But it's not my job...

Q. The doctor uses me as a receptionist, although I'm a registered veterinary technician. What should I do?

"It depends," says Lisa Diffell, CVT, practice manager at Brooklyn Park Pet Hospital in Brooklyn Park, Minn. "There's nothing wrong with a technician doing a receptionist's duties. It's good to brush up on your customer service skills. But it's expensive to use a technician as a receptionist all the time."

Diffell says it's OK for a technician to spend one shift a week at the reception desk. And you may be asked to pinch hit for an absent receptionist.

Lisa Diffell

If you're spending a lot more time than that working as a receptionist, brainstorm solutions before you approach your manager. If you think the practice needs to hire a new receptionist, Diffell says you need to come up with ideas to make the hire affordable. For example, if you hired a receptionist, could the team see more appointments or run surgery two hours longer?

Bottom line: "Try to see the situation as an opportunity to improve your multitasking and customer service skills. And maybe you can come up with a better plan to improve the hospital's revenue and efficiency," Diffell says.