My name is Katie, I’m 22 years old, I live in Perthshire and am a registered veterinary nurse at Tay Valley Vets where we provide veterinary care for small animals and equine.
I did some work experience through school and loved it, I kept coming as a volunteer and eventually got into a job! Truly working my way up!
I think I have always had an affinity with animals and animal care. But I was not expecting to end up as an RVN. I was always worried I wouldn’t be able to deal with some of the less pleasant aspects of the job.
I’ve worked here for 5 years now and joined straight from high school as an Animal Care Assistant. Initially I completed a VetSkill level 2 veterinary care assistant course before I went on to nursing.
All my veterinary related qualifications have been completed while working in practice which I think is an intense but useful way to study. I liked gaining more knowledge behind what I was seeing day to day and becoming a more useful member of the team. I also enjoyed being in a learning environment during lectures for a subject that really interests me with lecturers who are extremely knowledgeable. It is a very in-depth course which can be overwhelming at times but being able to see what you’re learning in practice is very helpful and exciting.
My qualifications have helped my career as it is a full course with lots of work to cover, practical and theory exams and I think it reflects my work ethic. I think I will however try and top up my qualification to a degree as I think this will help open more opportunities up to me going forward.
Getting paid while learning has been brilliant. Being able to start saving and have the security for myself has been really great.
Day to day I can be working through in prep helping to prepare patients for surgery, including taking pre op bloods, placing intravenous catheters and endotracheal tubes, performing pre op tprs, making sure they have appropriate accommodation for the day and clipping and scrubbing surgical sites ready for procedures.
I could be in theatre monitoring anaesthesia, I could be recovering patients following procedures, assisting in procedures whether that be scrubbed in to surgery or doing radiography and setting up for ultrasonography.
I could be in dental either monitoring, scaling and polishing teeth or taking dental radiographs. I could be in lab organising samples to be sent away to external labs or running in house tests, I could be in dispensary organising meds for patients, consulting and performing admits and discharged for the day patients, or I could be working with any inpatients making sure there is a plan for their care and implementing medical management working with a vet. A wide range of tasks!
At the moment I have just qualified so over the year I am working towards doing more CPD and expanding my experience and knowledge.
I hope my job makes a difference to any pet owner visiting the vets for any reason. There can be so many ups and downs through pet ownership and I hope my role makes others feel supported through all of these times. Additionally the veterinary industry helps ensure foreign pet travel is done correctly which will help minimise any diseases that are more common abroad coming back to the UK. We play a big role in monitoring this and therefore helping to ensure the safety of pets and the public.
Though this job is focused around the animals most of the job is interacting with humans, so social skills are a must! Whether it be worried owners or discussing cases with colleagues it’s important to be able to communicate effectively.
Animals bring us so much joy and I love the fact we can help them in such a profound way. I love working together with the team to provide high quality care and seeing a positive outcome.
I enjoy having the knowledge and skills to help and make a difference. I think it can be a really consuming and difficult job and it’s important to check in with yourself and others but overall I love interacting and building relationships with patients and clients.
I am proud of how I have worked up from the bottom and gone on to achieve good marks in exams, achieved qualifications and won a Lantra Award.
There can be a lot of waste and consumables in veterinary medicine and my practice try and ensure we are disposing of waste properly and recycling where we can. we choose what products we use with the environment in mind.
There can be misconceptions about the job and what it includes, so I would say it’s not just playing with puppies and kittens! I would also say get as much work experience as you can.
I would like to become more experienced and knowledgeable about feline patients and general medical and surgical skills, I’d love to explore the nursing role by doing more schedule 3 things like minor stitch ups, and I’d love to gain some more qualifications.
This industry can be such a joy but also can be draining emotionally and physically so make sure you make time for something outwith veterinary medicine, whether it’s a creative outlet or making time for reading or fitness or attending clubs. It’s really important, as with any job but especially one like this, to strike a good work life balance that allows you to take the time away in order to recharge and refill your cup to be the best nurse, vet, care assistant or receptionist you can and therefore provide the best care.