I think I should quit

Well this is the story.

I work for a vet surgery. When I started there I was brought it to sort of take over while one of the nurses (KerrieT on here) was going on maternity leave. After a while my hours increased from 4 hours a week to 4 days a week. I too had a little man at home but with the gradual increase in hours it worked out fine. Then it was my turn to go on maternity leave and as Kerrie had decided to remain a SAHM rather then return to work my boss left it till the LAST minute to organise a temp. I had agreed to come in as often as i could to keep doing the accounts & basic paper work stuff. I also made it clear that while on leave DH will be getting a new job & I will have to work around his hours as we only have one car & I don't agree with putting young babies into daycare. So unless dad can look after bub while i am at work then its not happening.
Well this has been working ok but today when i went in to do the monthly accounts my boss was all upperty about me not being in when it suits her. She has a tendancy to go on & on about stuff when she isn't happy so this just makes me even more ****ed off at her. She said that I needed to come in when she isn't busy to talk about accounts with her, this is fair enough but what does she expect us to do. DH is on minium wage & his hours are 4 days on 2 days off so I can't & boss my knows this go in on a set day & time every week because the days DH is home & I have the car changes. I told her this & she said she can always come get me. This is fine if DH is home to look after the boys.

I think she just expects the same out of me that she does out of her 18 yr old single no kids nurses.

I am so sick of working for people who see you as there slaves. I am not putting up with it anymore. I think I will go in & finsih the accounts this afternoon & tell her then that its not working out & that I think I should step down for a few months & then look at it all again if I am in a better position. I'm just letting her down & I don't want to do that.

There are some great clinics and vets around so I would seriously consider leaving if thats the way they are going to treat you. I used to do vet nursing some years ago and the vet I worked for was horrible and didn't treat his nurses very well (except for the senior nurse which was his favourite).

I actually got the sack because I had to balance the accounts and banking at the end of my shift. I had a call from my family who had a horse that had been stung by a bee and needed antihistimine ASAP. I had to leave and get some from an equine vet or the horse would die. The vet said if I left not to come back.

Not the same as your situation but I think you need to put your family first. You have obviously done a lot to try to accomodate them and they are not being fair to you.

Good luck with your decision.

Gemma.

is it just vets?

I worked for a Vet in Nth QLD who was an PIG right down to the curly tail.

He use to lie & "loose" things just so he could start something. I had enough of him when he actually threw some swabs at me when i had my back turned. (long story). But it has been my experience that at every vet surgery there is a vet who is a pig.

My boss has been very accomadation I think & I do think its just time for me to realise that I can't do everything at once & keep every one happy & its my family that I need to keep happy. DH doesn't want to bei n his job for ever & this is part of the reason I was trying to make it work as before DS#2 he was a SAHD (working nights, casual) but there is no way I am going to be able to do it. Glenn is Breastfed & I don't want the stress expressing feeds has with it & he is not going on formula just so I can go back to work.

I don't think Vet nursing is a Mother type job.

LOL.... we should change this topic to "vets can be pigs!!"

I have to say the vet I worked at in Sydney was the best hospital ever & I would work for any vet there anytime. I loved them all and we were like a family, we would go swim in the bosses pool, hang out with his daughter etc etc.... loved it!

Saying that, since being in QLD... every workplace has one... some have more!! I don't know what it is, I worked at one place where you were lucky as a nurse to get a kind word from anyone else, and I was the senior nurse!! GGRRRR....

I take Matilda in with me now to do banking/accounts etc like you Fiona and they keep putting pressure on me to get some daycare for Matilda and when I suggest that I will, they suddenly don't have the flexibility to work with me, but want me to continue coming in to do the banking/pays/accounts... and puppy preschools... its hard too because I used to be the head nursey nurse & now the new head nurse doesn't really appreciate having me around, and I can sort of understand why because some nurses & other vets tend to complain to me about her... yuck...

Anyway... sorry just venting too.... :) Fiona... I have decided that the stress isn't really worth it too much... I'd enjoy being a casual more than getting anymore involved as vet clinics tend to suck people in and take over. Good luck on your decision!!

Matey,
I told you not to let her stress you out. You will always be a Vet Nurse and if need be go back to it, when the time is right. Remember a wise old owl told me (you) when i was stressed about going back, that the right door will open when the time is right. Listen to your advise.
It may not be that clinic that you return to but thats not an issue because you and I both no that we are Champion Nurses and anyone not wishing to give us a job is stupid.
I too worked at this Clinic as Fiona mentioned before. I was the Head Nurse and had a great repore with this particular Vet. But once i had my DD things changed. My fault partly because i absolutely love my job and was hesitant on leaving my DD. In the end i just told her i wouldnt be back and now things are quite different between us which is sad because i did consider her a good friend.
Never mind i got an awsome friend out of the whole affair (FionaJill). Thats worth more than my friendship with someone who doesnt appreciate a good worker.
:hug:
Chin up girl your doing the right thing.
KerrieT

While the topic of bad vets....

This same vet I worked for never gave the animals pre-med because it cost him money and once spayed a 4mth old cat who was waking up on the theatre table. He kept suturing and the cat was flinching every stitch.

Maybe you don't work for such a bad vet after all...but I would still look around. Hope that info didn't offend anyone.

Gemma.

:

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This same vet I worked for never gave the animals pre-med because it cost him money and once spayed a 4mth old cat who was waking up on the theatre table. He kept suturing and the cat was flinching every stitch.

Gemma.

---

Haha sound familiar Kerrie??

I don't think its that bad for an animal to flinching (slightly) while under anaesthetic. I would much rather an animal waking up on the table then dying on it.


Well I went in & told her that I wanted to step down. & she was ok about it & said that maybe we could work out something were I can come in & catch them up with paper work if they get behind & just pay me cash. I am happy to do this. So lets see how it all goes.

Thats great news!

Fiona,
Like i said, dont hold you breathe because you will turn blue. I think she has the same wording all prepared written on her arm for all nurses that fall pregnant on her and try to make it work "for her".
I dont know if youve seen her true colours but that may be her way of getting rid of staff without having them complain for unfair dismissal. Pretty sneaky but thats how she works to cover herself, ive seen it many a time with other staff. Didnt expect it to be used on me but at least i could see the signs.
When the time is right you can go back to work. Just dont count on that vet clinic.
And yes there are worse vets out there. This other vet at this particular clinic should have his license removed for half the things done. Makes me sick that clients think his an angel because of his fossil age. :evil:

Wont start on him because i will get out of control.
KerrieT O:)

I think I would like to get into teaching, vet nursing that is. Or possibly work at specialist center. But I also want another baby so the rest will have to wait till after that I think. I don't want to get on to a new job path & then have to stop for a baby. Maybe I could get the things I need behind me to do the teaching while Im being a SAHM.

[-( Bite your tongue Kerrie.

I think there could be a whole web site devoted to bad vets as the public aren't aware of what goes on behind closed doors in some clinics. Lucky there are some fantastic nurses out there to look after the animals.

Hope everything works out for you Fiona.

Gemma.

oh Fiona I am hoping to start a course for Vet Technician from what used to be the AVNRC...or the Australian Vet Nursing Resource Centre... what did they change their name too? oh yep the Veterinary Industry Training something something...anyway a correspondence course... for after cert IV... but I think you have to a minimum of hours a week like 15? So I'm hoping to do that while Matilda's home more so then I can go into something a bit more...

What exactly does the that give you Christy?

I already did the advanced dental one as i was working for a dental specialist in NTH QLD.

ah I think its the next level for general practice nursing, so sort of like how the diploma was for more practice manager sort of thing, this one is heaps more technical, so doing simple procedures, pathology stuff... basic consultations. In America the vet techs are in between nurse & vet as far as what they can do, and they are hoping to do the same thing in Australia, well thats what the resource centre says... It still has more administration sort of things like developing programs within the clinic etc etc, but I didn't have any "specialised" Cert IV or diploma I wanted to do iykwim? so I was talking with them about doing this one while I am not working full-time because it sounded heaps better for what I love doing.

OHHHHH yeah.

I dunno I think a Nurse is a Nurse & a Vet is a Vet. I fyou want to do vetty things become a vet. But that being said The Vet tech thing would still be something that could be good as long as nurses realise your job still involves cleaning up dog ****e & answering phones iykwim.

I think the problem with alot of practices is they dont care how qualified the nurse has as long as they can hold up a decent vein, clean cages and answer phones. I found when i was working i was keen to do more courses but i was given the impression of dont bother youll never use it here. So i didnt go further.
Unless you work in Specialist Centre then that would be the only place to use what you know. Flip side of that is its handy to know what your doing in case an emergency came in then you would know how to handle the situation.
I agree with Fiona though about getting to vetty. Some vets feel threatened when you know as much as them, plus if youve got the brains to do it go to vet school and become a pig like the rest of them.

KerrieT :D

Hey Fiona :poketongue:

I do think it definately depends on the practice you are at and the vets there. I was told at one practice that it didn't matter what I studied as long as the crap wasn't there in the evening it was fine...and they didn't even care if I monitored anaesthesia or not! :evil: At the clinic I am sort of at now I suggested it to the practice partners & they were heaps excited, so they could set up a system to have nurse consults etc... and have someone else there who would do more stuff... but at the same time they were concerned that if more people studied that much than there would be no one there to clean a cage... which is why they had to make sure I would still clean up poo :) so funny that some vets think that once a nurse knows more they are less inclined to clean...

Just keeping the whole vet theam going. When i was working up north when then new training system was put into place all the nurses up there went bonkers with power. When the vet/vet nurse confrence was on my boss was the branch president for the Nth QLD AVA so he was doing alot of the organising & the nurses doing the nurse side of it wanted to do it all on there own & when they approached lyppards & provet etc for sponsers they would give them any cuz they had already put out there allocated amount so they had to come crawling back. I was very anti VNCA up there cuz the nurses all had this chip on their shoulder about being better then the vets. But what we must all remember is that with out the vets there isn't a need for vet nurses.

Kerrie, I know what you mean about not being encouraged to use your skills at the clinic. I used to do all the pre meds, catheters, fluids etc (all under vets instruction) at the surgery i worked for at Kuranda but down here you get to do jack ****e. I actually really enjoy working at the vets down the rd (doing my best not to mention names here, but you know the "breeding" one) because you got to do HEAPS of stuff that a nurse should be able to do. You bassically went & got he vet when you needed them not they yelled out for you when the dog had ****ed on the wall.

While I am a firm believer that vet nursing is about the animals vomit, pee, poo the works. Its also about assisting the vet not just making them coffee ( which i refused to do, i don't drink it, I don't make it) No mater how skilled we become in the field at the end of the day the phone needs answering & the ****e needs a shoveling. I think it is a waste of resources if you need to employ someone for every level there is when we are trained to do it all.

Oh & Kerrie :smt016 to you too

I guess so....I think I have just come from a different side of things... one where the more you know the better off the hospital is for having you iykwim? I guess the practice in Sydney put a lot of emphasis on nurses learning more, but still making sure all the other stuff was done. Our basic policy for that was once everything was done to keep the animals in the best condition we could, than we could branch out & do more of whatever we wanted, like some nurses were heaps into admin stuff and did that, some were heaps into surgery and concentrated on that, I was into behaviour and nurse training, so I did that ykwim? But the additions to the basic job was that, additions and we got paid according to what we did. If one of the girls didn't want to do anything more, they didn't. If one did, they did. We were paid for what our responsibilities were. And thats what I loved about it.

Yeah i agree to it does depend on the practice. I think the location of the Vet Clinic makes a difference as well. Obviously the city clinic's would need competent staff to relieve the load, say for dischargeing a patient correctly. Especially where medications are involved.
I think if its a big busy clinic there should be particular nurses for particular jobs. But i do agree with Fiona #-o where we still need to clean up after the patient because its vital we see that side of it for clinical issues.
Dont forget you nurses how important it is to see what colour pukeys faeces is. lol.
When will this subject ever end.

KerrieT O:)

Oh Fiona :boggle:

LOL Kerrie,

I think not only could we have a forum just for vet nurse & vet clinic stuff, we could have one of just me & you making faces at each other!

:smt047

I just got directed here by FionaJill and on behalf of all vets I apologise! In fact I think I only apologise on behalf of all the nice vets who are also stressed out, not those &^%$ that are out there everywhere!

At my clinic we have a great environment - there are 6 vets, about 10 nurses and we alll hang out together, go drinking, etc. Our nurses are allowed to catheterise, perform some minor surgeries (like nail cutbacks), we have high pain medication standards and animals are regularly taken out of their cages just for a cuddle. The nurses' opinions are taken very seriously, so if we have a nurse come up to us while we're in the office to say that they're worried about the recovery of an animal (for example) we jump up and check it out - more often than not we need to give the animal some temgesic or reassess their wound.

I think it's disgusting that you have all had to deal with that kind of treatment. There is a nurse at work who is bf her 4mth old baby, and everyone is checking the clock to make sure she has a chance to express when she needs to. In fact everyone was saying to her that she came back early and that we could arrange some paperwork kind of stuff for her to do if she wanted to be at home - but she has a great baby, is a very up-and-at-em kind of person and just *really* wanted to come back.

If any of you want to come and work in Perth, send me a pm!

:D good on you squeeze for lifting the standards of vets & being in a great practice :D ...

I've actually just gone into work today & discussed an option for me to work one in three weekends & every Monday while MAtilda's in day care but I will not be going back to nursing much at all... its not the place for me. I was thinking of looking into another practice, but I think I'll wait until Matilda is older now.... Perth eh? :)