In every veterinary practice, there is a partnership that sits at the very heart of good animal care: the relationship between the veterinarian and the veterinary nurse or veterinary technician. While the vet may carry ultimate responsibility for diagnosis and treatment, the contribution of the nursing team is every bit as important to the quality, safety and compassion of the care an animal receives.

Veterinary nurses and technicians possess an extraordinarily wide-ranging skill set. They are often the person who can bring reassurance and order to even the most hectic clinical situation.

They monitor anaesthesia, take and interpret blood samples, administer and calculate medicines, place catheters, manage pain, care for hospitalised patients and recognise subtle changes in an animal’s condition that can be critical to its treatment.

But their value extends well beyond technical competence. Nurses and technicians often develop an exceptional understanding of animal behaviour.

They learn to read posture, expression, movement and those tiny changes in demeanour that can tell us whether an animal is frightened, uncomfortable, deteriorating or simply trying to communicate.

Their ability to approach and handle animals with patience and compassion can transform an otherwise stressful experience.

Importantly, they can also see an animal differently from the veterinarian.

The vet may be concentrating on diagnosis, clinical findings and treatment options, while the nurse or technician may have noticed how the patient has behaved throughout the day, how it responded to medication, whether it ate, drank or rested, or how its demeanour has changed since admission.

Neither perspective is more valuable than the other; together, they create a much fuller clinical picture.

That is why the best veterinary teams are symbiotic. Good communication flows in both directions. A nurse or technician should feel able to question, suggest and contribute, drawing on their own experience and knowledge.

Equally, the veterinarian benefits enormously from listening to those observations.

Some of the most useful clinical discussions are not one person giving instructions to another, but two skilled professionals combining their different perspectives to determine what is best for the patient.

This partnership also reflects something fundamental about our profession: veterinary nurses and technicians are not simply assistants to veterinarians.

They are highly trained professionals with their own expertise, responsibilities and professional identity. Their role complements that of the veterinarian, rather than sitting beneath it.

When each understands and respects the other’s knowledge, the entire team becomes stronger — and, most importantly, the animals in our care benefit.

Veterinary medicine is at its best when it is collaborative. It requires many different skills, perspectives and kinds of expertise, united by one common purpose: to improve the lives of animals and the people who love them.

So, to every qualified veterinary nurse and technician: thank you. Thank you for your skill, your vigilance, your patience, your courage and your compassion.

Thank you for noticing what others might miss, for speaking up for your patients and for bringing your own unique perspective to every case. Our profession is immeasurably richer because of you, and the animals we care for are safer, healthier and better understood because you are there.

Vet tech week, a celebration of these incredible professionals runs this month from October 18 to 24.

Join me in thanking our vet nurses and techs working hard in Bermuda to keep our pets so well cared for.

• Lucy Richardson graduated from Edinburgh University in 2005. She started CedarTree Vets in August 2012 with her husband, Mark. They live at the practice with their two children, Ray and Stella, and their dog and two cats. She is also the FEI national head veterinarian for Bermuda