Qualified Veterinary Nurses

tankgirl1

Thankyou everyone for replying - v interesting to read

I was asking because I just got my VN Times (Yes, a monthly newspaper just for VN's lol) through the door, and it reminded me that this year is the 50th Anniversary of the profession. So I just got curious about how such a young profession is viewed.

JoJo - I'm sorry you had a bad experience - I've never known a VN who would behave like that! Actually thinking on I have known one - bad apples in every barrel and all that I guess.

It's nice to hear such positivity from the rest of the thread! Yes we get paid peanuts, and yes most of the job is beyond the consulting room.

Unqualified people acting as VN's is currently legal in this country, as the term Veterinary Nurse is not protected, which I feel really strongly about. The way to tell if your VN is qualified is that if they are, they should be wearing this badge:



The blue badge on this one is awarded to Advanced Qualified Veterinary Nurses (I'm not that clever:o)



The other way to check is on the RCVS website

http://findavet.rcvs.org.uk/check-the-registers/

Now I want to make this clear - I am not saying unqualified nurses are bad, or will give substandard care. My point is that as a profession we are fighting for recognition, and fighting for every practicing nurse to be either qualified, or in RCVS approved training.

YorkiePud_3

Most importantly of all, the vet nurse is the one who will gently hold your dog or cat, talking soothingly to it whilst the anaesthetic is administered and will probably be the first person your pet sees when they come round, talking softly to it until it comes round completely.

They will clean the poo and pee from the pet's cage, they will clean up the operation site and they will reassure your pet, telling it that you'll be coming to take him or her home soon.

They will work tirelessly doing ALL the jobs that need doing .. whether it is taking calls at reception from frantic owners whose pets need to be seen as an emergency ... they will answer questions from owners calling to see if their pets made it through their operation okay ... they will wash and clean any blankets that are dirtied, they will make sure the surgery and consultation room is clean ... they will make sure all the equipment is sterilised ready for the next day ... they will put up with whatever little "foibles" (otherwise known as bad moods!) the vet may have ...

They will go home and cry like a baby after having to be strong to support an owner whose beloved pet has had to be put to sleep ... they will go home exhausted after putting in extra hours to stay with an animal that has been rushed in after hours needing constant care and attention ...

They will wonder how the hell they manage to do it and why they put themselves through it ... then when they hand back a pet to its owner after an operation that may have saved its life, they will smile and know that it's all been worthwhile ...

Yes, there can be some who can come across as being ... well, not as outwardly sympathetic as you would perhaps like them to be ... but at the end of the day, it doesn't matter if their people skills aren't up to much ... because you know that they go to work every day, facing relentless stress and pressure, massive highs and lows and a LOT of back breaking work because their number one priority is helping your pet ...

So next time you think a vet nurse may have been a bit short with you or perhaps didn't spend as much time with you as you would have liked, please think for one minute about what kind of day she may have had ... she may just have been present when her favourite doggy client was put to sleep ... she might just have been helping in an operation that didn't go as well as everyone hoped ... she may have had the day from hell but because she cares and because she wants to make a difference to an animal in need, she'll be back the next day and give it her all again ....

tankgirl1

YorkiePud wrote: »

Most importantly of all, the vet nurse is the one who will gently hold your dog or cat, talking soothingly to it whilst the anaesthetic is administered and will probably be the first person your pet sees when they come round, talking softly to it until it comes round completely.

They will clean the poo and pee from the pet's cage, they will clean up the operation site and they will reassure your pet, telling it that you'll be coming to take him or her home soon.

They will work tirelessly doing ALL the jobs that need doing .. whether it is taking calls at reception from frantic owners whose pets need to be seen as an emergency ... they will answer questions from owners calling to see if their pets made it through their operation okay ... they will wash and clean any blankets that are dirtied, they will make sure the surgery and consultation room is clean ... they will make sure all the equipment is sterilised ready for the next day ... they will put up with whatever little "foibles" (otherwise known as bad moods!) the vet may have ...

They will go home and cry like a baby after having to be strong to support an owner whose beloved pet has had to be put to sleep ... they will go home exhausted after putting in extra hours to stay with an animal that has been rushed in after hours needing constant care and attention ...

They will wonder how the hell they manage to do it and why they put themselves through it ... then when they hand back a pet to its owner after an operation that may have saved its life, they will smile and know that it's all been worthwhile ...

Yes, there can be some who can come across as being ... well, not as outwardly sympathetic as you would perhaps like them to be ... but at the end of the day, it doesn't matter if their people skills aren't up to much ... because you know that they go to work every day, facing relentless stress and pressure, massive highs and lows and a LOT of back breaking work because their number one priority is helping your pet ...

So next time you think a vet nurse may have been a bit short with you or perhaps didn't spend as much time with you as you would have liked, please think for one minute about what kind of day she may have had ... she may just have been present when her favourite doggy client was put to sleep ... she might just have been helping in an operation that didn't go as well as everyone hoped ... she may have had the day from hell but because she cares and because she wants to make a difference to an animal in need, she'll be back the next day and give it her all again ....

Thankyou

You put it so well YorkiePud

To us they are Fluffy or Fido, we ask about their routine, we spend hours tempting them to eat, grooming them. We monitor their anaesthetic, remind the vets about pain relief, clean up all the mess, wet their gums as they are coming round from GA, ask about their fave foods, and still man reception, do stock control, fill out insurance forms, and go home and not sleep, because you are worrying about a patient....

bagginslover

tankgirl1 wrote: »

Just curious about the publics perception of us..

What do you think of us? Do you know how to recognise a qualified veterinary nurse?

What do you think we do all day?

I really want to know how the pet owning public see us?

Please post away

From my experiences of Vet Nurses I think you are all :A ! The ones at my vets are wonderful, patient with owners and pets alike and very helpful, nothing seems to be too much bother for them.

What do you do all day? Take care of the sick pets, clean up after them, assist in operations, everything a human nurse does for his/her patients.

I had noticed that the nurses at my practice wore different coloured uniforms, but I thought it was a personal choice thing, I didn't know it was down to being qualified or not. The pale green girls at our vets seem no less knowledgeable than the dark ones, and all of them always have time to talk to you about your animal.

I think you are all wonderful, and I wish I'd done the course when I was trying to decide what to do as a youngster

dizziblonde

YorkiePud wrote: »

So next time you think a vet nurse may have been a bit short with you or perhaps didn't spend as much time with you as you would have liked, please think for one minute about what kind of day she may have had ... she may just have been present when her favourite doggy client was put to sleep ... she might just have been helping in an operation that didn't go as well as everyone hoped ... she may have had the day from hell but because she cares and because she wants to make a difference to an animal in need, she'll be back the next day and give it her all again ....

All sounds idealistic but I don't think there is EVER an excuse for being short with another patient (and we ARE paying for the service) despite how crap your day is. I've had lousy days in my line of work - I've been physically and verbally assaulted, been threatened, been thrown up on and just generally ground down - but part of being professional is being able to put that behind you and be professional and polite to everyone you meet.

There was no justification for the one at our vets to make me feel like utter lying garbage like she did - no matter how bad her day had been going. There's also never an excuse for sneering at anyone for being a first time dog owner like they've got five heads or whatever - it's a personal bugbear of mine when people do that - and she did.

heretolearn_2

I had no idea how to tell if one is qualified or not. I always assumed they HAD to be qualified!

I guess I imagine what you do is pretty much the same role as a nurse for humans. The vet diagnoses and does operations and stuff, the nurses do the care (cleaning/exercising/feeding) and implement the treatment (administering drugs etc). Assisting with operations. Monitoring the animals (temp/fluids etc). X-rays.

pinetree

Hi tankgirl1, interesting post I qualified in the first year that the title changed from RANA registered animal nursing auxillary to VN.
Im not in practice now but am amazed at the changes to working conditions etc still I could go on and on so I wont bore you:D

rising_from_the_ashes

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

I don't tend to have much dealings with nurses other when making appointments or paying bills. So they come across as receptionists - which doesn't really help their image when I know they do much, much more than that.

I'd agree with this - I know they do loads more than this (help with ops, recovery, run "fat" clinics etc but it's not seen by "joe bloggs" coming into the surgery.

There are 3 VNs at "my" vets:

• No 1 I never see as she works during the day only when I'm never in
• No 2 is very off-hand and always comes across as if whatever you're asking is stupid and she's much more important things to do and
• No 3 is an absolute angel - nothing is too much trouble - when my big boy cat was poisoned when he was a few months old and had to stay in and wouldn't eat, she went over to the local shop and bought things like ham, prawns etc to try to tempt him - "going the extra" mile and really caring is what springs to mind

Shoshannah

Only just come across this post.

I think veterinary nurses are fab and I couldn't get through the day without them.

jumpedtheshark

Tankgirl1, from your post with the pins/badges, am I right in understanding that unqualified nurses could be wearing the exact same uniform (coloured long jacket things) as qualified, and that that ONLY difference would be the presence/absence of the pin? I shall take a closer look in my practice next time we're in, if that's the case, as I've noticed distinct differences in care between different nurses.