An Introduction to the Veterinary Nurse Initiative and Interview with PA’s Veterinary Nursing Program Directors

An Introduction to the Veterinary Nurse Initiative and Where It’s Heading

An Interview with Pennsylvania’s Veterinary Nursing Program Directors

The Veterinary Nurse Initiative (VNI) was introduced by The National Association of Veterinary Technicians in America (NAVTA) in 2017 based on the results of the 2016 NAVTA Demographics Survey.1 The initiative has four goals aimed on creating national standards for credentialing, improving public and professional recognition for this essential role in the clinic team, and improving career longevity through providing opportunities for advancement.

According to Kathy Koar, MSEd, CVT, Program Director of Harcum College Veterinary Nursing Program and Co-Chair of the PVMA’s VNI Taskforce, “There’s so much that we can do with the VNI to help the profession of veterinary medicine as a whole.”

GOALS OF THE VNI 1. Professional Standards

Two of the most significant challenges faced by credentialed veterinary technicians are due to the lack of a national standard. Every state has a unique path to credentialing veterinary technicians, some of which do not require a degree or standardized examination. This makes moving from state to state particularly challenging as a license in one state may not easily transfer to a new location.

Additionally, credentialed technicians can have one of several titles, depending on where they received their degree and credentials. These currently include CVT, LVT, RVT, and LVMT. Though these credentials are equivalent, multiple acronyms increase confusion within the profession. While many terms have been proposed, the most popular choice for standardization is Registered Veterinary Nurse (RVN).

2. Public Recognition

It is essential that we establish a professional identity within society. Improved public awareness and recognition of our role in the veterinary setting benefits everyone. The term veterinary technician, which has been in use for decades, remains misunderstood by the general public. The terms technician and technology are most commonly associated with information technology or service/repair in our current culture. But everyone understands the term veterinary nurse – there is an automatic visual image of someone doing patient care, which represents the role of the majority of CVTs. Clients will process that a trained veterinary professional is taking care of their animal, which engenders both appreciation and respect.

3. Professional Recognition

There is a need to clarify and standardize the scope of practice within our own profession. Credentialed veterinary nurses/ technicians can increase profitability for veterinary practices if they are utilized fully. Veterinary assistants have a more limited scope of practice under the law and stricter requirements for supervision. Delineating these roles will improve animal care and provide the veterinarian increased flexibility to attend to tasks specific to their role.

4. Expand Career Potential

According to the 2016 NAVTA survey, 57% of respondents had changed jobs within the first 5-7 years of becoming a veterinary nurse/technician.1 Increased employment opportunities for credentialed veterinary nurses/technicians that provide the ability to grow and advance within the profession, and which provide a salary commensurate with education/licensing, will improve longevity and job satisfaction.

Recently, PVMA staff sat down with the program directors of Pennsylvania’s three veterinary nursing programs to discuss the VNI. This is what they had to say:

Kathy Koar, MSEd, CVT, Program Director of Harcum College Veterinary Nursing Program and Co-Chair of the PVMA’s VNI Taskforce

Tammy Ege, CVT, MS Assistant Professor of Veterinary Medical Technology Director of Veterinary Nursing

Kimberly Konopka, BS, AS, CVT, ESMT Program Director of the Veterinary Nursing Program Johnson College

Recently, PVMA staff sat down with the program directors of Pennsylvania’s three veterinary nursing programs to discuss the VNI. This is what they had to say:

Q: Your schools all have Veterinary Nursing Programs. What prompted the change to Veterinary Nursing, and how was it received?

KOAR: It has always been my belief that real, meaningful change tends to come through academia. The VNI came to Pennsylvania in 2018 when I read an article about Purdue University changing the name of their veterinary technology program to veterinary nursing, in support of the VNI. When I saw that Purdue had done that, I thought, ‘I want to do that too!’ So we did. In January 2019, Harcum College Veterinary Technology Program became Harcum College Veterinary Nursing Program.

In the fall of 2019, we held a summit at Harcum to introduce the VNI and improve collaboration between Pennsylvania’s technician programs. We invited representation from all of the vet tech programs in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, corporate partners who supported the initiative or had interest in it, the president of NAVTA, and PVMA leadership.

KONOPKA: Of course, I left the summit with guns blazing. This was something that I had been interested in since I had graduated from Johnson college as a nontraditional student in 2007 with a degree in veterinary technology. Since then, I always wondered why we continued to use the word technician when it is freely used for non-licensed individuals. I was able to get the approval from the powers that be at Johnson College. Ultimately, we completed our name change in July of 2021.

EGE: With Wilson College, three of us attended the Harcum College summit. We came back and surveyed our students. The majority, if not all, of our students at that time were in favor of the name change. We were in the midst of a curriculum overhaul in general, so it was a perfect time to throw the name change in with it. Our administration was supportive and the name change went through easily.

Q: What advantages does a degree in veterinary nursing give to your students?

EGE: The veterinary nursing degree gives the students a more relatable degree name which helps the community better understand what our profession entails and hopefully, encourages them to be open to a variety of career options. We also hope by discussing their degree and the VNI with our students it will encourage them to be active in our profession and advocate for change.

KONOPKA: A student will say, ‘I’m going to become a veterinary technician.’ People will smile and ask, ‘what do you do with that?’ They think that [vet techs] work on the blood machines and x-ray equipment that veterinarians use, and that we don’t actually work with animals.

I think the word technician is utilized across so many different industries that it leads to confusion. The minute you say the word ‘nurse’ to someone, whether it’s human or animal, they can understand what it is that we do.

Q: How do you see the VNI impacting the future of veterinary medicine?

KONOPKA: Veterinary nurses are underappreciated, underpaid, and overworked. They can’t maintain that level for an extended period of time. I’m hoping [the VNI] not only helps the general public to understand what we do, but also helps the veterinary nurses to get the recognition that they deserve. Hopefully that will strengthen their career lifespan.

Not even all veterinarians know what a veterinary technician is licensed to do. Veterinary nurses are underutilized in the profession. A 2019 article in Today’s Veterinary Business looked at the financial opportunities in the profession related to the utilization of veterinary nurses.2 According to the article, if a veterinarian places their own catheter 100% of their time, their lost potential revenue from not using a licensed nurse is over $352,000. On average, for every single credentialed veterinary nurse that a practice has, they have potential revenue increases of over $200,000 per year.

Hopefully, listening to numbers like that and seeing numbers like that, veterinarians might step back, and utilize their nurses better and realize the potential income for their practice. And maybe it will have a trickle-down effect in the pay scale.

Q: Where does the VNI stand nationally and in Pennsylvania?

KOAR: NAVTA continues to support and promote the VNI. Change needs to happen at the state level due to the variety of paths to licensure nationally. NAVTA is supporting state efforts for title production and standardization of licensing, however the state chooses to approach these issues.

Here in Pennsylvania, we have an appropriate licensing process. What we need now is to standardize and protect the term veterinary nurse. Right now, anyone who isn’t a veterinarian in the practice can be referred to as a technician. But veterinary nurses deserve recognition for their education and licensure, which is why it is important to clarify terminology and reserve the term ‘veterinary nurse’ for those who are licensed.

There have been important initiatives and statements at the national level that have come recently. In December, NAVTA issued a press release regarding the use of veterinary nurse as a job title.3 If an employer is advertising for the position ‘veterinary nurse,’ it should be clearly stated that all applicants hold a CVT/RVT/LVT/LVMT.

Q: How does PVMA support the VNI?

KOAR: PVMA has been 100% supportive of where we are in Pennsylvania. After the Harcum College Summit, the PVMA Board of Trustee’s Veterinary Support Staff At-Large Member, Nicholas Rivituso, CVT, VTS (ECC), sent out a survey to the membership of PVMA. The results were published in the Keystone Veterinarian magazine, Spring 2020. There was overwhelming support of the VNI across the board. Depending on the question, between 76-95% of the respondents were in support of the VNI. That spring, the PVMA Board voted to put out a statement in favor of the VNI in Pennsylvania.

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Right now, in the state of Pennsylvania, there are 7 fully accredited AVMA-veterinary technology/nursing programs. Three of them are now veterinary nursing programs. So, we’re as close as we are going to get to a 50/50 split of veterinary nursing and veterinary technology programs. Three of our four oldest, most established programs are awarding degrees in veterinary nursing. It’s time that the state board recognize the term veterinary nurse.

Q: How can Pennsylvania veterinary professionals get involved and stay up to date on the status of the VNI?

KOAR: The PVMA has a VNI Committee that is co-chaired by Nicholas Rivituso and myself. There is a group on the PVMA member portal for the VNI, and the committee has a Facebook group that is open to all PA veterinary professionals, called Pennsylvania VNI Task Force, where interested professionals can receive updates.

We need the support of a large number of veterinary nurses in this state who want to politely have conversations with others in the profession as well as the legislature of why the VNI is important. We’re here to talk to people who have concerns. We can show them the benefits for the entire profession.

Q: What comes next for the VNI, and how long do you foresee this taking?

KONOPKA: I still think there needs to be a lot of informational and educational sessions that need to be provided to individuals in the human nursing profession, because I think that’s where the majority of our pushback is coming from. And I think that’s because they too, just like the general public, don’t really know what it is that we do. I feel as though once they are informed of what it is that we do, the fact that we have to go to an accredited program, and the fact that we have to sit for a national board exam, and the fact that we need to continue with continuing education credits. I think once they understand that, they are a little less ‘prickly’ about sharing the word nurse.

KOAR: Change takes time. It’s my plan to work on it until the change happens. I know this is what’s in the best interest of my students and the profession.

EGE: We are looking at a long term change, so, unfortunately, it won’t happen overnight. However, with each graduating class, we are instilling the importance of our profession and the VNI so they can be our future campaign leaders.

References: 1 NAVTA 2016 Demographics Survey Results. Available at bit.ly/36sURfY. Accessed February 15, 2022. 2 Walsh S. A recipe for success. Today’s Veterinary Business April 2020. Available at bit.ly/3wiKyp. Accessed February 12, 2022.