Gonna just rant because I have nowhere else to talk about it. Sorry if it doesn't make a lot of sense, it was a lot of angry typing.
I'm currently working as a licensed tech at a small veterinary clinic. Been there for over a year and a half now. At first I thought it was a pretty decent place, now it has devolved into a garbage fire. Like a lot of places, we are understaffed, but they refuse to hire any one new to help due to money. I'm making 20/hr which I thought was good for the area. I recently took a look around though and many many clinics are hiring for 23 to 24 an hr with benefits.
We have a single tech to a doctor, most days have three doctors working and very rarely do we get a float person. We are constantly running behind and the techs are blamed for it. The techs do so much work and we get so little appreciation from the doctors and management.
We recently hired a new doctor who I've come to find out is very new out of vet school but getting paid the most out of anybody at work..even more than the other doctors who.have all been working there for years. He is a narcissistic asshole who does not work well with others. He doesn't take anyone's opinions/advice into consideration. He also throws temper tantrums any time something does not go his way. There is so much tension between him and the staff. He straight up treats this one girl like garbage and get away with it. Oh and also, because of how much he makes…HE IS THE REASON WE CANNOT AFFORD TO HIRE ANYONE ELSE AND WHY NO ONE CAN GET RAISES.
My coworker is the practice owner's relative and gets away with treating the other staff poorly. She has the most negative attitude of any person I've ever worked with. She complains about everything and talks shit about everyone. I'm always anxious about fucking up in front of hwr because she is so unforgiving. Not to mention, she does things that are only for licensed techs but gets away with it because of nepotism.
The front desk manager/office manager is a toxic piece of shit who doesn't care about anything other than money and herself. She had no prior vet experience and does not care to understand what the staff in the back go through. She will not lift a single finger to help hold an animal if she walks through and someone is struggling.
They consistently put the safety and well being of the doctors over the techs time and time again. I understand that the doctors have more authority, but it feels like they don't give a shit about the support staff. The best example of this is:
- Get a memo about how techs need to always be in the room with the doctor during appts. (Keep in mind that we try and use a lot of the time they doctor spends talking getting shit done — vaccines, charges, rooming next appt, cleaning up shit — manager says that due to liability owners should not ever restrain their pet.
- Another memo about how we have to temp every patient prior to the doctor stepping foot in the room. If the doctor isn't there and the owner can't hold the animal, that means it's fucking us holding and temping the animal at the same time. This is so unsafe and every time I have to do it I fear I'm going to get bitten
Every fucking week we get memo after memo about something we did wrong or that something needs to change. I've gotten to the point where I've just stopped reading them.
The pre anesthetic blood work panels & tubes we use change on a WEEKLY if not DAILY basis because management can't get their shit together. If we get it wrong, we get in trouble.
I have told my manager REPEATEDLY what I love doing at the clinic the most which is tech appts. It's my favorite thing because I'm efficient at it but also.get to spend more time with the patients. She said months ago she was trying to get me to be able to do those appts at least once a week. Lo and behold it's months later and I have yet to work a single day in tech appts. I also told her my passion is for rehab medicine which she has made a bunch of empty promises for.
Overall, I'm just mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted. Most days I come home I'm too tired to do anything else… I love vet medicine, but this clinic just makes me resent it sometimes.
Fuck this place.
Thank you for letting me vent, I cannot wait to find another clinic. I had an interview at a hospital last week that went well. Their benefits are great and they are very well staffed. Hoping to hear back by tomorrow!