NM Vet Tech common mistakes
NM Vet Tech · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Computing drug doses from memory instead of recalculating from the patient's measured weight in kilograms, and confusing mg/kg with mg/lb or missing the concentration-to-volume step (for example giving 0.5 mL of a 50 mg/mL solution when the calculated dose required 0.05 mL).
Candidates memorize common dose numbers but skip the unit-conversion chain under time pressure; pound-to-kilogram confusion and decimal-place slips in the concentration division are the most frequent arithmetic errors, and small patients magnify them into tenfold overdoses.
What to do instead
Write the full dimensional-analysis equation every time: weight (kg) x dose (mg/kg) = total mg; total mg / concentration (mg/mL) = mL. Convert pounds by dividing by 2.2 first and circle the kg value. Do ten practice problems per species, including a 3 kg cat and a 60 kg dog, and verify each answer by estimating whether the volume looks plausible for the patient's size.
Reaching for the anesthetic circuit and vaporizer settings without first completing a pre-anesthetic assessment: no ASA classification, no check of packed cell volume/total protein or blood glucose, no airway or thoracic auscultation, and no plan for the patient's American Society of Anesthesiologists status.
Candidates treat anesthesia questions as pure equipment-and-drug recall and jump to 'what vaporizer setting' before establishing whether the patient is stable; they also underestimate how much underlying disease (cardiac murmur, dehydration, brachycephalic airway) changes the protocol.
What to do instead
Use a fixed pre-anesthetic checklist in every scenario: signalment, weight, temperature, heart and respiratory rate, mucous membrane color, capillary refill time, hydration, auscultation, PCV/TP, and ASA class. Practice writing a one-paragraph anesthetic plan that names premedication, induction agent, maintenance, monitoring, and a contingency for each ASA class.
Answering surgical asepsis questions by describing the surgeon's prep only, omitting patient skin preparation order, the fact that the clipped area must be larger than the drape opening, that chlorhexidine and povidone-iodine must not be mixed, and that the alcohol-based final step must be allowed to dry before draping.
Candidates conflate 'sterile technique' with 'scrub the surgeon' and forget the patient side of the field; they also memorize antiseptic names without the contact-time and incompatibility rules that exam questions target.
What to do instead
Learn the surgical prep sequence as an ordered list: clip (wide margin, away from the incision), vacuum loose hair, initial scrub, alternate scrub cycles with the correct contact time, final antiseptic, allow to dry, then drape. Study the chlorhexidine-plus-povidone-iodine incompatibility and the flammability risk of alcohol-based products under electrocautery.
Treating dental charting as a cosmetic extra: probing only the visible crowns, skipping full-mouth probing and radiology, and failing to record probing depths, furcation involvement, mobility, and the location of each lesion on a numbered chart.
Candidates focus on the dramatic calculus and the extraction itself and skip the systematic examination; they also do not realize that most periodontal disease sits below the gingival margin and is invisible without probing and intraoral radiographs.
What to do instead
Practice a full-mouth charting routine on every case: probe six sites per tooth, record depths in millimeters, note bleeding, furcation grade, mobility grade, and missing or fractured teeth, and pair each finding with its radiograph. Learn which teeth most often hide pathology (carnassial teeth, mandibular first molars, and the maxillary fourth premolar) and why full-mouth radiographs are standard.
Reporting laboratory results without quality control context: accepting a chemistry or hematology value at face value despite a hemolyzed, lipemic, or icteric sample, or ignoring that a clot in an EDTA tube invalidates the platelet count and that a refrigerated sample can falsely elevate potassium.
Candidates memorize reference ranges and disease associations but not the preanalytical variables that produce spurious values; exam items deliberately present a sample-handling flaw and expect the candidate to question the number rather than diagnose the patient.
What to do instead
For every abnormal value, ask three questions before interpreting: was the sample properly collected and stored, is the tube type correct and adequately filled, and does the result fit the clinical picture? Memorize the common artifacts (hemolysis raises potassium and ALT/LDH, lipemia interferes with many assays, underfilled citrate tubes prolong clotting times, clotted EDTA samples lower platelets) and the correct repeat or redraw action.
Describing radiograph positioning generically ('take a lateral view') instead of naming the projection, the patient position, the centering point, and the exposure factors, and failing to recognize when an orthogonal view is required to localize a lesion.
Candidates study radiographic interpretation (what the lesion looks like) more than acquisition (how to get a diagnostic image), so they cannot answer items about why a structure is obscured on one view or how to fix a rotated or underexposed film.
What to do instead
Build a projection table for the common studies (thorax, abdomen, spine, long bones, skull, dental) listing patient position, beam direction, centering landmark, and the minimum number of orthogonal views. Practice critiquing images for rotation, collimation, inspiration, and exposure, and state the specific corrective action rather than 'retake'.
Triaging an emergency by first obtaining a full history and complete physical exam, or by assigning a triage category without measuring perfusion and mentation; candidates also skip the primary survey and move straight to a diagnosis-driven treatment.
Candidates are trained to be thorough and default to the complete history-first habit from routine appointments; they also memorize triage color schemes without applying the ABC (airway, breathing, circulation) assessment that determines the category.
What to do instead
Drill the primary survey as a 30-second sequence: airway patency, breathing effort and auscultation, mucous membrane color and capillary refill, heart rate and pulse quality, mentation, and temperature. Practice assigning a triage level from a one-line scenario and stating the first three interventions before any diagnostics.
Assessing pain only by whether the animal cries or bites, and omitting a validated pain scale, physiologic indicators (heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, pupil size), and reassessment after an analgesic is given.
Candidates assume vocalization equals pain and silence equals comfort, but many animals (especially cats and prey-species dogs) are silent when painful; they also treat analgesia as a one-time order rather than a titrated, reassessed process.
What to do instead
Use a validated composite pain scale (such as the Glasgow or Colorado scale) on every post-operative and painful patient, record the score, administer analgesia per protocol, and rescore at a defined interval. Learn the species-specific signs of pain: reluctance to move, hunched posture, guarding, altered grooming, and changes in appetite or sleep.
Handling controlled substances and medical records casually: failing to log a drug in the controlled-substance record at the time of use, not reconciling the running balance, and not knowing the record-retention and prescription-labeling requirements that apply.
Candidates treat the log as paperwork to complete later and do not connect it to legal accountability; exam items test whether the candidate knows that every dose removed must be documented with patient, date, amount, and initials, and that records must be retained for the required period.
What to do instead
Learn the controlled-substance workflow as a closed loop: double-witness waste, log every entry at the moment of use, reconcile the physical count against the running balance at each shift change, and know the retention period and label requirements for your jurisdiction. Practice spotting a discrepancy in a sample log and stating the correct corrective action.
Answering nursing and husbandry questions with generic advice ('provide good nutrition and monitor') rather than species-specific parameters: not knowing normal temperature, heart rate, and respiratory rate ranges, correct thermoneutral zone and bedding for a species, or the specific signs of a common husbandry disease.
Candidates underestimate how much of the exam tests baseline normal values and routine nursing care, and they study exotic or unusual conditions instead of the everyday parameters that anchor every other question.
What to do instead
Build a one-page reference of normal values by species (dog, cat, rabbit, guinea pig, ferret, bird, reptile) covering temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, and key husbandry needs, and quiz yourself until recall is automatic. Pair each value with a clinical scenario so the number is learned in context, not as a list.