Abstract
During COVID-19, the demand for veterinary technicians increased due to increased animal care appointments booked, decreased worker productivity, pandemic-related staffing shortages, and adapted methods of care delivery. Research has been conducted to assess the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on educators and human healthcare workers, but there is a lack of literature on veterinary technicians, the animal healthcare equivalent of nurses. The objective of our study was to evaluate how COVID-19 affected veterinary technicians. We distributed an electronic researcher-developed survey-based instrument to veterinary technicians working in the U.S. during COVID-19. We received 1,132 usable responses. Descriptive statistics were analyzed using SPSS 26.0. Our respondents were overwhelmingly female (97%) and mostly employed full-time (87%) in a companion animal practice (61%). A majority of respondents reported COVID-19 had a large effect (45%) or completely dominated the work (12%) at their practice. While 52% of respondents felt their efforts during COVID-19 were appreciated, only 43% agreed or strongly agreed their hours were manageable. Support staff availability was completely or barely adequate for 42% of respondents and personal protective equipment was mostly or completely adequate for 60% of respondents. The greatest professional challenges during COVID-19 were being treated worse by animal owners and difficulty communicating with clients (53 and 16% of respondents, respectively). There have been few efforts to document the professional environment experienced by veterinary technicians during COVID-19. This is critical as pre-pandemic data indicate veterinary technicians are high-risk for professional burnout and COVID-19 placed additional burdens on essential workers.
Highlights
On December 11th, 2019, the World Health Organization initiated actions to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus caused by SARS-CoV-2
The population of interest was adults (18+ years of age) in the United States who were employed as veterinary technicians during the COVID-19 pandemic
76.4%, were not immune compromised nor living with someone who was immune compromised during the COVID-19 pandemic
Summary
On December 11th, 2019, the World Health Organization initiated actions to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus caused by SARS-CoV-2. By January 21st, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) confirmed the first case of COVID-19 in the United States and, by mid-March 2020, Americans were given stay-at-home orders to slow the spread of the virus [1]. Most professional interactions and operations abruptly moved to remote or online platforms. Some workers were deemed “essential” and continued working under CDC regulations and guidance. From an animal care perspective, the increased amount of time the general public spent at home increased pet ownership [2], causing a spike in new pet owners during COVID-19
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