By Kathering Grey - RVN Runnymede Veterinary Hospital
The month of May is when RVNs such as myself are encouraged to promote our profession and highlight what it is we do as Veterinary nurses...
We are often asked questions such as ‘when are you going to be a vet?’ or ‘Did not get good enough grades to become a vet?’ and my favourite ‘So you’re just a nurse?’
Veterinary nurses become veterinary nurses because they want to, because it is a profession in its own right and mainly because of our love for animals and our job. W are not ‘just’ nurses. As veterinary nurses, our role is quite diverse. It would be easy to compare us to human nurses however we have skills in many different disciplines such as placing intravenous catheters, taking radiographs, monitoring anaesthesia, nursing an inpatient, giving medication, performing CPR, placing a patient on fluids, taking blood samples and running nurse clinics. This list is but a few of the things we do behind the scenes.
It is true that we assist the vets in their day to day tasks, however, without us it would be impossible for them to do their job and vice versa. We work together in order to provide the best possible care for your pet, it really is a team effort!
In order to become a veterinary nurse we have to undergo 3 years of training, sometimes this takes place at university and some may choose to do on the job training whilst attending college, meaning we are working a full time job as well as studying in our own time, revising and passing exams and preparing for our practicals at the end of the course. Once we have qualified we are then placed on a register for veterinary nurses yay!!! This is a big moment for any trainee as we work extremely hard to get to this point, however, being on the register comes with rules!
We have to abide by a code of conduct to ensure we are acting in a professional manor and carrying out our duties correctly, this also means we have to continue to study! Yes, this is correct! Veterinary nurses have to carry out 45 hours of continual professional development over a 3 year period, this means we are kept up to date with knowledge and expertise on how to care for your pets. Some can even go onto further education, I myself have decided to undertake a Graduate Diploma in professional and clinical veterinary nursing.
We are here day and night, animals get sick regardless of time or occasion! This means we have to be here for them whenever they need us, we give up weekends, evenings at home and even Christmas to ensure we are here when they need us most. We don’t do this for praise, we do this because of our love for our job. We will happily get up in the middle of the night to clean up vomit or to monitor the anaesthetic of the emergency surgery that needs to happen.
I became a veterinary nurse because of my love for animals but also because I love medicine. There’s nothing more satisfying than seeing an inpatient go home after days or weeks of being in. When they are reunited with their family and seeing how much they have improved. I have seen many miracles happen within our practice, pets we thought would never make it but when we come together as a team and give the best treatment possible its amazing what can happen and how these patients surprise us! So next time you see one of our vets please have a think of the veterinary nurses out the back, hidden within the practice walls. We are here looking after your animals because we chose to, because we love them as if they were our own and because we love our job!!