Veterinary Team Training

The year 2023 is the "Year of the Vet Tech & Vet Nurse!" No one has actually proclaimed it but it's great seeing actual movement on so many important issues in our profession. We still have a long way to go, but this podcast talks about some of the great changes and steps being made as well as calls to action everyone in the profession. It takes all of us to make changes and every one of us can ma...

Unfortunately, there are too many crappy terminations being done by bad leaders. These are the terminations where the employee is not provided any information as to the reason, feels blindsided, and leaves the place of employment confused. Terminations are bad enough, but that doesn't mean we can't treat the employee with respect, kindness and compassion.  Employees should feel cared for, even dur...

I'm often asked, "how did you get started lecturing/publishing?" While there is no blueprint or foolproof method that works for everyone I talk about my own journey, thoughts and suggestions in this podcast to help those that may be interested in publishing or lecturing. The introvert in me would've never thought I'd actually enjoy lecturing but I'm so grateful for stepping outside of my comfort z...

Let me be clear. Frenchies are cute. There's no arguing that. In fact, they, along with most brachycephalic breeds are some of the cutest dogs on the planet and some of the most popular breeds worldwide.  I went into veterinary medicine to save animal lives, to do no harm and to care about what's best for the animal. I'm tired of certain dogs dying simply because of how they look. In this podcast...

"I'm momma bear/poppa bear and they are my cubs" "It's like I'm managing kids" "We're like a family" All these statements make me cringe. Leaders and even team members need to realize they are a coach and part of a team, not a family. Coaches focus on individual performance and what's best for the team. I dive into the difference between the two terms.

How do you know if the veterinary hospital you are working at or thinking about applying to is a good hospital? What are the green flags? Too often we find red flags after we join a hospital. I list what I think are the most important green flags that represent the best of veterinary hospitals. I hope you find many of these green flags in your own hospital. 

I decided to jump into hot water and address two of the biggest topics for veterinary technicians here in the United States. Should we be titled registered veterinary nurse? Should we have a mid-level practitioner certification? I've never once provided my thoughts on any social media platform until now. This was an uncomfortable podcast for me to create but I decided to be brave. This quote in my...

When I was younger I would say, "They shouldn't own a pet if they can't afford it." Decades later I no longer have that narrow opinion. I believe everyone (regardless of money) should own a pet, including the homeless. That said, it's a complicated topic. How do we help those who don't have the means to own a pet? Should we be helping? I jump into this topic with the statement I don't have all the...

ANNUAL PERFORMANCE REVIEWS SUCK   The way most hospitals conduct their annual performance reviews is terrible. Once a year a manager sits down with an employee and vomits a slew of feedback at them. The employee is then expected to improve themselves without any guidance. Sometimes the employee's salary is adjusted without any rationale. A year later this horrible event is repeated. The manager ca...

Everyone needs to be responsible for their own behavior. Claiming it's "just who you are" doesn't mean you have the right to belittle, berate, or bully others. Having high emotional intelligence is important for everyone. Let's talk about how to take responsibility for ourselves as well as how to manage those who are struggling to do so in our teams.

The veterinary technician career has changed dramatically over the past 50 years. Veterinary technicians/nurses are doing more procedures, caring for pets on a higher level and are direct contributors to the hospital's revenue. And yet, salaries have largely gone unchanged. Hospitals and doctors still restrict the skills that veterinary technicians are trained to do. Roughly half of the general pu...

Senior pets are special. Every moment with them is special. How can we help them when they come into our hospitals? Let's talk about ways we can provide the best care to our older pet patients. 

How the hell did I get here?! I ask that question several times a week. I was told there was no market for a veterinary leadership book so I took a leap of faith and self published Oops, I Became a Manager two years ago today (09/12/2020). Up until 2020 I mostly hid myself from the veterinary community, but once I published the book I had to put myself out there. It's been a fun, scary and crazy t...

What the heck is quiet quitting? Is it happening at your hospital?  Is it a good thing or bad thing? There's two sides to every story so let's dive in to this catch phrase created by individuals on Tic Toc. 

Here's your shift differential now good luck on the overnight shift. After more than a decade of pulling overnight shifts I realized one thing. Money can't buy sleep or quality of life. What else can we do for our overnight team members? Let's dive into some ideas to help support the overnight team.   Thank you to everyone who filled out my online survey where I asked, "Besides money, what else ca...

Not sure what a Veterinary Technician Specialist (VTS) is? Interested in obtaining your VTS credentials? Does it pay more? When and why should a vet tech/nurse think about getting their VTS credentials? Let's dive into VTS.

Not everything needs to be done right now! If you are like me and you also have a high sense of urgency, then hopefully this podcast will give you some ideas of ways to move slower, enjoy like more and calm the F down!

Medical mistakes happen.  The reality is almost everyone at some point in their career has made one. Most of them do not result in patient harm, but unfortunately some do. Let's talk about medical mistakes, how to record them, how to respond to them and what some of the most common ones are. 

A dog was hit by a car. The owner cannot afford the care of the dog. Do you offer that owner the option of surrendering their pet to the veterinary hospital? If not, how do you manage this situation? The practice of offering a pet owner the option to surrender their pet is a common one. This podcast dives into the pros, cons and personal experience with surrendering.      

Nursing managers, supervisors, directors of nursing and chief nursing officers are every day positions in human healthcare. Registered nurses wouldn't even dream of having a hospital administrator as their boss. And a doctor overseeing the nursing team in a human healthcare facility?! No way! In veterinary medicine it's common to have veterinary technician/nurse managers & supervisors in almost al...

Too often leaders complain about their toxic team. They see the turnover. They see the gossip. They hear the complaints. Sometimes leaders will have a meeting and talk about how they want the team to be happier, have a less negative attitude and decrease gossip. The team agrees during the meeting, but nothing changes. Why? One meeting won't cut it. Change takes time, a lot of time. Stop complainin...

We see the cries on social media all the time saying, "corporations are ruining veterinary medicine!" In this podcast I dive into my own struggle with corporations that touch every facet of our lives and then move onto whether veterinary medicine medicine is being ruined by corporations. I dive into the poor pay, benefits and workplace environment to determine what, if any, blame we can place on v...

Too many leaders are offering bad interviews. It's a buyer's market right now. Failure to wow the candidate will cause them to find another hospital that does. Let's talk about some best practices for interviewing candidates. Instead of winging-it for your interview process, let's dive into how to develop a positive experience for both the hospital and candidate.   For more details including downl...

We need to start getting more comfortable with pet owners and become a more transparent industry. Stop separating pets from their pet parents! This one thing is causing a lot of anger, resentment and anxiety in pet owners and yet, the majority of the veterinary industry is doing it.  Allowing them to stay with their furbabies will allow them to see all the amazing work you do, decrease their anxie...

Got a team member who is dragging the entire team down, but you're too short staffed to let them go? Often too much time is spent on a toxic team member instead of the superstars. Let's talk about the cost of a toxic team member, how you can help them and when to let them go.