PULSE PERSPECTIVE MEGANNOWELL@GMAIL.COM A Hospital Team Love Letter F or Valentine's Day, this is a love letter to our hospital team members. Registered veterinary technicians, veterinary assistants, customer service coordinators, kennel attendants - you are the unsung heroes of veterinary medicine. This is a thank you from the bottom of my heart for every thing that you do day in and day out. You are the lifeblood of the veterinary hospital and make what we do possible. Thank you for all the times you have reminded me which room I'm going in and why. Thank you for staying late because our last wellness appointment turned out to be a train wreck. Thank you for being two steps ahead of me and knowing what I am going to need before I do. Thank you for giving the best head scritches and nose boops. You love our patients as if they were your own. Thank you for reassuring our clients when they are worried and for reassuring our patients when they are nervous. Thank you for telling me I have Fancy Feast on my forehead and for giving squeeze cheese freely. Thank you for holding the textbook in surgery when I need to see the diagram one more time. Thank you for offering me reassurance when I just can't seem to figure it out. You have gently guided me as a new grad with no judgment. You have taught me more than you'll ever know. And the trust you put in my ability to care for our patients is humbling. Thank you for celebrating your teammates - when they pass a board exam, when they hit the vein, when they find ear mites for the first time under the microscope. Thank you for continuing to learn. Thank you for your passion and compassion. Thank you for your commitment to low-stress visits for our patients. There is nothing in the hospital you can't fix. You know how to work every complicated pump and monitor and save us from incessant beeping. You keep our days running smoothly and our drawers stocked. Thank you for your superhuman strength and being able to lift dogs twice your size. Thank you for your attention to detail and for knowing exactly what I mean when I ask " do you know where that thing is? " Thank you for allowing introverted me to not have to spend my days on the telephone. Thank you for keeping my schedule sane. Thank you for diffusing angry clients. Thank you for your calm with impatient clients. Thank you for being a familiar face for sad clients. Thank you for asking if they listened to their voicemail before finding me (they never do). Thank you for learning what questions to ask to help us help pets. Thank you for welcoming our industry 4 partners into the hospital. Thank you for your enthusiasm. Thank you for welcoming students and interns and sharing your expertise. Thank you for thinking outside of the box. In vet med, there is nothing we can't MacGyver. Thank you for tolerating every time I rearrange something in the hospital. For every time I try to streamline something and create more work (whoops). Thank you for advocating fiercely for your patients. For getting down on their level. For reducing their stress. For hand-feeding the hospitalized patient that needs a little bit of extra love. For offering to text the worried client with updates throughout the day (and not being afraid to give out your personal number). Thank you for reminding me that I, that we, cannot save them all. Thank you for coming in on your day off to be with a family as they say goodbye to their beloved pet. I see you. I appreciate you. Your love for animals and dedication to helping them is inspiring. We literally could not help a single pet without you. Veterinarians are lucky to work with such selfless and giving people. Thank you. Happy Valentine's Day! Megan Nowl SCVMA President FEBRUARY 2023 PULSE