Don't get me wrong, I truly value our assistants and many are such strong parts of our team and profession. I began my career as an assistant for nearly 7 years. That being said, these duties should NOT be delegated to an assistant.

Anesthesia is an art- isn't that what we are taught in school? It is more than practical skill. It is more than a set of eyes on a patient. I understand that some practices may think they have the best assistants or training program, but that is not the case for all practices in the state of Virginia- which this regulatory action would govern.

As a technician, we receive the knowledge, anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, and practical skills that allow us to do our jobs. Assistants are not trained as extensively in these subjects. If they are, then they should consider becoming an LVT.

If you were to walk into a hospital and a medical assistant told you they were going to monitor you during anesthesia, I would hope you would have a problem with that.

We just rallied for years to increase our CE requirements to ensure we are up to date with most recent advances and protocols in veterinary medicine, and many technicians complained about that too. How are you going to vouch for your assistants' education when you complain about TWO additional hours of CE for yourself?  If you are a practice owner, or technician in a busy practice, and think there is something more important you can attend to than making sure your patient fully recovers from anesthesia, maybe you are the one that should reconsider your profession.

For those complaining about the technician shortage- perhaps we as technicians should value ourselves, education, and abilities more to increase public awareness of the importance of our jobs... 

Practice owners- consider treating and paying your technicians so they want to stay in the field.