Smart Flow Blog

If you’re a general, first opinion clinic, how often do you send patients for overnight care to an emergency hospital? One a week? Two a week? One a day? Chances are it’s quite often. Now comes the messy part, finding and scanning all of the patient’s paperwork. Various consent forms, estimates, the patient’s flowsheet, the medical record. All things that need to be scanned. What about when a patient moves and has to change veterinary clinics? Then months or years worth of visits and surgeries and vaccination records need to be scanned and sent to the different vet. Even if you have an electronic medical record - you still need to scan all anesthetic records, all patient information that was in a paper file, all flowsheets from a patient stay in your clinic during the day. What if everything you did was electronic, right down to consent forms? Enter Smart Flow.

We all know that it can get hectic in veterinary clinics - both general practice and emergency. Things can start piling up and technicians and vets alike can start running around doing a million things at once without being able to slow down, let alone stop. So it can get a little bit tense when it’s shift change time, and you’re the tech that’s coming in next. Where do you start? How can you help? What needs to be done?

At Smart Flow, we can help be you be able to tell where you can jump right in to make shift change easy and super efficient.

We recently had a blog post about becoming a veterinarian,( if you missed it, see it HERE!). But what about becoming a veterinary technician? When I’m writing, I write mostly from the perspective of such, as I’m a Registered Veterinary Technician in Ottawa, Canada. And at Smart Flow, I get the great pleasure of working with lots of different veterinary professionals, be it fellow RVTS, or even veterinary nurses from across the big pond. That got me thinking - there must be regulations as to how to become a veterinary technician in different countries. 

Here’s how to become a veterinary technician/nurse in four different countries!

Recently, my boyfriend and I have purchased a house together. Hurray, right?! Well, sure. I’m really excited to move in with him and finally not have to discuss if we’re going to spend the night at his place or if I’m going to stay at my apartment. I’m excited to spend all of our evenings together, cooking together, creating a home together.

A list of things I’m not excited about: sorting through my stuff, packing, physically moving all of my stuff that has accumulated in my tiny apartment (who knew you could cram this much stuff into a one bedroom?!). Mostly, though, I’m a little nervous about moving in with him because he’s never lived with cats before, and I happen to have three little monsters.

When I was working as a veterinary technician, surgery mornings were never my favourite time of day. Don’t get me wrong, I adored the actual surgery part. You know those big windows they have in Grey’s Anatomy where doctors sit to scrutinize the current surgery? I feel like I would absolutely be a frequent flyer in one of those. Ask me to sit in on a cool surgery any day, but ask me to fill out the stacks of paperwork associated with surgery (in neat handwriting so it’s legible, please), chase the doctor to find out what drug protocol they would like to use and do the calculation, and make sure all consent forms are signed? No, thank you. I’d rather not.

Do you get wary of all the extra work associated with surgery days, too? Well, then you need Smart Flow, my friend.

We all know the pains of a regular piece of paper flowsheet. First you have to print it out. Then you have to handwrite the patient's information in, or put a label. Then you need to get your pen, calculator and highlighter, and fill out the medications, TPR q's, plan the bathroom breaks and feedings. Then you need to make sure you're writing everything in carefully, making sure your handwriting is neat and legible. You also have to make sure you highlight the right hour, because having to throwout an entire sheet of hardwork and start over is the worst. Doesn't it seem like there should be a better way? With Smart Flow, there is. 

When I was younger, I was convinced that I was the cat whisperer. I had a cat that had kittens and these kittens would follow five year old me around like little ducklings. Wherever Kat went, cats went, and that was just how it was. As I got older and went through high school, my love for animals never wavered, though my confidence in my intelligence and motivation to go through vet school, did. I was then convinced that I had a career as a writer ahead of me, a romanticised idea that I could move to New York, live in a loft in Brooklyn, and be an ultra hip, though most likely starving, writing sensation. So instead of following my passion for animals, I followed my passion for writing and went to Journalism school. After a couple, or rather many, bad decisions, including quitting school and working full time instead of pursuing post secondary education, I realized that something was missing. That’s when I started doing research and found a program at my local college called ‘Veterinary Technician’. After a little more digging, I found out that vet techs are a million and a half people in one.. Being a natural multi tasker, people person and self proclaimed cat whisperer, I knew that this program would be the perfect fit for me.

As veterinary professionals, we all know what it’s like on surgery days in the clinic. The hustle and bustle of drop offs, talking to the clients to get consent and explain procedure. Calculating drugs and drawing them up. Testing the machines for leaks. Wrangling tiny or large moving targets to place IV catheters. Premedicating. Intubating. Getting them into surgery.