This article originally appeared in the Fall 2024 issue of EquiManagement. Sign up here for a FREE subscription to EquiManagement’s quarterly digital or print magazine and any special issues.
In human medicine, nurses are essential to patient health. These professionals are highly trained and perform a variety of tasks under a doctor’s oversight. Depending on the practice, you might be cared for entirely by nurses unless a severe illness crops up and the doctor steps in. Licensed, certified, or registered veterinary technicians (LVT, CVT or RVT) are the nurse equivalents in equine medicine.
“There are so many things in equine practice that nurses [vet techs] do better than vets,” said David Rendle, BVSc, MVM, CertEM(IntMed), Dipl. ECEIM, FRCVS, British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) immediate past president, in a press release. “In addition to performing clinical tasks, they can add wider value. They are generally (or are perceived by clients to be!) more patient, empathetic, and caring, so we should utilize these skills and get nurses to take on some of the roles that take more time and require longer client interactions.”
Fresh out of vet school, Bri Henderson, DVM, interned at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital, in Lexington, Kentucky, where she quickly realized registered veterinary technicians (RVTs) can run the show. Today, she and Kendra Holman, RVT, are near equal partners of Rivendell Equine Veterinary Services (REVS), a solo practitioner ambulatory and sports medicine practice in Ontario, Canada.
“I was taught by the techs,” she says. “They allow us to take better care of horses and clients and to provide better-quality medicine.”
Maximizing the technician’s abilities has another advantage beyond improving practice efficiency and the client experience. It can also alleviate the pressures on veterinarians.
“Burnout is at an all-time high, and attraction to equine medicine is under 2% of graduating classes. Retention is dreadful, with 50% leaving by year five of practice,” says Kelly Zeytoonian, DVM, CERP, MBA, owner of Starwood Equine Veterinary Services. Her seven-doctor, two-location practice in the San Francisco Bay area includes one RVT and four assistants.
“We have to start finding ways to make work more fun, less stressful, safer, and more lucrative, or we won’t have anyone left to work,” Zeytoonian adds.
Veterinarian technicians’ job satisfaction appears to be closely related to their ability to apply the skills and knowledge they acquire through their education, according to the National Association of Veterinary Technicians in America (NAVTA). Giving technicians more than horse-holding responsibilities also fosters a connection to the practice that encourages retention and reduces turnover.
Notes From Equine Vet Techs in the Field
The training RVTs receive allows for great flexibility within equine practices of all sizes and specialties. Here’s a glimpse into how two practices leverage their technicians’ talents.
Solo Practice. At Rivendell Equine Veterinary Services, Henderson and Holman ride together daily. The process they developed for lameness examinations has increased efficiency exponentially. Veterinarian Henderson can watch a horse jog while vet tech Holman is prepping and blocking a horse or readying a patient that has been diagnosed for treatment. Holman also takes an active role in the primary care services.
“Virtually anything I show interest in or want to do, she is very supportive and encourages me to attend a conference or CE in that particular area,” says Holman. “She has shown me how to do dentals, pass gastric tubes for colic, do uterine flushes and perform Caslick’s. I want to go to work every day because I am not the lug monkey who just carries things. I get to speak to people and have hands-on experience with the horses.”
Henderson and Holman credit open communication and their long-standing relationship—they worked together for years before launching Rivendell—to their success. Also, their skill sets are complementary.
Henderson says her nickname is “Dr. Dory,” a nod to the blue hippo tang in the movie Finding Nemo because she always forgets things. Holman is super organized and assists with the practice management, including invoicing and paperwork.
“I tell Kendra (Holman) all the time that she doesn’t really need me,” Henderson says. “It was never a question in my mind to open the practice without Kendra.”
Multidoctor practice. Sue Novik, RVT, is the field manager at Zeytoonian’s Starwood Equine Veterinary Services. Novik says she can wear almost all the “hats” the practice needs—except being a vet. She handles IT/equipment repair, pharmacy inventory, ordering, billing, client relations, delivery, safety, and office cleanliness. She also sees solo appointments. Novik is certified in massage therapy and performs a service no one else in the practice provides. She also schedules and performs monthly treatments, including IM and IV shots plus laser and shockwave treatments. Taking on a wide variety of tasks allows the doctors’ schedules to remain open for specialized appointments and emergencies.
“It feels really good to be useful,” Novik says. “These extra responsibilities took time to acquire, and I was supported along the way until I felt comfortable running the show on my own.”
Starwood Equine Veterinary Services also offers an extended care service staffed by technicians and assistants who provide care and medicate animals when clients are out of town.
“Clients have peace of mind knowing well-trained eyes are on the horse, and they have the doctor team on speed dial if there are any concerns,” Zeytoonian adds.
Three Tips for Maximizing Equine Vet Tech Skills
Veterinary technicians can help you work more efficiently and effectively to provide your equine patients with the best care possible. If you’re not already leveraging their skills to their fullest potential, here are three steps you can take to hire your first technician or expand the role of existing staff.
1. Know the parameters. Each state has regulations defining what veterinary technicians can and cannot do. There are no uniform licensing or credentialing requirements for veterinary technicians in the United States, so it is important to know your state’s rules.
Make sure you are familiar with the duties and responsibilities veterinary technicians are legally permitted to perform in your state. Then consider: Is your practice leveraging your equine vet techs’ expertise and providing them opportunities to succeed in ways that benefit your business?
“I have never been placed in a situation where I felt alone or over my head,” Novik says. “I know that I can ask for help whenever I need it and that it will be provided.”
2. Ask your technicians about their goals. Candid conversations are the best way to learn about a technician’s specific interests or specialties and career goals. Ask them to identify where they recognize strengths and skills gaps that can be addressed through training or mentoring. In the conversation, share areas of strengths you see and opportunities for development that might not be top of mind for a technician.
3. Mindset shift. Nearly half of equine veterinarians run solo practices, according to the 2020 Emergency Coverage Member Survey from the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP).
“I think some individuals don’t want another person in the car with them all day or don’t think they have the work to pay an assistant … maybe the owner is always there to hold for them, or they’ve just always done the work themselves,” Zeytoonian says. “We know that work is safer and more efficient when we have well-trained staff to help us. The AVMA-AAEP economic report shows the vets with support staff earn more than those without.”
Hiring a technician is an investment, and some veterinarians worry a technician might leave after receiving training. Turnover is not unique in equine medicine—on average, employees work for an employer for 4.1 years (this varies by occupation), according to a 2021 Economic News Release from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“I’ve seen practices almost afraid to invest in their people to build better or new skills because they figure the person will just leave,” Henderson says. “I appreciate that, but I think it’s the opposite. If you create a clinic space where everyone is encouraged to learn and to feel more like a partner in the decision-making, you’ll end up with a highly trained, enthusiastic team who never wants to leave the practice.”
Advice From Technicians for Technicians
Speaking up and asking for a greater role in the practice can feel challenging. No one likes to “rock the boat” or speak out of turn.
Sue Novik, RVT, is the field manager at Starwood Equine Veterinary Services, in the San Francisco Bay area. Kendra Holman, RVT, is a partner at Rivendell Equine Veterinary Services, in Ontario. They share four pieces of advice for technicians interested in taking on increased responsibilities within a practice:
- “Look for pain points in the practice, and look at your personal strengths,” Novik says. “Do any of those areas overlap? Then, offer ideas to reduce the stress and take on ownership of that role.”
- Novik says asking for guidance regularly in her learning process and continuing to seek to improve has added to the trust. “The doctors know that I will not proceed without full confidence, will communicate any concerns, and most importantly, will discuss any mistakes that happen immediately and openly,” says Novik.
- Holman says, “It really depends on your boss, but it’s important to have open conversations about your professional goals, where you see yourself, and vertical positions within the practice where you want to learn and advance your career.”
- Holman adds that if you show initiative and want to learn, “people note that and want to give you more things to do. That’s how I’ve done it. I started at the bottom—volunteering and cleaning. Between cleaning, I’d watch the procedures. The more I watched, the more I was involved. It helps veterinarians get to know you and what you can do.”
Take-Home Message
“We want to be part of the team,” Novik says. “We are here to make your life easier, better, faster, and remember the things that you forget. Technicians often have a unique view of the patient’s story, whether it be from handling the horse and noting a difference in discomfort while the vet holds a static flexion in a soundness exam or having small talk with the owner while blankets are removed.”
Related Reading
- Should the U.S. Embrace Equine Veterinary Physiotherapists?
- Business Briefs: Increasing Efficiency in Your Equine Practice
- 6 Ways to Improve Equine Practice Profitability
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