Quit? / RANT!!

[scatter.brained.dvm.stud]

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I work at a very small companion animal clinic owned by an out of practice DVM and one middle-aged VERY good DVM. The practice makes most of its money from boarders and it is a lot of kennel work. We are in an 80+ year old building. This is all backstory... The real reason I am thinking of quitting is this: last week I was doing kennels and a vet small dog got out of the area that we unleash them for walks. Despite me being the one on duty, the reason the dog got out is that the fence is so old and rotted that it was literally a matter of time. I took full responsibility, paid for the medical expenses of the canine after he was found, and spoke to the owner personally. Not to mention the hours of off the clock work that I spent searching. This clinic is managed by a entitled 25 year old who graduated undergrad in 2012, has yet to get into a SVM and is finally applying to RUSVM. She feeds off of her daddy's money and has her whole life. On the flip side I am a 19 year old who is on his own with paying for school and living expenses, pursuing an Bachelors in Animal Science, working 20 hours a week at an on campus job, and sometimes up to 40 hours a week at this clinic while pursuing an associates degree in Veterinary Technology. Needless to say I have a lot going on. NOT TO MENTION all of the responsibilities associated with working at a small clinic... I do ALL of the kennel work, ALL of the appointments with the Doctor, ALL of the maintenance/janitorial work, and anything else asked of me. But I get written up for incorrectly invoicing a box of revolution ALSO NOT TO MENTION that I took the initiative to call the client, apologize, offer her needed full refund / account credit, and fix the invoice without any guide nice by anyone is a supervisory position... So can I be forgiven for a few mistakes?!?!?! The practice owner says she loves me and doesn't want to see me go but also thinks I "should switch careers paths" because I sometimes forget to triple latch a cat cage.

Can ANYONE see this from my p.o.v.?

 

[Minnerbelle]

Why the f would you be responsible for paying the dog's medical care? That's clinic responsibility... That's why they have insurance

 

[Pugsforlove2014]

I'm thinking it was high time you got a new job.

 

[rushy]

Just find another job and give them the appropriate two weeks notice and move on. Try not to burn any bridges the veterinary community is a small world. Life is too short to allow yourself to have so much anxiety. Also it will serve you to just accept that there are always going to be people that are or feel like they are more entitled. Good luck!🙂

 

[LuckySpartan]

Unfortunately when you are an employee your point of view rarely matters under management similar to what you have described. It sounds as though you are very unhappy there, rightfully so, and you should probably move on. I have worked as a marketing executive for 7+ years (now applying to veterinary school). You will soon learn that the ability to change others is a waste of time and so is being somewhere you are unhappy. I commend you for taking responsibility, regardless of who/ what was at fault. It speaks highly of your character and that is something you don't want to lose sight of. I wish you the best of luck in your studies and please find a new job where you are appreciated 🙂

 

[battie]

I think you should leave.

I work at a boarding facility that can handle up to about 12-15 cats and 100 dogs (depending on the amount of animals sharing rooms). One of our oldest clients recommended us to a friend because we have experience working with dogs that are more aggressive in different situations. This owner's boxer has had tiffs with other dogs before that we have worked with and he has become a substantially better dog. So the new owner brought in her dog, Balto, on Saturday, and told us that he was dog aggressive in the same way Harley (the substantially better dog) used to be. So we prepared for that. Balto wouldn't be with any other dogs on Saturday, would be in a room where he couldn't see another dog, and we would ease him into being at his first boarding facility for two weeks on Sunday. Come Sunday, we were bringing dogs outside for breakfast potty break. Tasha (co-worker) had Balto and was taking him outside to a secluded space. She was at the door, opening it. I turned and signaled that it was okay to send the next set of dogs, a pair of huskies, Riley and his sister. As they're coming through the door, I turned to see that Tasha and Balto were still inside. Riley went up to Balto, and Balto attacked. Straight up, vicious attack. Three of us could not get Balto off of Riley. I have never hit a dog that hard in my life trying to get him off. It took our owner throwing a bowl of water at Balto to get him to let go. Once he did, he was perfectly fine. Went outside like a champ. The entire time, I had been holding Riley to prevent him from fighting back and quite literally clung to him out of fear. I was afraid of Balto, I was afraid for Riley, and I was afraid for my job. When everything got calmed down and Riley back in his room with his sister, my boss asked what happened. I owned up to the incident in it's entirety. I said it was my fault because I did not make sure that Balto was outside before signaling for the huskies. I said the other girls involved were not at fault at all. Riley ended up needing only 4 stitches and the vet thinks its because we didn't let Balto jerk Riley around or let Riley attack back. After the incident, I went and did a dog pick-up, thinking that when I got back, that I would be fired.

Well, I wasn't fired. In fact, I got no negativity whatsoever. None from my boss (though she was angry, terrifyingly angry), none from the rest of the staff, none from either owner (Balto left the next day for a solitary dog trainer). In fact, I was told point blank by the other two girls involved and my manager to not blame myself. My work place paid for Riley's vet care, not me. My boss looked at the situation and saw that the owner had lied to us about the aggressiveness of her dog, that there was a lack of communication between staff members, and that we had basically grown complacent because we do not have many aggressive instances at our facility because of our safety protocols. My boss and I have a great relationship to the point that I am going to cry on my last day a week from now. She had a silver lining look to it that at least in this situation, we learned that Balto was highly dog aggressive before we tried purposely introducing him to another dog (as was the plan for later that day). We would have been completely unprepared for the reaction he would have given, and then there would have only been two people present to try to control it rather than five or six.

Mistakes happen. There are times where those mistakes are going to cost big. We are super lucky that Balto attacked a large breed dog with a lot of protective fur. If I had signaled for a small breed dog or a more fragile large breed dog, Balto would have killed it. No doubt in my mind. In the work place, an employer needs to look at those mistakes and see how you handled yourself. If you handled yourself to a high point with integrity, honesty, humility, and ethics, they need to acknowledge that, take care of the mistake in the most appropriate manner, and move on. What you're experiencing is not that situation. You owned up to your mistake, you (quite literally) paid for it, and you are doing your best it sounds like. That's the most anyone can ask of you. There are plenty of other vet clinics out there. You don't have to subjugate yourself to this.

Sorry for the rambling. I just wanted to give an example of a very bad mistake being made where there was a positive outcome for the mistake maker.

 

[scatter.brained.dvm.stud]

Wow, that's so great... Thanks for sharing! And thanks everyone for the encouragement! I will miss all of the dogs, cats, and owners at the clinic a lot but have put in my letter of resignation. I am very happy with my decision.

 

[Moose A Moose]

To hell with them, dude. You're better off.

Also... You're young. You're going to have to deal with entitled clowns such as your clinic manager for the rest of your life. Forget about them; they're not worth your energy- not even to talk **** on. Your zen should stem from knowing how little value people such as her hold. When you finally look back on harder times after achieving your aspirations and how much you struggled to pay your way, afford rent, eat and study it will all be that much sweeter.

 

[chickenlittle]

Making you pay for treatments for the escaped pet is ridiculous, and definitely grounds for quitting.

As far as the immature practice manager, though.... get used to it. Unless/until you become a practice owner, the truth is that most veterinary clinics are dysfunctional environments and most practice managers are immature/untrained. I'm an almost-forty-year-old veterinarian with 1o years' experience and I currently report to a 25ish year old high school graduate as my manager. That's just how it is in this profession, unfortunately.... there isn't enough money to pay qualified managers, so unless the owner does all of the management themelves (which is, in many ways, even more of a disaster!), you will likely be reporting to someone of lower professional stature than yourself. It's a challenge, but doable.

 

[pp9]

Not that I'm totally familiar with the legality of all things practice-related, but did you offer to cover the lost dog's expenses, or did the clinic force you to? Either way, you shouldn't have had to do that. If you offered, you should have been told no. If I were you, I'd look into this a bit further, especially if you were forced to pay or if they deducted from your paycheck. The clinic should have malpractice insurance. An escaped patient would be a malpractice issue, especially if the owner/manager were aware of the condition of the fence for the yard.

Regarding you feeling you bear the brunt of most of the clinic responsibilities but still get written up for an incorrect invoice...I say if you made a mistake, you just have be more careful next time. You did the right thing in doing what you could to correct your mistake, but if everyone would get a write-up for the same mistake, there isn't a reason why you shouldn't get one. It just depends on how often your manager follows through with those things. I almost wish my old manager would do write-ups for incorrect charges, incomplete notes in the chart, etc. When you follow through on correcting those mistakes, it tends to lead to less mistakes in the long run by making everyone more conscious of what they are doing. I can't tell you how many times, as an assistant, I've had to ask someone "Why did you charge $40 for this instead of $100?" Only to hear that they misread the services performed or whatever. If I've made a mistake, I hope it is brought to my attention. That's how you learn. Write-ups do suck, but if that's how they are handled at your clinic, then learn and move on/quit.

Making you pay for treatments for the escaped pet is ridiculous, and definitely grounds for quitting.

As far as the immature practice manager, though.... get used to it. Unless/until you become a practice owner, the truth is that most veterinary clinics are dysfunctional environments and most practice managers are immature/untrained. I'm an almost-forty-year-old veterinarian with 1o years' experience and I currently report to a 25ish year old high school graduate as my manager. That's just how it is in this profession, unfortunately.... there isn't enough money to pay qualified managers, so unless the owner does all of the management themelves (which is, in many ways, even more of a disaster!), you will likely be reporting to someone of lower professional stature than yourself. It's a challenge, but doable.

This. Out of all of the clinics I've worked in that have dedicated managers, none of them have had college degrees or even partial higher education. That certainly doesn't mean that a person without a degree is incapable of the job, but it means they have to learn about business, finances, management techniques, etc. on the job. They tend to start in reception and work their way up to manager over time. I've noticed that in these cases, the managers are either too unsure/'shy' to makes decisions or handle employees, or that they have a Napoleon complex and stomp around the place and on everyone. Any issues with management trickle down into the staff pool, and that's how dysfunction happens.

The one clinic I worked at where the owner was the doctor/manager/tech, is was certainly less dysfunctional, but she would always say herself that she makes terrible business decisions. Couldn't afford to upgrade any equipment or give raises, ever. Ironically, I have never seen such loyalty to a doctor any where else, from both staff and clients.