Beyond the “sink-or-swim” training mentality: can structured onboarding improve veterinary technician satisfaction and retention?

Workforce shortages and turnover among credentialed veterinary technicians impose substantial operational and financial costs on veterinary practices. Despite these consequences, onboarding often remains informal, reinforcing a "sink-or-swim" culture that may contribute to early-career distress and underutilization of skills. Although veterinary technician-specific transition-to-practice research remains limited, data from human nursing may offer relevant onboarding strategies. Human nursing literature describes predictable early-career challenges during the first year of practice and promotes structured onboarding anchored by mentorship, competency-based progression, and resilience-building support to improve satisfaction and retention.