Questionable Veterinary Practices
Hello all!
New to this sub, and I have so many questions.
I am currently a "sterile processing assistant" at a veterinary hospital. My job technically does not exist in the veterinary world except for when I am at. I am also considered a Kennel Assistant.
We run our pet surgeries similar to human surgeries and have 3-4 separate ORs running at any given time.
I have a lot of feelings about how cleanliness can affect how a surgery turns out alongside the sterilization process. The ethics of it tear me up daily.
I want to find a human sterile processing job asap. I am researching accredited community colleges in my area that work alongside hospitals.
I guess I am writing this to ask for luck.
The veterinary hospital I work at has questionable practice in regards to sterilization, which is pretty common through the veterinary field.
But attempting to learn from scratch how to sterilize from a veterinary technician who learned verbally through another technician as my on-boarding was not helpful.
Trying to learn by myself how to properly sterilize instruments, work our EO gas chamber, run/clean autoclaves that had not been cleaned since my onboarding has been a long and arduous journey for the past 5 years.
I need a change where what I do truly matters instead of guesswork.
I was a kid and naive and didn't understand what I was being brought in to do, and I try not to blame myself but the thought of possibly hurting an animal because of the laziness people when I am not on the clock or my own mishap with no checks is anxiety inducing.
I did the best I could.
I'm making a change and I will make a difference.
Any advice or help would be appreciated. The job market is trashed and I don't want to lose my job until I find something certain. I have applied at a few human hospitals to no avail as I am not yet certified.