In part one, we covered what a veterinary nurse practitioner’s role may include, as well as some of the most commonly heard pros and cons of adding this new role to the profession.
This week, we’re covering some additional pros and cons for discussion, as well as practical considerations for when and how this change may occur in vet med.
Read on to learn more…
Veterinary Technician Utilization and Career Growth
It’s no secret that veterinary technicians are often underutilized and that their pay is often not up to the standards of their professional education and the crucial role that they play at a veterinary practice.
Many technicians note there is a “ceiling” for them in clinical practice—in terms of reaching new levels of professional satisfaction and an income that truly reflects their knowledge and hard work.
As such, many vet techs leave the clinical side of the work they love in order to pursue management, teaching, or even an entirely new start in human medicine or another field.
Many argue that a veterinary nurse practitioner option would help more techs stay in the field and be appropriately compensated while continuing to grow professionally.
On the other hand, many have pointed out that it may make more sense to fully utilize vet techs (and pay them a higher compensation) prior to creating a new role.
In other words, if we don’t fix the current problems vet techs are facing, would those issues just be perpetuated in a new role?
Less of a Role for Veterinary Technicians
Those who don’t support the veterinary nurse practitioner movement point out that once this new role is created, there may be less of a need for traditional vet techs.
These wonderful staff members may begin to feel underutilized, underappreciated, and underpaid next to their new nurse practitioner coworkers—since nurse practitioners would still be able to perform all the tasks a vet tech could.
Veterinarians Fully Utilizing Their Education versus Daily Routine Appointments
While a nurse practitioner role may help vet techs see their full professional potential, some argue it will carry the same benefit for veterinarians.
If a vet’s time is freed up from repetitive daily wellness and minor issues appointments, they may be freer to pursue their own professional interests, such as dentistry, surgery, acupuncture, complicated internal medicine cases, or anything else they enjoy.
Of course, many vets do enjoy daily interactions with clients for more routine appointments, so this may depend on personal preference.
And some worry that the loss of those daily, routine interactions could hurt their relationships with clients in the long-term—that they would only see clients when their pet is seriously ill, without a prior relationship.
Preventing Burnout Within the Profession
Many veterinarians and veterinary professionals have suffered from burnout and mental health concerns related to their careers.
Some state that a veterinary nurse practitioner role can help the profession as a whole in this regard—by taking some of the extraordinary workloads off of veterinarians and delivering better workflow to the whole practice.
Also, allowing skilled veterinary professionals to receive fair compensation and derive more professional satisfaction could help with job satisfaction for the whole team, not just vets.
Consumer Expectations and Preferences
It’s been pointed out that veterinary medicine, in general, is slow to update to new technology and consumer preferences.
Some argue that veterinary nurse practitioners may be expected by pet owners in the near future, since that’s what people are used to for their own health care.
While many veterinarians and practice owners expect clients to stick to the practice’s way of doing things, history in many other industries has shown us that customers eventually do turn elsewhere when businesses fail to adapt to the times.
Distribution of Veterinary Services
Whether there is a national surplus or shortage of veterinarians, some parts of the country have faced a vet shortage in either climate—especially rural areas.
For this reason, some rural practitioners have voiced their support of the veterinary nurse practitioner, as it may be a way to distribute some of their caseloads even when they can’t find a DVM to hire.
Others argue that while nurse practitioners would be more affordable than a DVM, they would still be too expensive for some rural practices—and that these practices would be hurt in the long run because there would be fewer traditional vet techs overall for them to hire.
Liability
One serious concern to answer is who is legally responsible if a medical error occurs while a patient is under the care of a veterinary nurse practitioner?
If the veterinarian is liable, as is the case when an error occurs by a vet tech, this may make veterinarians reluctant to delegate.
When and How Could the Role of Veterinary Nurse Practitioner Be Created?
While there is much discussion about this topic right now, it could take quite a while for any serious changes to be made toward the creation of this new role.
Some of the roadblocks include the need for major changes to education and credentialing.
Currently, many vet techs have an associate degree—which is much shorter than the length of time required to become a veterinarian. Supporters of the nurse practitioner role envision the degree being the equivalent of a master’s degree, so the education would be much more extensive.
Additional considerations include accreditation of any educational programs, as well as standardization for credentialing, continuing education, etc.
Also, there’s the matter of what the state laws allow vet techs to do at a veterinary practice. These laws would have to be changed, and that could take years and be very expensive.
What’s Next?
It’s been suggested that more data is needed to know if the nurse practitioner is really sustainable for the long-term (and not just a short-term need during the pandemic), and that it may take many years for this new role to be created.
On the other hand, at least one university is in the process of creating a master’s degree targeted to veterinary technicians.
There is certainly some appeal to the collaborative environment envisioned by supporters, with a healthier workload distribution to all employees while allowing the practice to provide high-quality care to more pets and bring in more revenue.
But while there may be benefits, it’s certainly necessary to continue discussing any potential downsides so that there is a realistic idea of how this new potential role could affect the profession as a whole.
Additional great sources of information include a recent podcast from Dr. Andy Roark
and an article from VIN News Service (https://news.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=210&Id=10484775 ).
Written by: Dr. Tammy Powell, DVM
