Since I submitted my last whiny post (which of the many?) on the very sad loss of my favorite tech—and yet another decrying the sad state of affairs in hiring decent employees—I’ve had occasion to reconsider and reaffirm both positions on the subject.
I’ll get the depressing one out of the way first: One of our new workers is a disaster. Hard as I work, personally, to train her to be a better worker, I can’t seem to forge past the obvious memory and spelling issues (one and the same?) as well as the attitude thing (overwhelming her leads to crankiness with clients and coworkers, alike). Six weeks have gone by and I’m at my wit’s end.
The problem is that our hospital lost one great employee and one not-so-great, but competent, employee at the very same time. Although we can boast to a remarkably low turnover for our local industry (we keep most of our [typically young] employees for years, in spite of our below-average pay), finding good new ones seems to be getting more difficult with each new hire.
But sometimes you just get lucky. While the one above needs to go (and soon!) our newest staff addition is surprisingly competent. Fresh into her vet-tech certification program (and super-young!), this girl’s got what it takes to be a great tech.
Seldom have I seen such a hard worker, a fast-learner and a positive attitude. I’m in love! Sometimes you just get lucky. It makes me wonder: how is it that we can’t get more like her. But mostly, I’m overjoyed to see a fresh-faced talent enter the world of vet medicine.
She could easily parlay her talents into doctor-dom, yet she’s so ecstatic just to be around animals that I can easily understand why her goal is to be a great vet tech. It reaffirms my love for the profession to observe how polite (if shy) she is with clients and how effusive she gets with the pets. She obviously loves them—and I couldn’t be happier.
Today I resolved to tell her how much I appreciate her—for both her nascent skills and her great disposition. I wanted to tell her how much she reminds me of myself when I was her age, and how pleasant it’s been to work with her, so far. But the hectic busyness of a Saturday precluded my speech.
She’s so good, though, that I couldn’t help thinking—omigod, when is the other shoe going to drop?—we couldn’t possibly be this lucky. She even gets along with our head tech (not easy, let me say) and with our cranky back-room tech (perhaps even more impressive).
But I also worry that she kisses and hugs the pets so much that she might get bitten or scratched badly (today I saw a Band-Aid on here neck), but that’s a risk for all of us—yet I’m certain that with proper guidance (and maybe a few close calls) she’ll learn a little more discretion.
Could it possibly be that I’ve found my dream girl?
(Don’t worry—neither of our two new hires knows this blog exists. I’ve made sure of that. I certainly wouldn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings and I anticipated mentioning them in a post at some point, hence the caution.)
While it’s always hard to find someone to take the place of other, more vet-savvy employees, it makes it all worthwhile to know that pet-loving talent is out there perfectly ripe for the picking—if you just have some faith in humanity…and the drawing power of the creatures we care for.
Add Comment12 Comments
"neither of our two new hires knows this blog exists."
... Never say never. If "Patty Khuly" is your real name (as mentioned in the "About" page), any halfway decent search engine (including Google and Yahoo) give the Dolitter pages as the first hit. One of my research colleages found my very first blog, and three blogs later a student found the one I primarily use now.
zandperl March 17th, 2007 03:22:00 PM
I, too, agree about being careful. I and others where I work regularly check in at the blog of one of our colleagures. She clearly has no idea that people from work would be looking at it (or she'd get her stories straight!)
Arlene March 17th, 2007 04:04:00 PM
Got to add to the chorus here. I think with regard to the internet, you (Patty) probably have Absolutely No Clue how deeply it's become a part of other people's worlds, because you have a job that doesn't have the new Idiot Box parked in front of you all day long. When you take a minute to breathe between clients or grab a cup of coffee, you probably stretch or talk to some staff members that you like. When I take a minute, I stretch and look at something silly (or the news...same difference these days) on the internet.
If I meet someone who's even vaguely interesting/funny/strange or likely to turn up in any way, personally or professionally again, some time I'm at my desk twiddling my cranial thumbs for a minute, or sitting at home watching the hourglass tumble in another program, odds are I'll idly google 'em. If it's someone I'm forming a serious long term professional relationship with... say, ferinstance, like if I were thinking of switching to a new vet, I do it pretty thoroughly. If I were thinking about hiring you, I'd know that you've got some serious career ambivalence and spend far more than I would on fashion eyewear. I'd know that you have, at least on one occasion, had an entire flock of ducklings on your head while doing surgery.
All this is a mixed bag. That you write and think broadly about the bigger meaning of what you do and how it impacts your life would be a plus to me. I'd think, oh, there's much more to her than meets the eye. How interesting! That you write about your clients in fairly particular ways would be a big negative (especially those times when you slip up and miss aliasing the critter's name somewhere in the post). On the other hand, despite that, your physical resembence to a high-strung fashionista but remarkably reliable and professional friend of mine might make me say, for no coherent reason, "well, maybe."
I think this group of comments is going to kind of smack you between the eyes, so let me say this, too. I think it's good that you write about client issues and about the huge problem of keeping young people working hard and happy. It's really valuable to readers and it's interesting. But maybe you should build yourself a "one month tape delay". Jot down what's on your mind, toss it in a box, and every now and then when you're feeling like synthesizing something, pull out the box, sort what's in it into broad themes, and use that material as notes to write the big picture. It'll be easier to change the details that way, and it'll be easier to make sure you've written about current and past co-workers in a way that's direct and honest, but also generic, sympathetic to their flaws, and in the end, not unkind.
Which is not to say you've been unkind to date. The most important thing is not to pull punches. But then go back and look at the piece and see if you've nodded toward the humanity of the people behind the problematic behaviors.
(The ducky picture's a funny thing. If I were thinking about using that clinic, I'd be fine with the part of the picture that's you doing surgery. But what was whoever posts the pictures thinking when they didn't crop that one close? All the extra stuff...what is that, a net leaning up behind the door? Pile of used...something... piled up in the background. People have this notion of what a surgical room looks like. Clutter, laundry, etc. are reality, but the office didn't need to show that!)
(And though it's better cropped, what's up with that "Dr. V does a nail trim"? Nice picture, but next time someone's grumbling about revenue issues, they ought to be smacked upside the head with this picture, which pretty much advertises that no matter how small, tiny, or insignificant the interaction with your sweet baby, someone with at least 8 years of higher education is going to be doing it.)
The Mysterious Thing One March 18th, 2007 10:20:00 AM
"On the other hand, despite that, your physical resembence to a high-strung fashionista but remarkably reliable and professional friend of mine might make me say, for no coherent reason, "well, maybe."
No, I didn't call -you- a high strung fashionista. Let me try again:
Your physical resemblemce to a friend of mine, a high-strung fashionista who is remarkably reliable and professional might make me say, for no coherent reason, "Well, maybe."
Tricky language, Ingles.
The Somewhat Illiterate Thing One March 18th, 2007 10:31:00 AM
Do you ever tell this tech "thank you" occasionally?
I ask because sometimes a simple thing like "thank you for your help today" makes a world of difference.
Just speaking from personal experience. After a long day she may not want to be gushed over, but just know that her efforts are appreciated sometimes.
The vets that did nothing but complain, bitch and whine got 100% out of me, but the ones that made it a point to say thanks once and a while got 300% I always bent over backwards for them as I knew they appreciated my efforts and what help I could offer. One of those people was actually the boss. Yeah he drove me nuts, but he always said thank you at the end of the day.
Stacy March 18th, 2007 11:19:00 AM
FD over at www.fatdoctor.blogspot.com touched on this the other day - the whole what can a professional say in a blog, anonymous or other arguement - in people med blogs it seems to be a very prickly recurring debate.
Vets aren't hamstrung by the whole HIPAA thing (god I hope not!!), so, in theory, if you post something about a client, and they're absolutely identifiable, and you say that what they did to their animal sucks, what are the consequences? They can try one of those 'i can sue you cos i'm stupid' lawsuits that seem to characterise US medical interactions - and that should be pretty much laughed out of court. Or they can take whatever poor pets they get next elsewhere - which might not be ideal, if they are already not providing good care. But I'd think you gain more clients by your blog than you could ever lose (if in fact you really are Dr Patty in Miami......!!).
Same for your opinions on employees, I guess. As long as you aren't blogging something that you wouldn't be prepared to stand by in person, I don't see that it's wrong to say your one new employee sucks and the other one doesn't. It's your opinion. You're allowed one. Even if you went to college and graduated as a professional. If either of those employees stumbles on the site, would those opinions surprise them?
As a non doctor type person, I can have an opionion on all sorts of things. If you know JHB at all, or the rehab field in this country, you'd know exactly who I am based on what I post about. But whatever I say online is pretty much what I'd say in person - although in our case we do try to bite our tongues long enough to get the animals concerned out of the hands of whoever is abusing them. And our more activist types generally end up not associated with the centre by their own choice.
I'd love it if my vet here in SA had a blog. She's an incredibly caring, smart woman, and I'd love to have her opinion on far more things than we ever have time to talk about when I'm there.
The next few years are going to be interesting in terms of blogs and what you are or are not allowed to post. Websites in general seem to escape censorship, even in cases where they are full of hate speech, paedophilia and other nasties. I would hate to see intelligent posts by professionals gagged while every other crackpot in the universe is given free reign.
All of which is irrelevant to the original post....glad you have found one new tech who has gone into the field because of what I regard as the most important thing for a vet, vet tech, receptionist or anyone else in the vet field - a real love of animals. Bites included!
Regards,
jcat
jcat March 18th, 2007 03:37:00 PM
Mysterious Thing One: Your point is well taken--and one my sister-in-law (a lawyer) never hesitates to make. However, I am confused by the duckies and the DR. V and net thing. To what do you refer? Oh--and my glasses really aren't all that expensive (they've accumulated over twenty-five years so I guess you can call me a fashion pack-rat). ;-)
Dr. Patty Khuly March 18th, 2007 05:28:00 PM
http://www.aussieanimalhospitalofmb.com/gallery/Au...%20Animal%20Hospital/Aussie%20Animal%20Hospital%20of%20Miami%20Beach.html
The..um...hmm...not-enough-to-do-today-apparently March 18th, 2007 05:35:00 PM
What an inelegant mess that turned out to be!
Just go to the homepage and click on photo gallery. That picture is one of the things that turned up when I googled you this morning.
grrrrrrrrrr. March 18th, 2007 05:38:00 PM
Haha, mysterious thing! I agree....the ducky headband doing surgery is a classic!!
jcat March 19th, 2007 04:14:00 AM
For the record...I haven't worked there in two years and do not recall ever having worn a ducky headband while doing surgery. That was clearly a minor procedure (hence the no gown thing). The net is for capturing the wandering escapees--very useful at times. In fact, want to laugh some more? Check out the last photo on the page--the one with the employees on their day off? Guess who's wearing a Russian fur hat (fake, of course)? If another hospital won't hire me after seeing that one I'll eat that hat. I mean, it's spectacular! (Thanks Thing One for making your original point extremely effectively ;-))
Dr. Patty Khuly March 19th, 2007 09:41:00 AM
I have experience on both sides of the blog coin. I found some very upsetting blogs by my daughter on the web. The nicest thing I can say is she's a great fiction writer. She likes to whine- some stuff was true, most was not. I confronted her and things have not been the same. I'm not sure I like her now.
Second- I got into some problems at work over a posting. I was venting in my dry,satirical way. No names were mentioned, but I was threatened with possible disciplenary action because I was critical of another employee.
So be very careful what you write.
However, that aside, I love your blog and hope you continue. People just need to get thicker skins instead of lawyers.
pittiemom March 23rd, 2007 11:48:00 PM
Add Commment