Nursing student practices on her dog in viral video

Studying to become a nurse, veterinary technician Kalia Hess has quite a lot on her plate. Now, she can add TikTok star to her resume, after going viral on the platform.

Hess recently took to social media to share videos of herself practicing for the National Council Licensure Exam (NCLEX), an exam all nurses must take in order to become licensed. To prepare for the big test, nursing students often need to practice techniques on friends and loved ones. But Hess decided to film herself using her dog as a practice patient instead. The videos are going viral on TikTok with over 22 million total views.

“I was a veterinary nurse for five years, but I am now switching to human medicine,” Hess told Scrubs Magazine. “I am currently in nursing school, which is what’s going on in the TikTok side. I am performing a physical assessment on my dog to practice for my skills check-off in class.”

The first video adorably reads, “When all you have is your dog to practice your practical assessment on....” The dog gave Hess all of the patience she needed.

The veterinary technician ran through a full exam with her canine patient, asking medical questions and pausing to listen for feedback all the while.

“Now accepting new patients,” Hess joked in the video.

In total, Hess has uploaded three parts to the exam on her TikTok account. And users are enjoying it by the millions.

“Dog is thinking ‘the things I do for treats,’” one user posted. “He’s got stage four good boy,” another said.

“I hope you know this was so therapeutic,” a third added.

Since going viral, Hess has continued to post videos from her time training to be a nurse, including a video of her time bonding with her fellow nurses-in-training and footage of her reacting to receiving her exam grades.