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.
