Animals body fluid! Was there ever a day I was not covered in it?
Admin Team
Vet nursing really isn't for the faint hearted. You have to be a special kind of person. Danni however, is that special kind of person. She would like to instill one piece of advice on her younger self! "ALWAYS KEEP YOUR MOUTH CLOSED!".
I started with Yass Valley Veterinary back in 2014 as a shy and quiet vet nursing student with little experience in the industry. It was quite intimidating walking into the clinic for the first time surrounded by so many skilled staff members. I remember the two most experienced nurses, Heidi and Anita rushing around assisting the vets with an emergency snake bite and thinking to myself how incredible they were and how much I wanted to be like them.
Growing up with multiple animals in our house hold somewhat prepared me for the job I had just walked in to. But if I had one piece of advice to give anyone wanting to become a veterinary nurse, that would be ‘it’s not all puppies and kittens’.
The hardest part of nursing is without a doubt euthanising a loved family member. I always get asked “ do you get used to it?” or “do you get sad?” and honestly, you never really get used to it. You just develop different coping mechanisms. Generally, when euthanising animals, they are very old and sick so euthanasia is the kindest thing for them. However once the animal is no longer suffering it becomes the owner who suffers and that there, is part the gets to me.
On a lighter note, I can’t recall one day that I was not covered in some sort of animal bodily fluid. There are many aspects of nursing that require you to have quite a strong stomach. Some of the regular occurrences include being urinated on by a nervous puppy or getting projectile anal gland fluid to the face. On farm visits you get covered in cow faeces or sneezed on by a horse with a nosebleed and let me tell you that nothing spreads blood quite like a happy dog with an open tail wound. On the very rare occasion you are not covered in it, someone else is! That is when you also need thick skin and a good sense of humour. Because 9 times out of 10, a work colleague will have seen the incident and they will not refrain from laughing. If I could go back and tell my younger self one piece of advice it would be to “ALWAYS KEEP YOUR MOUTH CLOSED”.
Although this all sounds very off putting and you would question anyone who would willingly put themselves through this, I have to say I absolutely love my job. The good days generally out weigh the bad. Your day can be instantly made by a litter of 6 week old puppies to cuddle (vaccinate and microchip of course), or if the vet is booked in to go out pregnancy testing cattle and needs an assistant to help in the yards. You are constantly growing and learning every day which is exactly why I stuck to it and am now training and teaching younger nurses as the nurse supervisor.
Furthermore, I would not be able to do this job if not for the people I work with. We all have the same love and compassion for our animals and our jobs. You know that you work in a great environment when you want to spend time with your colleges on the weekend after being with them for a 10-hour shift. The team at Yass Valley Veterinary are practically a family, and they have been a massive contributor to the person I am today.
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Sadly, we have had some staff changes recently at Yass Valley Veterinary. After 3 years, Dr Issy Card has taken a small animal position in Canberra. Our recently married Dr Anne Cusack is relocating to Wagga for her husband’s work, and Dr Natalie Flew is also leaving us to work in an emergency afterhours clinic in Canberra with more suitable hours for her new family. We will all miss these three amiable, dedicated and competent veterinarians and wish them well in their future pursuits. Dr Stuart Williams, after almost 33 years at Yass Valley Veterinary (15 years as a partner with Dr Peter Gibbs and 15 years as sole principal), is resigning from his full-time position at the end of February. He is looking forward to having a break away from afterhours on call and managing a large staff across two hospitals. Working as a volunteer veterinarian in Australia and overseas, travelling with his wife Cath and spending some much needed time at home and in the garden, is on the agenda for Stuart in the short term. Dr Tamara Butler, who has been with the business for 17 years, will be promoted to the Lead Vet role when Stuart resigns. Dr Nicole McKenzie will take on the Tamara’s Veterinary Manager role, while Ms Carrie Luckie will retain the Practice Manager role. We are incredibly grateful for the dedication and care that each of our departing veterinarians has given to our clients and patients, and their departures will mean a temporary change to our service availability. Be assured that we are actively and enthusiastically recruiting veterinarians to join our team. We’d like to introduce Dr Josh Tannen, a small animal veterinarian & surgeon, who will be with us until April. This experienced and easy-going locum will be very welcome by the team. However, in the short term, we will be operating with a smaller team, so there may be occasions where we are unable to provide the full range of services that are currently provided. What does this mean for you? • At times, we may need to rotate Saturday clinic closures. • There will be evenings or weekends when we do not have an after-hours veterinarian available. We will always do our best to keep you informed. Any changes to opening hours or services will be communicated via our social media pages and through notifications on the Yass Vet App. As always, if you require after-hours assistance when a veterinarian is not available, please call us on 6226 4444. Your call will be answered by a team of qualified nurses who will triage your situation and direct you to the closest appropriate emergency hospital if needed. We truly appreciate your understanding, patience, and ongoing support during this period of transition. Our commitment to providing compassionate, high-quality care for your animals remains at the heart of everything we do.
