Tasha McNerney spotlights proactive pain prevention in pets

Veterinary anesthesia and pain-management educator Tasha McNerney is back in the spotlight through a recent Blunt Dissection episode focused on “Preventing Pain in Pets (& People!),” while Patterson Veterinary’s All Things Veterinary has also highlighted anesthesia education through a separate episode featuring Darci Palmer. Together, the conversations underscore a broader theme in companion animal practice: pain prevention and anesthesia recovery are increasingly being framed as team-based, technician-forward clinical priorities, not just doctor-only decisions. McNerney, a certified veterinary technician, Veterinary Technician Specialist in anesthesia and analgesia, Certified Veterinary Pain Practitioner, and founder of Veterinary Anesthesia Nerds, has been a visible advocate for proactive pain awareness across the profession. (veterinaryanesthesianerds.com)

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the message aligns with current guidance from AAHA, which emphasizes proactive, preemptive, and multimodal pain management involving the entire practice team and pet parents. That’s especially relevant as clinics look to standardize analgesia protocols, improve anesthetic recovery, and make better use of credentialed technicians and nurses in perioperative care. McNerney has also publicly emphasized that technicians often spend the most time with patients and play a central role in monitoring, follow-up, and individualized pain plans. (aaha.org)

What to watch: Expect continued attention on practical pain-assessment tools, recovery best practices, and technician utilization as education providers and professional groups keep pushing multimodal pain management into everyday workflow. (aaha.org)