In a legislative report, Tennessee State Representative Pat Marsh shared his thoughts on a recent piece of legislation concerning the change of the veterinary technician title to veterinary nurse. His commentary is as follows:<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a very interesting piece of legislation in our Ag Committee meeting that would change the name of the veterinary technician to veterinary nurse. As I understand, this request came from the Ag Department of UT and also from the Tennessee Veterinarians. Sounded like a pretty good idea to me, but then I started hearing from the Nurses Association and from many nurses living across the state. After much debate and testimony that stated how much education and training these proposed veterinary nurses had received and the difference between the veterinary office workers, who are the techs, the bill passed out of the Ag Committee and moves on toward the House floor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Representative Marsh\u2019s sentiments provide an interesting perspective to this ongoing debate and highlights the work being done to achieve clarity through a universal credential.<\/p>\n
The NAVC has taken a firm stance on its position:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe NAVC fully supports a single credential for veterinary nurses nationwide and we believe it will improve the level of patient care, reduce pet owners\u2019 confusion, and lead to an improved public perception for the great work these individuals are doing on a daily basis,\u201d said Tom Bohn, CAE, NAVC\u2019s chief executive officer.<\/p>\n