gaining more privileges at work

[sunnex3]

so i've been wondering how to do this lately...
i'm currently not working at the practice i usually work at because i'm at school...

however, starting in the summer i'll be returning back to where i worked last summer for 3.5 months and this past winter break...and i think i'd like to ask the dr-owners if i can start learning how to do more things around the hospital, especially things like drawing blood - basically i want to do more things that a tech would do, rather than what an assistant would do. i'm not certified or anything, but then again, none of the techs where i work are certified.

i worked there full time last summer, and full time over winter break, and i think i've gained a lot of trust from them because they let me do a lot more things than i used to be able to when i first started, so i'd like to ask them if i can do more...

in your experience, what's the best and most respectful way to ask them something like this? i don't want to sound too demanding, but i am REALLY REALLY eager to learn how to do these kinds of things. i love hands on kinds of stuff, so i really want to learn.

i know part of their wariness is because they're afraid once they train me i'd want to get a pay raise or something (they have issues with other employees in terms of pay), but that's definitely NOT the reason why i want to learn more.

any advice/tips are appreciated!

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[Pandacinny]

i know part of their wariness is because they're afraid once they train me i'd want to get a pay raise or something (they have issues with other employees in terms of pay), but that's definitely NOT the reason why i want to learn more.

They may also be worried that, once they train you, you'll only want to do more interesting things like drawing blood, helping with exams, and doing labwork and they'll be out a person to help with cleaning cages and things like that.

Also, another worry is liability. I know that I'd be pretty upset if my cat died while an inexperienced new person was monitoring him under anesthesia when there were more experienced technicians available.

To combat both of these, start off small. If you see the vet or a technician doing something you think is interesting, ask if you can watch. If they're doing something you'd like to learn, just ask if they can teach it to you. Make sure that, while you're asking, you have all of your other tasks completed. Don't leave a bunch of cages dirty and dogs unwalked so that you can spend all evening learning to draw blood. Get your own stuff done, then learn things during your free time. If they tell you they're uncomfortable or that they don't have time to teach you this thing, stay upbeat and positive. Don't flounce off into the back of the clinic and sulk. Hopefully, if you're persistent while being polite and hard working, they'll start to show you new things.

 

[sunnex3]

in the lab, i'm already allowed to help run things like HWT, FELV/FIV tests, etc.

of course, being the lowly vet assistant i am, i always help out with cages/dirty work haha

i've slowly gained more privileges as i've worked there, i'm allowed to administer subQ fluids, do TPRs, SOMETIMES monitor anesthesia, SOMETIMES give meds either orally or through an IV line (not actually IV or IM) and some of the vets (depending on who) will even let me draw up vaccines haha.

i just want to take that one extra step towards training to be a tech, because i feel like i'm already at that point, especally since they have given me more responsibilities over time.

 

[Pandacinny]

If they're already giving you more responsibilities over time, you shouldn't have too much to worry about. As long as you keep working hard and doing a good job, they'll probably continue to teach you.

 

[gone2dogs]

I have had much more limited success getting to do and learn interesting things at the private practice where I volunteer. Granted, I am a volunteer which basically puts me below an assistant. It does put me a little above the kennel staff though... I was basically offered the option of a position in the kennel, or I could stay as a volunteer and see more interesting stuff. Money is always handy, but I need the experience more than the money! I do of course help with cleaning and such too.

But, my point here is to say that you might also consider other places that you could volunteer/work. I also volunteer at a low cost spay/neuter clinic which has given me some fantastic hands on experience and also given me much closer contact with the vets. I am a respected, valued, and needed part of the team there whereas at the private clinic I am nice to have around because I can help restrain, prep fecals, or whatever, but really, they would be fine without me.

I know I am not getting a real picture of a normal vet clinic at the spay/neuter clinic, but because of the nature of what they do there is much more freedom for me to learn and practice. I also do tons of less fun stuff like packs, cleaning, etc., but I also get to prep for surgeries, draw blood, give IV injections, vaccines, intubate, extubate, ect. Plus, I really believe in their mission, so I like helping there.

So definitely keep with your current place and continue to show interest in learning, but I thought I'd at least throw out there that you may have an easier time getting more hands on stuff at a different type of place.

 

[BR549]

I started out as a "Kennel Technician", which is simply a glorified name for a pooper scooper! Day in and day out for a year, I saw poop! Big poop, small poop, bloody poop, slimy poop, runny poop and poop in food and water dishes. Poop, poop, poop!! Then, I would get home after 10 hours of scooping poop and find more poop! LOL!
I finally got to start coming up front and teching. No one draws blood at our clinic, but the Dr. I think she'll let me have a swing at it this summer, since I got accepted. It's just one of those things you have to work your way up to. She would, always call me up when a cool surgery was happening, so I could watch.

 

[BR549]

I know I am not getting a real picture of a normal vet clinic at the spay/neuter clinic, but because of the nature of what they do there is much more freedom for me to learn and practice. I also do tons of less fun stuff like packs, cleaning, etc., but I also get to prep for surgeries, draw blood, give IV injections, vaccines, intubate, extubate, ect. Plus, I really believe in their mission, so I like helping there.

Does anybody else find the folding of surgical gowns a pain in the rear?

 

[gone2dogs]

Does anybody else find the folding of surgical gowns a pain in the rear?

Actually I don't mind too much... and now I've taken folding surgical drapes to a whole new level. The techs hate doing it on the days I don't work, so I now take home cases of disposable drapes and sit for hours cutting and folding them into packs for autoclaving. My quilting tools (rotary cutter!!!) make the job much easier, and I find it oddly relaxing after a long day at work (high schoolers wear me out!) to sit cutting and folding. Not sure what this says about me...

 

[david594]

Does anybody else find the folding of surgical gowns a pain in the rear?

Yeah, and as such I avoid doing them like the plague. And in the odd time I have to, out comes to Fossum's to figure out how to do them right.

I really enjoy making packs and wrapping all the other instruments.

 

[twelvetigers]

We wash ours, and fold 1-2 a day to replenish the packs we've used. We have about 5 total.

I work at such a tiny place, lol.

 

[invivovet]

I really enjoy making packs and wrapping all the other instruments.

Me too! I became so proficient at this art that I was dubbed "The Packinator"

 

[sunnex3]

Me too! I became so proficient at this art that I was dubbed "The Packinator"

hahaha whenever we're slow at work, we always do our packs. haha i've been known to do them whenever there's nothing to do

i've become so good at it! i can wrap them nice and tight. however, we have a TINY autoclave, so it takes forever to autoclave all of our packs!

 

[gone2dogs]

We wash ours, and fold 1-2 a day to replenish the packs we've used. We have about 5 total.

I work at such a tiny place, lol.

I know we are totally off topic at this point, but I find it interesting that the fancy, expensive, go overboard on everything private practice, cleans up and reuses disposable drapes while the bare bones, low cost, high volume spay/neuter clinic throws out all the used drapes. We go through 20-30 in a day! Maybe it is still cheaper to throw them out than spend the time cleaning and sterilizing them?

 

[bunnity]

I know we are totally off topic at this point, but I find it interesting that the fancy, expensive, go overboard on everything private practice, cleans up and reuses disposable drapes while the bare bones, low cost, high volume spay/neuter clinic throws out all the used drapes. We go through 20-30 in a day! Maybe it is still cheaper to throw them out than spend the time cleaning and sterilizing them?

Haha at my shelter we would save them and sometimes after a couple rounds through the autoclave they would get pretty ragged. The vet would always open her pack, sigh in despair, hold up this tiny shrunken drape, and say "We're not trying to economize on drapes - PLEASE throw them out and put in new ones!"

 

[twelvetigers]

Ours are fabric and don't shrink... some are so old they're soft, kinda like old sheets. We wash them with roccal so that they won't stain... we don't really use disposable anything. Everything gets sterilized and reused... pretty much. Like I said, a small place!

 

[david594]

Shelter I was at actually used towels instead of drapes. Towards the end we started reusing the disposable wraps for the packs. We had a huge in-wall autoclave from a human hospital that could autoclave anything. Could easily fit 2 people in it, it was that big.

But I have no doubt in my mind we provided some of the best medicine you could get for $50 through a low cost spay and neuter clinic.

But sadly the shelter closed today.

 

[CatVet2Be]

But sadly the shelter closed today.

Sorry to hear that . Where do the animals go from there? Another shelter? And what are your plans from now until September? That really sucks.

 

[david594]

There is still a municipal shelter in town, but they are understaffed, underfunded, and only have a vet come in one day a week for surgeries so currently have a 3+ month backlog on spays/neuters for adopted animals.

Me, I was just a volunteering there some 20-25 hours a week. Still working full time between my other 2 jobs. Until fall Ill be heading to the other shelter to help out their vet the 1 day a week.

All the animals at the shelter were either adopted or transfered to other shelters in the area.