RANT HERE thread

[WildZoo]

Yeah, this is pretty much exactly how it went. Not painful or anything; just uncomfortable and it did make me tear up a little. Kind of felt like getting water up my nose. At any rate, it came back negative, so that's good. Still don't feel super great, though, so it remains to be seen if I'll be back at work tomorrow.

I had a headache for 2 hours after mine...maybe the nurse was extra aggressive lol glad yours wasn't too bad and it was negative, and I hope you start feeling better!

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[Aprilthearab]

Yesterday at the hospital was so crazy that we called in an extra employee, stole a random employee from a different hospital, I worked a 14 hour shift with just a five minute lunch break instead of the 8 hour shift I was scheduled for, and we were still understaffed.

What made up for it: The random employee we stole was a really attractive male pre-vet student.

 

[CoffeeQuestionMark]

Yesterday at the hospital was so crazy that we called in an extra employee, stole a random employee from a different hospital, I worked a 14 hour shift with just a five minute lunch break instead of the 8 hour shift I was scheduled for, and we were still understaffed.

What made up for it: The random employee we stole was a really attractive male pre-vet student.

That's nuts. I worked a 12 hour shift on Thursday and got 2 10s and 1 30 (along with the other two staff that worked the same shift as me) and it was a big discussion the next day about what needs to change to make sure we get 2 30s as we are supposed to on that shift

 

[Aprilthearab]

That's nuts. I worked a 12 hour shift on Thursday and got 2 10s and 1 30 (along with the other two staff that worked the same shift as me) and it was a big discussion the next day about what needs to change to make sure we get 2 30s as we are supposed to on that shift

We're just such a small hospital (in terms of current staff) that it's not easy to find that slack to let people take full breaks. If I take a break on an understaffed day, that could be one quarter or even one third of the whole staff missing! And to make yesterday even worse, s o m e o n e scheduled a wellness appointment over the appointment vet's single half-hour break (aka my only break too).

Before we got backup yesterday, we had one receptionist, one appointment tech (me), and one surgery tech. Our appointment vet was out for the first two hours (unexpected MD appointment for a swollen lymph node) so our surgery vet took her first few appointments. Then when she did go back to surgery, a grade 1 cat dental turned into a full mouth extraction. When the surgery vet's evening appointments started, she was inevitably hours behind and still had two spays and a neuter that weren't started, so the appointment vet was doing her own appointments plus surgery vet's appointments plus emergencies. She called in our part time vet and two technicians to help out. So then we had three doctors with one surgery tech, one receptionist, two appointment techs, and that random tech who was very helpful despite never working here before.

Basically the second half of the day I was taking in Dr appointments for both appointment vets, taking tech appointments on my own, running pre-an bloodwork for later surgeries/discharging earlier surgeries while the surgery tech was tied up monitoring anesthesia, and checking people out/picking up calls when the receptionist was tied up on calls. Every time I had to pick up a call, I felt like I had time-traveled after it ended because I'd run to the back and everyone would be doing something totally different than five minutes before and have a completely new list of things for me to.

 

[DVMDream]

We're just such a small hospital (in terms of current staff) that it's not easy to find that slack to let people take full breaks. If I take a break on an understaffed day, that could be one quarter or even one third of the whole staff missing! And to make yesterday even worse, s o m e o n e scheduled a wellness appointment over the appointment vet's single half-hour break (aka my only break too).

Before we got backup yesterday, we had one receptionist, one appointment tech (me), and one surgery tech. Our appointment vet was out for the first two hours (unexpected MD appointment for a swollen lymph node) so our surgery vet took her first few appointments. Then when she did go back to surgery, a grade 1 cat dental turned into a full mouth extraction. When the surgery vet's evening appointments started, she was inevitably hours behind and still had two spays and a neuter that weren't started, so the appointment vet was doing her own appointments plus surgery vet's appointments plus emergencies. She called in our part time vet and two technicians to help out. So then we had three doctors with one surgery tech, one receptionist, two appointment techs, and that random tech who was very helpful despite never working here before.

Basically the second half of the day I was taking in Dr appointments for both appointment vets, taking tech appointments on my own, running pre-an bloodwork for later surgeries/discharging earlier surgeries while the surgery tech was tied up monitoring anesthesia, and checking people out/picking up calls when the receptionist was tied up on calls. Every time I had to pick up a call, I felt like I had time-traveled after it ended because I'd run to the back and everyone would be doing something totally different than five minutes before and have a completely new list of things for me to.

All of this boils down to
1. Poor scheduling
2. Not rescheduling appointments when the one vet needed to not come in because of an emergency. (Yes, you can call people and reschedule because the Dr isn't available, happens all the damn time in human med).

This breaks down into poor management, inability to say no, poor ownership, not giving warnings/writing up staff who schedule appointments in designated break times, not setting realistic expectations and the inability to turf ER to ER when you're already overwhelmed.... these are when mistakes occur and patient care suffers.

 

[Aprilthearab]

All of this boils down to
1. Poor scheduling
2. Not rescheduling appointments when the one vet needed to not come in because of an emergency. (Yes, you can call people and reschedule because the Dr isn't available, happens all the damn time in human med).

This breaks down into poor management, inability to say no, poor ownership, not giving warnings/writing up staff who schedule appointments in designated break times, not setting realistic expectations and the inability to turf ER to ER when you're already overwhelmed.... these are when mistakes occur and patient care suffers.

Agreed. The head vet/practice owner is a huge pushover and I make sure to tell her when things aren't working. She has actually changed her attitude over the months from "No, I can't afford that/I don't have the time for that/that's not feasible" to "I know, I just hired a new receptionist and she's starting next week/we're starting up staff meetings again/I'm telling reception to refer people to ____ Hospital for some emergencies now." Believe it or not, it's actually improving.

 

[biomajor2019]

Hi guys! Could someone please give words of encouragement/advice/anything I have my first vet school interview tomorrow morning with Midwestern and a huge storm came through my area causing my whole city to lose power on top of it, there’s a train track that goes through town and I guess there’s a train that broke down in the middle of town on top of all of this so there are roads closed off. I had planned such a nice evening for myself to prep for tomorrow: I went on a nice long run...but the power went out before I could shower. I had taken out salmon for dinner...but instead had to order dominos because I can’t cook anything. I’m so so stressed. Luckily my friend offered me to go to his apt tomorrow morning if the power is still out, but it’s an hour drive and UGH I wish things could be simple! End rant..

 

[Aprilthearab]

Hi guys! Could someone please give words of encouragement/advice/anything I have my first vet school interview tomorrow morning with Midwestern and a huge storm came through my area causing my whole city to lose power on top of it, there’s a train track that goes through town and I guess there’s a train that broke down in the middle of town on top of all of this so there are roads closed off. I had planned such a nice evening for myself to prep for tomorrow: I went on a nice long run...but the power went out before I could shower. I had taken out salmon for dinner...but instead had to order dominos because I can’t cook anything. I’m so so stressed. Luckily my friend offered me to go to his apt tomorrow morning if the power is still out, but it’s an hour drive and UGH I wish things could be simple! End rant..

Sometimes the best things are the results of the toughest times. You'll do great, don't let the wreckage around you interrupt your moment to shine! I've been there before with important events... "Oh, I'll set aside this time to take care of myself/relax/decompress, pick out a nice outfit..." And then inevitably something comes up and I'm scrambling just to get to the important place on time, let alone everything else I was planning on doing. Everything works out just fine even if the preceding events weren't the picture perfect prep I was imagining. Don't let it ruin your confidence, you've got this!

Edit: I thought about this story after the fact and came back to write it in. I was kicked in the face by a horse exactly a week before my first planned visit to one of the undergrad schools I was accepted to. That visit included a presidential scholarship reception where I was expected to go up on stage. I got the fourteen stitches removed from my lips less than 24 hours before I arrived at the school, which was a 400 mile drive away from home. I was missing three teeth, my face was blown up in all crazy ways, my speech was slurred... But I insisted on going because I was looking forward to it for so long. I went up on stage regardless and spoke with professors and students despite barely being able to communicate with them. That undergrad school ended up being the one I chose to go to!

 

[Coopah]

Hi guys! Could someone please give words of encouragement/advice/anything I have my first vet school interview tomorrow morning with Midwestern and a huge storm came through my area causing my whole city to lose power on top of it, there’s a train track that goes through town and I guess there’s a train that broke down in the middle of town on top of all of this so there are roads closed off. I had planned such a nice evening for myself to prep for tomorrow: I went on a nice long run...but the power went out before I could shower. I had taken out salmon for dinner...but instead had to order dominos because I can’t cook anything. I’m so so stressed. Luckily my friend offered me to go to his apt tomorrow morning if the power is still out, but it’s an hour drive and UGH I wish things could be simple! End rant..

I also have a crazy story that might help. A week before my vet school interview my dog died. I was a complete mess, I could barely function. Then the day of my flight, it was delayed by over five hours. I would've missed my connecting flight and not made my interview. So they switched my ticket to a plane leaving in an hour at an airport an hour away. I sprinted through 12° weather and drove like a bat out of hell to get there. I abandoned my husband at the gate to deal with the car and made piece with the fact he was probably going to miss the flight. I landed two hours away from where I should have at 2 in the morning. It took me 2 hours to rent a car because my reservation was at a different car rental. I finally got to the hotel at 6am the day of my 8am interview. I was a complete mess, an emotional wreck, and a sleepless zombie. Somehow, I pulled it together and gave that interview my all. It was an MMI so I had multiple people interviewing me in different rooms. One actually tried to stare me down (at least it felt like it) after I finished my answer. I was so sleep deprived and emotionally exhausted I just smiled back at him too tired to be intimidated. I remember his furious note taking at that.

I got in to that school, went to that school, and now I'm in my final year here. Everything happens for a reason, even if we don't know what that reason is. It'll work out the way it's supposed to, so just try to take it in stride.

 

[biomajor2019]

@Coopah @Aprilthearab Thank you both so much for sharing your stories, and I am so glad things worked out best for the both of you! I am feeling incredibly grateful, this morning. They were not expecting to get the power back on by the morning, but it came back on around midnight. Everything happens for a reason, and I think with everything that happened, last night, it has me feeling a little bit more lucky and grateful for having this opportunity than I was already feeling.

Again, thank you everyone for the love and support, last night. Looking back, I know it definitely wasn't the worst thing that could have happened, but in the moment, I felt like my world was crashing down.
I appreciate this community! <3

 

[awesomenessity]

So I have a horse. His name is Seven. And he is probably the most horribly designed equine on the face of this planet. He has navicular. He has torn his DDFT three times. He has grade 4/4 laryngeal paralysis. He looks like a moose had a baby with a giraffe. And now he can add a new ailment to his lemon status: distal segmental esophageal motility disorder. That’s right folks, a condition that there is so little equine literature for that the vet had to go to the human literature to even diagnose it. And it cost me a lovely $1500 to learn this fact. I love horses!

 

[SkiOtter]

So I have a horse. His name is Seven. And he is probably the most horribly designed equine on the face of this planet. He has navicular. He has torn his DDFT three times. He has grade 4/4 laryngeal paralysis. He looks like a moose had a baby with a giraffe. And now he can add a new ailment to his lemon status: distal segmental esophageal motility disorder. That’s right folks, a condition that there is so little equine literature for that the vet had to go to the human literature to even diagnose it. And it cost me a lovely $1500 to learn this fact. I love horses!

SEVEN WHY. WATER YOU DOING

 

[killerleaf]

full name: Seven of Nine?

 

[awesomenessity]

SEVEN WHY. WATER YOU DOING

Being a doorknob

 

[awesomenessity]

full name: Seven of Nine?

Haha maybe one day, right now he is Seven of Four. He used to be Seven of Seven when we got him lol

 

[DRider13]

So I have a horse. His name is Seven. And he is probably the most horribly designed equine on the face of this planet. He has navicular. He has torn his DDFT three times. He has grade 4/4 laryngeal paralysis. He looks like a moose had a baby with a giraffe. And now he can add a new ailment to his lemon status: distal segmental esophageal motility disorder. That’s right folks, a condition that there is so little equine literature for that the vet had to go to the human literature to even diagnose it. And it cost me a lovely $1500 to learn this fact. I love horses!

Lol I definitely met Seven the other day. He's a handsome fellow, even if he was made with a bunch of spare parts that don't work properly...

 

[awesomenessity]

Lol I definitely met Seven the other day. He's a handsome fellow, even if he was made with a bunch of spare parts that don't work properly...

Lol something went seriously wrong in his construction Hopefully he won’t be coming for another visit for a while

 

[Aprilthearab]

Warning: long rant ahead. Input is very welcome...

This morning, a client called demanding we schedule a same-day tech appointment for her four large, uncooperative dogs to have their nails trimmed and anal glands expressed, plus a nail trim and de-shedding for her bunny. I overheard the receptionist saying she was going to make her wait until next week but the head vet stopped her to say we would put her on today's already fully booked tech appointment schedule. This client is always difficult and never appreciative, no good reason to go out of our way for her. When I got the chance a few minutes later, I glanced at the schedule and sure enough, it had been booked for just a few hours later.

I can't remember exactly what I said to myself, but it was something along the lines of "We can't let people walk all over us like that." Just a small statement to myself. I didn't realize my vet was standing behind me but she heard and snapped, "I'm getting really frustrated with you. I don't care where you think people should be put on the schedule. You don't get to make those decisions. You need to remember your place here. You're not in charge, I am. I don't want to hear it again."

And I totally get it, she's right, I'm not in charge, her word is the final say. Her comment itself didn't do any harm besides maybe a bruised ego on my part. But that really made me think for the rest of the day if that's how she views the rest of us: as employees who aren't allowed to voice their concerns rather than colleagues who are working our butts off for her when we don't have to. I've never gone around trying to tell people what to do, but I will speak up in the moments we're being really overworked for such an understaffed hospital because I believe nothing will improve if the boss perceives no apparent reason to change. And after all, this was a tech appointment... The vets don't lift a finger for those, but yet we are working purely for the head vet's profit. Recently we have been so understaffed that I have been doing tech appointments completely alone, and if I really badly need a hand, I need to pull one of the receptionists to restrain for me. I feel... Used, because my boss both lacks the understanding that techs are a finite resource and are humans, and allows and encourages the detrimental behaviors of our worst clients.

What further solidified my feeling of being used and under-appreciated was when that monster tech appointment did roll around and myself and my only tech coworker (a miracle I wasn't alone today) were trucking through it, and my boss interrupted us half way through, incredibly angry that she had three appointments (that she scheduled to overlap) waiting in the parking lot and she was falling behind because we hadn't gotten them for her yet. Obviously our fault, right?

And what further solidified my belief today that she is encouraging these behaviors was when I was screamed at over the phone by a client who had left a message for my boss "six hours ago" and was furious she hadn't heard a response yet regarding her cat who was dragging a hind leg and straining to defecate for two weeks. I offered her a same day appointment (we actually had one open appointment slot for an hour later, imagine that!) and she told me she was not going to waste her time and money again because last time we couldn't even tell her what was wrong. (Total BS - a month ago, we told her that her cat had a giant calcified mass that was obstructing one leg's range of motion and also putting pressure on his colon. She was in pure denial.) So I told her I am very sorry, the vet is in surgery right now and can't talk but will return your call as soon as possible. She got even more angry and said "the vet told me I can call her whenever I need to so this is all your fault because you're not letting me." I told her I would put her on hold and see if I could go talk to the vet. Before I got the chance, her husband took the phone from her and yelled at me "We've been waiting to hear from her for six hours. Just tell her to call us back. BYE." and hung up.

Now the craziest part is that my vet got mad at me for not interrupting her surgery to tell her I had this client on the phone. I mean, really??? She encourages these horrible clients to disrespect the techs and to always demand to talk to the vet directly, all for no cost instead of coming in for an appointment.

Outside of these incidents, the rest of the day she was perfectly amiable and acted as if these never happened...

Part of me just wants to shrug it off and call it misdirected anger. To keep my mouth shut and hope the dynamic changes when our new hires start in the next few weeks. To say she's absolutely right, I stepped out of line and that's completely my fault. That I'm just overreacting and taking things too personal.

The other part of me wants to pull her aside and remind her I have many fellow pre-vet friends in the area working lower-stress vet tech jobs with real managers and less responsibilities who are getting paid more than me. That the only reason I've stuck with her here is because I loved the work environment and my colleagues but that's not so convincing anymore. That if she can't stand behind her technicians, I have no reason to stand behind her...

I mean, realistically I'm not leaving any time soon because I'm relying on my vets here for recommendation letters. By the time those are in, there will be many changes made to the workplace and hopefully things improve. If this continues after that time passes, I feel the lack of management here might drive me away to a new hospital.

 

[SkiOtter]

t o x i c e n v i r o n m e n t p l e a s e l e a v e

 

[WildZoo]

t o x i c e n v i r o n m e n t p l e a s e l e a v e

Re-hecking-tweet

 

[Minnerbelle]

I mean... I’m glad you’ve come to your senses. I’ve commented a few times about how your boss’s management style is subpar to say the least, and thus far you’ve responded like a hostage with Stockholm syndrome making excuses like “my vet just really likes to take care of her clients.” And that worried me, because I’ve seen sooo many support staff and associate vets do that very thing and it always ends one of three ways. 1.) they realize what is going on and empower themselves to do something about it... aka leave. 2.) their souls die little by little until they are just a compassion fatigued shadow of their former selves, just going through the motions. Or 3.) implodes/explodes and bad things happen.

You’re right, this is your boss’s kingdom and whatever their rules are, you have to follow. You don’t have a say in how she wants to schedule, or what unrealistic expectations she has to manage a ridiculous schedule. And you are unappreciated, and will continue to be.

One thing you need to understand is that YOU.WILL.NOT.CHANGE.THIS. It doesn’t matter if you’re the best employee they have. It doesn’t matter if you’re boss’s favorite assistant. It doesn’t matter if you think you have leverage because they are short staffed and can’t afford to lose you. Nothing you say will truly result in sustained positive change. If it were that easy, your Clinic would not be this dysfunctional. So my advice to you is to NOT try to martyr your way through this and give what you think is constructive criticism. It will come off as unsolicited management advice from a lowly support staff. She’s already made that abundantly clear. A further ultimatum type of response is not going to make that any better. She may give you some lip service initially, but mark my words. If you do this, it will alter your relationship with this vet and 95% chance for the worse. Also, often these types of personalities are like domestic abusers. They’ll often say they’re sorry and all in such a way that you’ll feel all warm and fuzzy again for a moment, but you’ll pay for it later. Also, these many changes that are coming? Trust me, they won’t happen, or they won’t change a damn thing that matters.

If you are going to stay just to get a LOR, you need to realize that unless you have another natural stopping point, you’re gonna be stuck there until eLORs are due and your apps are done. Until then you’re going to have to keep your head down and be the good little puppet who just follows directions. When you are still somewhat delusional about the situation, that’s fine and dandy. You can rationalize it to yourself playing mental gymnastics and making excuses for every issue. But I will tell you from personal experience. Once the rose colored glasses come off, it becomes exceedingly difficult to keep a smile on your face and nod yes ma’am when you and your coworkers are treated like that day in and day out.

If you can afford to leave, I would do so ASAP. The longer you wait, the less time you have to form a solid relationship with a vet elsewhere. If there is another vet there that you’ve gotten along with, ask that one for a letter. Or find another clinic to work at and get a letter there. Or, find a gracious way to exit. Blame covid. Blame your family. Say you decided to go back to school or took extra credit hours and it’s not compatible with working. Whatever. Muster up the energy to be the perfect employee for a couple of weeks, butter your boss up, then put in your notice. Be gracious and say how much you learned from her and how you loved working at this clinic, but that you must leave. DONE. Do not try to give constructive criticism or an honest exit interview. It’s only going to hurt you in this case. On vet forums and FB groups, I’ve seen owners post these letters and such from assistants like you with why they felt they needed to leave because of poor management, and they are typically livid. The truth of the matter is you have no idea what it takes to be a vet or to run a hospital, or what your boss goes through. Just because you see what a ****ty job she’s doing, it doesn’t mean she wants to hear that from you. Unless you want a bad LOR, don’t do it.

 

[DVMDream]

Warning: long rant ahead. Input is very welcome...

This morning, a client called demanding we schedule a same-day tech appointment for her four large, uncooperative dogs to have their nails trimmed and anal glands expressed, plus a nail trim and de-shedding for her bunny. I overheard the receptionist saying she was going to make her wait until next week but the head vet stopped her to say we would put her on today's already fully booked tech appointment schedule. This client is always difficult and never appreciative, no good reason to go out of our way for her. When I got the chance a few minutes later, I glanced at the schedule and sure enough, it had been booked for just a few hours later.

I can't remember exactly what I said to myself, but it was something along the lines of "We can't let people walk all over us like that." Just a small statement to myself. I didn't realize my vet was standing behind me but she heard and snapped, "I'm getting really frustrated with you. I don't care where you think people should be put on the schedule. You don't get to make those decisions. You need to remember your place here. You're not in charge, I am. I don't want to hear it again."

And I totally get it, she's right, I'm not in charge, her word is the final say. Her comment itself didn't do any harm besides maybe a bruised ego on my part. But that really made me think for the rest of the day if that's how she views the rest of us: as employees who aren't allowed to voice their concerns rather than colleagues who are working our butts off for her when we don't have to. I've never gone around trying to tell people what to do, but I will speak up in the moments we're being really overworked for such an understaffed hospital because I believe nothing will improve if the boss perceives no apparent reason to change. And after all, this was a tech appointment... The vets don't lift a finger for those, but yet we are working purely for the head vet's profit. Recently we have been so understaffed that I have been doing tech appointments completely alone, and if I really badly need a hand, I need to pull one of the receptionists to restrain for me. I feel... Used, because my boss both lacks the understanding that techs are a finite resource and are humans, and allows and encourages the detrimental behaviors of our worst clients.

What further solidified my feeling of being used and under-appreciated was when that monster tech appointment did roll around and myself and my only tech coworker (a miracle I wasn't alone today) were trucking through it, and my boss interrupted us half way through, incredibly angry that she had three appointments (that she scheduled to overlap) waiting in the parking lot and she was falling behind because we hadn't gotten them for her yet. Obviously our fault, right?

And what further solidified my belief today that she is encouraging these behaviors was when I was screamed at over the phone by a client who had left a message for my boss "six hours ago" and was furious she hadn't heard a response yet regarding her cat who was dragging a hind leg and straining to defecate for two weeks. I offered her a same day appointment (we actually had one open appointment slot for an hour later, imagine that!) and she told me she was not going to waste her time and money again because last time we couldn't even tell her what was wrong. (Total BS - a month ago, we told her that her cat had a giant calcified mass that was obstructing one leg's range of motion and also putting pressure on his colon. She was in pure denial.) So I told her I am very sorry, the vet is in surgery right now and can't talk but will return your call as soon as possible. She got even more angry and said "the vet told me I can call her whenever I need to so this is all your fault because you're not letting me." I told her I would put her on hold and see if I could go talk to the vet. Before I got the chance, her husband took the phone from her and yelled at me "We've been waiting to hear from her for six hours. Just tell her to call us back. BYE." and hung up.

Now the craziest part is that my vet got mad at me for not interrupting her surgery to tell her I had this client on the phone. I mean, really??? She encourages these horrible clients to disrespect the techs and to always demand to talk to the vet directly, all for no cost instead of coming in for an appointment.

Outside of these incidents, the rest of the day she was perfectly amiable and acted as if these never happened...

Part of me just wants to shrug it off and call it misdirected anger. To keep my mouth shut and hope the dynamic changes when our new hires start in the next few weeks. To say she's absolutely right, I stepped out of line and that's completely my fault. That I'm just overreacting and taking things too personal.

The other part of me wants to pull her aside and remind her I have many fellow pre-vet friends in the area working lower-stress vet tech jobs with real managers and less responsibilities who are getting paid more than me. That the only reason I've stuck with her here is because I loved the work environment and my colleagues but that's not so convincing anymore. That if she can't stand behind her technicians, I have no reason to stand behind her...

I mean, realistically I'm not leaving any time soon because I'm relying on my vets here for recommendation letters. By the time those are in, there will be many changes made to the workplace and hopefully things improve. If this continues after that time passes, I feel the lack of management here might drive me away to a new hospital.

I've told you this place is a ****-hole every time you have posted about it. Ok, maybe not used the exact words "****-hole" but you get what I mean.

Run away--- yesterday.

 

[DVMDream]

I mean... I’m glad you’ve come to your senses. I’ve commented a few times about how your boss’s management style is subpar to say the least, and thus far you’ve responded like a hostage with Stockholm syndrome making excuses like “my vet just really likes to take care of her clients.” And that worried me, because I’ve seen sooo many support staff and associate vets do that very thing and it always ends one of three ways. 1.) they realize what is going on and empower themselves to do something about it... aka leave. 2.) their souls die little by little until they are just a compassion fatigued shadow of their former selves, just going through the motions. Or 3.) implodes/explodes and bad things happen.

You’re right, this is your boss’s kingdom and whatever their rules are, you have to follow. You don’t have a say in how she wants to schedule, or what unrealistic expectations she has to manage a ridiculous schedule. And you are unappreciated, and will continue to be.

One thing you need to understand is that YOU.WILL.NOT.CHANGE.THIS. It doesn’t matter if you’re the best employee they have. It doesn’t matter if you’re boss’s favorite assistant. It doesn’t matter if you think you have leverage because they are short staffed and can’t afford to lose you. Nothing you say will truly result in sustained positive change. If it were that easy, your Clinic would not be this dysfunctional. So my advice to you is to NOT try to martyr your way through this and give what you think is constructive criticism. It will come off as unsolicited management advice from a lowly support staff. She’s already made that abundantly clear. A further ultimatum type of response is not going to make that any better. She may give you some lip service initially, but mark my words. If you do this, it will alter your relationship with this vet and 95% chance for the worse. Also, often these types of personalities are like domestic abusers. They’ll often say they’re sorry and all in such a way that you’ll feel all warm and fuzzy again for a moment, but you’ll pay for it later. Also, these many changes that are coming? Trust me, they won’t happen, or they won’t change a damn thing that matters.

If you are going to stay just to get a LOR, you need to realize that unless you have another natural stopping point, you’re gonna be stuck there until eLORs are due and your apps are done. Until then you’re going to have to keep your head down and be the good little puppet who just follows directions. When you are still somewhat delusional about the situation, that’s fine and dandy. You can rationalize it to yourself playing mental gymnastics and making excuses for every issue. But I will tell you from personal experience. Once the rose colored glasses come off, it becomes exceedingly difficult to keep a smile on your face and nod yes ma’am when you and your coworkers are treated like that day in and day out.

If you can afford to leave, I would do so ASAP. The longer you wait, the less time you have to form a solid relationship with a vet elsewhere. If there is another vet there that you’ve gotten along with, ask that one for a letter. Or find another clinic to work at and get a letter there. Or, find a gracious way to exit. Blame covid. Blame your family. Say you decided to go back to school or took extra credit hours and it’s not compatible with working. Whatever. Muster up the energy to be the perfect employee for a couple of weeks, butter your boss up, then put in your notice. Be gracious and say how much you learned from her and how you loved working at this clinic, but that you must leave. DONE. Do not try to give constructive criticism or an honest exit interview. It’s only going to hurt you in this case. On vet forums and FB groups, I’ve seen owners post these letters and such from assistants like you with why they felt they needed to leave because of poor management, and they are typically livid. The truth of the matter is you have no idea what it takes to be a vet or to run a hospital, or what your boss goes through. Just because you see what a ****ty job she’s doing, it doesn’t mean she wants to hear that from you. Unless you want a bad LOR, don’t do it.

And follow this. Head down, shut up, play the game for the next 7-10 days, then input your notice, make some reason that has nothing to do with "you are abusing your staff and allowing them to be abused and I won't do it anymore", make it about something else, anything else. Smile, nod, say your goodbyes and find something better. This way you don't burn a bridge and you can escape the toxicity.

 

[mmmdreamerz]

Re-hecking-tweet

ummm yeah I would quit.
Thanks but no thanksss

 

[Aprilthearab]

Thanks to all who replied to me - I absolutely needed to hear it. My boyfriend went through a similar situation at his clinic last year and it took months of daily reminders before I convinced him how crap of a place it was and now he's so much happier at a new hospital. That makes it easier for me to see the parallels between his situation and mine. And also that I've absolutely been just as delusional as he was regarding excuses not to leave.

The surprising thing is, half my coworkers have part-time jobs at other hospitals and always comment about how much "nicer" it is here compared to their other jobs. I still can't tell if their other jobs are just really, really crappy and this one is a little less crappy, or if this is genuinely a better place at least for them and maybe I'm getting the brunt of this treatment because I'm the lowest on the totem pole, or what. Regardless... I can't ignore how this job is starting to make me feel.

I have less than a month between now and when applications are due which is not realistically enough time to apply and get accepted to another position, build up enough of a reputation with another vet, and convince them to write a LOR in literal days. I'm perfectly fine playing the "smile and wave" game until these vets put theirs in for me. Despite all the crap that's gone down, my head vet still takes the time to thank me at the end of the day. I feel like she would still write me a good LOR unless I burned bridges. She brought it up of her own accord the other day and said she'll be sending it in soon.

If for whatever reason my "smile and wave" game isn't convincing enough for my head vet and she decides she can't write me a LOR, that's perfectly fine since I have an incredible amount of confidence my associate vet will write a fantastic LOR even if I burned bridges here. She is the most genuine person I've ever met, so incredibly grateful, I can't count the number of times she thanks and praises everyone in a given day. She's never snapped or even said any kind of offhand comment. When I asked her for a LOR, she acted like I was doing her a favor, she was so honored to be asked.

 

[Aprilthearab]

Small update - the other workers are doing fine because my boss doesn't snap at them, only me. Yesterday a coworker very strongly told my boss that she needs to stop accommodating people's ridiculous requests (comment was regarding how my boss shared her cell # with a demanding client and said client now texts her non-stop irrelevant updates about her pet then calls the hospital to complain when my boss doesn't call her back within the hour). My boss sighed and said "Yeah, I know." And yet I get yelled at for a mere comment to myself.

Yeah, I'm outta here ASAP! Found some equine hospitals that are hiring assistants, and they would also be about half the commute time... Perfect excuse to leave. "I'd like to explore the equine veterinary field to diversify myself to vet schools." Done.

 

[battie]

Good for you! Have fun and good luck with the equine experience!

 

[ajs513]

I wanted research. I got research. But I wanted to start my project over a month ago. The protocol was mostly ready to go, I had my animals selected and was just waiting on the okay. Since this is a collaboration between two labs with a lot of moving parts, things got backlogged between all of the people making decisions. So I finally got the okay to start collecting about a week ago.

Here’s the kicker. It’s a 21 day study for each animal. I have 10 animals which will yield me a total of 70 subjects. Hooray. But I can’t start collecting until the 26th, which is day -1 of my study for the first animal, and the 29th is day -1 for the last animal. Meaning day 1 for my final animal isn’t until August 31st. And with what my study is looking for, I won’t be done sampling until September 20th. I have to be at the barn almost everyday from the 26th until September 20th. And the barn is an hour away. And school starts August 31st. Sooooo yea that’ll be fun.

 

[MixedAnimals77]

Went to store bought food. Left store. Come home. Bag ripped. RIP brand new jar of salsa

 

[vetmedhead]

Went to store bought food. Left store. Come home. Bag ripped. RIP brand new jar of salsa

this is the worst! I lost a perfectly good carving pumpkin to a wayward fall from my car's trunk last October and I'm still sad about it

 

[CoffeeQuestionMark]

I'm always paranoid when I'm buying wine that I'm going to drop it and end up clutching it like a baby

 

[capri1722]

I'm always paranoid when I'm buying wine that I'm going to drop it and end up clutching it like a baby

Ooh I just bought a six-pack of Strongbow tonight (a real treat for me since I almost never drink and it's a pain in the ass to find) and it fell over in my car as I pulled onto my street. Nearly had a heart attack. It ended up being fine but I was worried.

 

[vetmedhead]

I'm always paranoid when I'm buying wine that I'm going to drop it and end up clutching it like a baby

I always end up clutching it by the neck through the paper bag like a good alcoholic

 

[Cyndia]

Diagnosed my westie with a massive lung tumor (and possibly a second smaller one) yesterday. Radiologist just confirmed it. He has been declining with other issues for a while this year and isn’t a good candidate for any drastic interventions, so throwing what I can at him and hoping desperately to give him good QOL for at least a little while longer. He is quite honestly the crankiest, senile old jerk ever, but he was my first dog, and I love him dearly and I’m heartbroken.

 

[Doctor-S]

Diagnosed my westie with a massive lung tumor (and possibly a second smaller one) yesterday. Radiologist just confirmed it. He has been declining with other issues for a while this year and isn’t a good candidate for any drastic interventions, so throwing what I can at him and hoping desperately to give him good QOL for at least a little while longer. He is quite honestly the crankiest, senile old jerk ever, but he was my first dog, and I love him dearly and I’m heartbroken.

@Cyndia ... very sorry to learn your Westie is ailing.

Sending kind and caring thoughts to you and to your Westie. Glad you are in his life - he knows he is dearly loved!

 

[awesomenessity]

I have decided our property is like the Bermuda Triangle lol. Last week we had a guy come to pick up some stuff and his truck wouldn’t start when he went to leave. He had to get it towed to his place so he could fix it. Today my new neighbours brought over their big fancy skidsteer to help me make an arena because they felt bad for me and my tiny skidsteer (lol). 20 minutes in their skidsteer blew an oil hose and now they are arranging to get it hauled to a service place. Equipment can come on its own volition but it will not leave that way

(Also who’s laughing now, big fancy skidsteer )

 

[Rainheart]

I am so thankful that my friends/family have been safe with the pandemic, however, I'm so over this year! Trying to have a wedding during this pandemic is making me lose my mind. We originally planned our wedding for October of this year (set a date May of 2019). We finally decided to call it off 1-2 months ago as we didn't want to risk the safety of our families, especially my fiancee's family who lives 900 miles away. It wasn't fair to ask her whole family to try to drive out for our event, so we postponed. The vineyard we were planning on having our event has been very accommodating during this whole thing. The vineyard was then planning a very small wedding ceremony for couples and a few guests (kind of a group wedding thing) with everything provided (cake, catering, dj, officiant, etc) at the end of September. We were going to go with this option next and then plan a large gathering next year *hopefully* when it was safe. We just found out there wasn't enough interest in said event.

Now, the vineyard is allowing us to have an event on that day with ~15-20 people (our original wedding was supposed to be around 50 people) with most things provided (cake, catering, officiant, etc). So, I guess this plan #3 will hopefully work-out. I'm so tired of trying to plan for the future and all my plans get dashed. Here we are scrambling about 1 month prior to get everything sorted out. I'm sure things will all come together but I'm so stressed. Trying to get all the details worked out at the last minute has my stress levels through the roof. In addition, work as been *insane* just as it has been with every veterinary clinic. I haven't had a break since last year this time as I was saving all my vacation, etc for my wedding/honeymoon this year.

I'm still planning on going on our honeymoon, as long as we can get on that plane. I NEED this trip, I NEED this vacation. Even if it isn't the safest time, we still plan to be as safe as possible. I know it is not the most responsible decision but I'm so burnt out from work and been jerked around by this year that I'm not sure how I'll manage if we won't be able to go in October.

-end rant- Thanks for listening

 

[WildZoo]

I had to tell two clients to put their masks on when I got into the room today. First one did no problem, second one started to and then...

Client: "Can I keep my nose out? I have emphysema."

Me: "No ma'am, I'm sorry, if it would be easier for you, you can go back to your car and we can talk on the phone.'

Client: "No no, I'll stay, I should have brought my oxygen."

And then later when I go to take her dog to the back for bloodwork and x-rays...

Client: "How long will it be do you think?"

Me: "Oh about 20 minutes or so and then I'll come back and talk to you about the results."

Client: "Oh good long enough for a smoke break then"

Me:

 

[Caiter92]

Man, I am so glad we're still not letting clients in the building and probably won't be until next year.

 

[Aprilthearab]

Yesterday we had someone come up to the door, didn't enter but was staring at us while holding a chihuahua and looking angry, like he was upset we weren't addressing him immediately. A coworker went to ask him what he needed.

"Do you have an appointment?" No.
"Have you called in?" No. (Big sign literally inches from his face saying please call into the hospital for service)
"Are you a client?" No.
No mask and had my coworker pressed against the glass, he was so close. A bolder coworker opened the door behind her and asked him to put a mask on. "It's in my car." "Great, can you go get it?" He scoffed and continued talking to first coworker until second coworker asked again. He finally did go get it but was grumbling the whole way.

Granted, once we got more of a history it ended up being an emergency. But come on... Can you just read instructions?

Just a couple hours later, only one receptionist was up front and was on the phone. A man entered the building without hesitation and without a mask, stomped around the lobby angrily because our only receptionist was occupied, then tried to enter the locked bathroom before my coworker was able to put the call on hold. She was so done with people at that point that she straight up told him to get out, put a mask on, and call from his car. He threw a big fit about how he was just picking up meds and she threw it right back at him to tell him if that's all he's here for then there's no emergency and he can call in and wait like everyone else. Even if it wasn't a pandemic, his demeanor was so rude! You wouldn't act like that to a busy receptionist when you've only been waiting ten seconds! Everyone is starting to not hold back how fed up they are with clients like this.

 

[SkiOtter]

Just a couple hours later, only one receptionist was up front and was on the phone. A man entered the building without hesitation and without a mask, stomped around the lobby angrily because our only receptionist was occupied, then tried to enter the locked bathroom before my coworker was able to put the call on hold.

Hiiiiiighly recommend locking the door and it only gets unlocked when someone goes out to get a pet. Sorry your clients (and non-clients) are being rude

 

[Caiter92]

Hiiiiiighly recommend locking the door and it only gets unlocked when someone goes out to get a pet. Sorry your clients (and non-clients) are being rude

We were doing this, and then had to stop because despite multiple STOP DO NOT ENTER signs on the front doors, people would still just walk in during the 30 seconds the door would be unlocked to go get a pet

Now only one side door is unlocked with giant EMPLOYEES ONLY signs on it. It's a door clients never used before so it hasn't been a problem... yet.

 

[cbucks]

Hiiiiiighly recommend locking the door and it only gets unlocked when someone goes out to get a pet.

My favorite thing with this method was that anytime I accidentally got locked out and would knock on the door to get someone's attention to let me in, a client in their car would roll down their window and say "hey you have to call them, you can't get in through the door" at least they were trying to get people to follow directions!!

 

[Aprilthearab]

Hiiiiiighly recommend locking the door and it only gets unlocked when someone goes out to get a pet. Sorry your clients (and non-clients) are being rude

We tried this the first day of curbside. Didn't work well for us, we kept getting locked out because our doors will open from the inside even when locked so we would forget to unlock first. Fortunately we've only had an issue with clients accidentally walking in maybe three or four times that I can recall since March. We have very large windows and we stop people if we see them approaching the doors.

 

[MOOSEygoosey]

Just lucky that the hospital doors we have here are automatic sliding doors and there's 2 sets, so we treat the middle area as a vestibule. So if people are picking up meds, we drop them in the vestibule and go into the 2nd set of doors (keycard access only), then people go through the 1st set to get them. It's been working out really well So many clients though not wearing masks and you have to ask them repeatedly, incredibly frustrating!

 

[itsrocky]

My emergency burner cell phone goes on silent at 9 PM sharp. Anything after that point waits until tomorrow or goes to the emergency clinic 2 hours away. It’s a great system until an emergency calls at 8:45 PM and I’m in bed, eating Taco Bell, without pants on.

 

[itsrocky]

My poor mom. Her lab has been sick on and off since she got back from helping me move. She’s taking him to the vet today finally but the more I talk to her he sounds like an Addisonian and he might be inching toward a crisis (v lethargic today). She can’t catch a break (especially with labs!)

 

[Aprilthearab]

Same lady who recently brought her obese dog in for an "emergency" lipoma brought him in again today for another massive lipoma that she suddenly noticed (but we've already documented). She requested steroids. When told no, she requested liposuction... but "not under anesthesia, that messes him up." If we recommended excisional removal again she probably would have left our hospital for good. You know you're walking into one heck of an appointment when someone starts the conversation with "So I read an article..."

 

[SkiOtter]

Same lady who recently brought her obese dog in for an "emergency" lipoma brought him in again today for another massive lipoma that she suddenly noticed (but we've already documented). She requested steroids. When told no, she requested liposuction... but "not under anesthesia, that messes him up." If we recommended excisional removal again she probably would have left our hospital for good. You know you're walking into one heck of an appointment when someone starts the conversation with "So I read an article..."

l i p o s u c t i o n

 

[finnickthedog]

l i p o s u c t i o n

This is going to sound random, but as I read this I heard an old ad in my head...

"Breast augmentation, tummy tuck, liposuction, eye or nose surgery"

I hate that this commercial is apparently so well stored in my brain somewhere that I read the word liposuction and it automatically plays. Though I can't remember the name of the doctor it was for... Michael something or other?