My journey began with Yass Valley Veterinary as a trainee vet nurse almost 6 years ago & I have no hesitation in saying that it’s the best & most emotional adventure I could have expected. I love what I do & there isn’t a week that goes by that I haven’t left work without gaining new experiences, new knowledge, strengths & never without feeling either joy or sadness through patients who have touched my heart. There’s no denying that in a mixed practice hospital like ours there is no 2 days ever the same, each day you turn up to work & you will never be certain where or you might end up before the day ends – that’s one of the things I love most about nursing.Thinking about this always takes me back to a day earlier in my time at Yass Valley Veterinary. I was an eager trainee nurse & always keen to jump in to do anything, this particular winters day was warm & mild, I had been working away in the clinic all morning doing the usual endless cleaning, preparing & recovering patients from surgery, treating hospital patients, puppy vaccinations, farewelling 4 legged loved ones & negotiating my way around the occasional snappy & unhappy patient. After lunch bought all new excitement to me, one of the vets were preparing to head out on an
out call & they needed a nurse. I eagerly helped get all the equipment ready, packed the car & off we went - little did I know how much my naive mind would be expanded as I learned (literally) about the “ins & outs” of what’s involved fertility testing 30 bulls, I’m a lot more experience with it now but we don’t need to go into that right now… please!
We were running a little late by the time we finished, it was starting to get dark & a nasty looking storm was on the way, we were pleased to be finished just in time. We started our 45-minute drive back to the clinic & as we reached phone reception we found a few missed calls from the clinic, we called back to discover that there was a heifer having trouble calving close by (but still so far from the clinic). We briskly turned the vehicle around & off we went to find the property, we started driving through the paddocks in search of the cattle yards & owner when it started to absolutely pour down with rain & the thunder rumbled through the ground. I was filled with adrenaline to see my first calving, which was probably in my favour because it distracted me from the drenching rain. But! Within no time things had escalated quickly & I found myself seeing my first ever cow caesarean instead. There was very little time for any strategy plans or instructions from the vet as we were all too busy shivering & being saturated straight through to the skin, so I had to learn everything on the fly. I’m please to say that cow caesareans seem a lot more natural to me now then what I was feeling that day, I definitely got a whole new insight into the inside of a cow’s abdomen & when the vet asked you to hold EVERYTHING in while they stitch up, they really, really mean HOLD everything in! ...it took everything I physically had to hold "IT" in! Some might call me mad, but I recall thinking ‘how cool is this!’
I still remember my feeling of confusion when the calf was whisked out through the abdomen & draped over the cattle yard fence by its hind legs, I soon realised it was obviously to help drain all the fluid from his lungs. Once the stitch up process was well underway, I had the task of removing the calf from the fence to dry him down & get him moving - this was easier said than done! I might also add that it was still pouring with ice cold rain & It’s quite difficult to drag a soggy, lanky calf off the top rail of a cattle yard fence. Towels were in short supply, so I found myself reaching for anything remotely absorbent - overalls, our own dry, spare clothes & jackets, whatever I could find. As we were finishing up the rain & thunder was kind enough to ease off so mum & calf could recover in peace. With well-earned success upon us we left the property for our long, tired drive home, feeling saturated, frozen & hungry.
After the
grueling clean-up of all the gear & surgery packs back in the clinic it was finally home time. I treated myself to some cheeky McDonalds drive through on my way home followed by a hot shower & sleep so I could get up before the sun rises in the morning to do it all again - if that doesn’t sound like fun to you then that’s ok, we seem to be a different breed of human to some.
I’ve had many more exhausting shifts since then & although it leaves me feeling completely over done sometimes there’s always the significant better moments that get me through every time. Plus! I never forget the amazing people I get to work beside every day that make the hard times more bearable & the good times that much more amazing.
It’s all in a day’s work, we aren’t patting puppies & kittens all day!
It’s not the money we are here for, we each have our own unique reasons for doing what we do in this fast paced industry. But I can confidently say the one thing that we all feel in common is the appreciation that we can make a difference in an animals life & be an advocate for them when they can’t speak for themselves.
