the disinfectant being used and train it out to all employees to ensure proper cleaning and disinfection of the facility. When it comes to disinfecting a vet clinic, there are pathogens that can spread from animal-to-animal or animal-to-human through a variety of transmission routes., meaning a safe and effective disinfectant is needed. Here are some great protocols to help you facilitate training within your facility: Exam Room Protocol and Cages/Kennels Protocol.
To all the vet techs out there, I say thank you and I appreciate all that you do. You are all heroes!
Paw you later!
Kim
