Veterinary technicians employed at Bond Vet can earn up to $42 an hour under the New York chain’s newly released Nurse Elevation Program.
The company, which operates four New York City clinics and plans to open 10 more by year’s end, unveiled an initiative designed to support the career advancement of veterinary technicians.
“Nurses in the veterinary industry are often underpaid, underevaluated and not given the growth opportunities they deserve,” said Zay Satchu, DVM, Bond Vet’s chief veterinary officer and co-founder. “This program offers our nurses exponential growth personally, professionally and financially.”
The Nurse Elevation Program creates “four distinct groups of nurses, based on a nurse’s experience, knowledge, licensing and technical skills,” the company stated.
“A nurse can progress from one tier to the next by completing a set of requirements that have been thoughtfully cadenced by our medical leadership team,” according to Bond Vet. “As nurses move up, so does their compensation — at each level, the hourly rate is best in class (up to $42 an hour). Within each pay band, that rate is higher for licensed/credentialed nurses to recognize the personal cost and professional value of going to nursing school and achieving licensure.”
Bond Vet also will provide RACE-approved continuing education opportunities and in-house training in the areas of anesthesia, pain management, and periodontal disease and therapy.
Nationwide in 2019, the median hourly pay for veterinary technologists and technicians was $16.98, or $35,320 a year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“$42 an hour is pretty high by most standards, but a lot of it depends heavily on the cost of living in the area,” said Kenichiro Yagi, MS, RVT, VTS (ECC) (SAIM), immediate past president of the National Association of Veterinary Technicians in America.
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