**Continuing education course was taken on Vet Med Team. It was presented by Dr. Nicole McArthur, founder of Not One More Vet**
**The veterinarian poll was taken by Dr. McArthur. The Nurse poll was taken by myself**
Since I don't practice in the field much as a technician any more I have to keep up on continuing education. I find myself gravitating towards more mental health and suicide related topics. Sounds kind of morbid, huh? I really just want to get as much information as I can so that I can maybe make a difference one day. That is what this group is about!
When doing these courses a lot of them are veterinarian centered. Now, there is an epidemic among veterinarians that we cannot ignore. However, there is little information regarding veterinary nurses. I would say that's a good thing, but I know there are technicians who have sadly taken their lives. Do we have to wait until those numbers are at an astronomical number before we start keeping track? Well, I took the polls given in this CE and applied it towards our instagram following.
First I will share the veterinarian chart conducted by Dr. McArthur who presented it in her course.
Here poll was of 300 veterinarians and they were told to choose one topic that created the most stress in their job - Fear of mistakes, HR/Management, Client Issues, Workload, Debt/Finance, and Family/Social conflicts. I look at this and immediately think yes these are all applicable to veterinary nurses. My poll conducted of a total of 857 instagram followers with the same questions.
Is anyone shocked by these statistics? Of course each category has a different meaning between the two. For example, the most obvious one is Debt & Finance. For a veterinarian this most likely means from student loan debt. It cost's tons of money to be a doctor then they get paid less than a human doctor and can't pay it off. Which brings me to the veterinary nurse side - for us it's struggling to make a minimum wage after having gone to school, passed a licensing test, and kept up with continuing education to keep that license. If you haven't been to school you barely make enough to make rent for your roof over your head. Yet, people say we do it for the money? They wonder why taking care of pets is so expensive. Why do I have to pay $70 for an exam?
What nurses want is simple. Better pay. To be paid for their skill. On top of that to be appreciated. How do you show appreciation? BETTER PAY. I recently saw a post on facebook about a licensed technician who makes as much as I do right now as a part time receptionist. You read that right, receptionist. Oh, and yes, she's LICENSED. Yet, I wonder why our turnover is so high? (enter confused emoji). If this chart isn't proof enough of only 827 people, which is like 1% of the veterinary nurse population out there, then I don't know what is.
I recently had a message from someone who said their doctor told them "she should be expected to be talked to like dirt." A. Doctor. A mature, well educated person. That's just how we talk to people? I told her NO that's not how it is and it's time to find a new clinic!
So, the next time someone says you do this job for the money show them this chart. Tell me exactly how much of that $1,500 pyometra that you could have prevented is going to me. Not. A Single Dime. And you know what? That's not what we really care about. Better pay, yes. But in the end we want to make sure that animal is taken care of. All we ask is for a little respect in turn. And dollar bills is a good start.
Shena
Not Another Vet Nurse