Vet 800 Administrative Rules - Veterinary Nurses, Veterinary Technicians, and Veterinary AssistantsThe NH Board of Veterinary Medicine finalized and adopted Vet 800 Veterinary Nurses, Veterinary Technicians, and Veterinary Assistants administrative rules at their March 15, 2023, meeting. These rules became effective on May 15, 2023. Details are available on the Board of Veterinary Medicine Laws and Rules | NH Office of Professional Licensure and Certification webpage. These rules outline tasks allowed to be performed by veterinary technicians and veterinary assistants. These rules also include a clause allowing individuals meeting specific requirements who have not graduated from an American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) accredited veterinary technology program to take the Veterinary Technician National Exam (VTNE) until May 1, 2026, to become credentialed. The American Association of Veterinary State Boards (AAVSB) owns and administers the VTNE, they are working with the NH Board of Veterinary Medicine on the application process for applying to take the VTNE for those who have not graduated from an accredited program. Once we have more information, the NHVTA Board will discuss potential updates to our CVT application requirements. May 22, 2023 UpdateWhen did the NHBoVM start to write these rules? The NHBoVM began the rule-making process in 2019 and have been revising existing rules and adding new rules over the last four years. It is not normal for rule revising to take this long but the pandemic slowed the process. Was there a chance for public input to these rules? Yes. There were two public comment periods in January 2021 and August 2022. The NHVTA submitted comments/recommendations during both these comment periods. NHVTA representatives have also been attending the public portion of the NHBoVM monthly board meetings as public observers since 2018. What were the old rules around Veterinary Technicians? Why were they not good enough? The now-expired Vet 405 rules (below) addressed Veterinary Assistants and Technicians as “equivalent” and did not outline any educational, training or testing requirements. Allowed tasks were not outlined. The NHBoVM’s role is to protect the public and we believe that they felt that it was important for the public’s understanding of veterinary care to designate the differences in the roles of Technicians and Assistants as well as to outline minimum educational and testing requirements and a scope of practice for Veterinary Technicians. What is the purpose of the new rules? There are two sections of new rules that cover Veterinary Technicians and Assistants. The first are definitions in Vet 102 which are currently in revision. (Please note, additional revisions may be made before these definitions are finalized and approved) The second are Vet 800 outline the definition of Veterinary Technician and Veterinary Nurse as well as a scope of practice for Veterinary Technicians and Nurses in New Hampshire which went into effect May 15th. The NHBoVM has outlined the following:
When do these rules take effect? The new rules took effect May 15th, 2023. Since these rules are now in effect, does this mean that if I am not credentialed or have not passed the VTNE that I can no longer perform those tasks outlined in Vet 802.01. This is a common question. Because of this we asked the NHBoVM at their April 19 meeting the following question:
We will post information as it becomes available and send email updates to those in our database. Please use the link below to provide your name and contact information if you would like to receive email updates. NH VET 800 Administrative Rules Contact List |