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The Veterinarian Nurse
When you visit the veterinary surgeon with your pet, have you given a thought to the veterinary nurse? Historically the girl who worked at the vets was the maid who answered the door when the vet was out. Gradually over the last 50 years the situation has changed.
There is of course no sex discrimination, but there are only a few qualified male veterinary nurses.
Vet and nurse
During a normal working day a veterinary nurse will be involved in a wide range od duties as answering the telephone, making appointments, receiving clients, assisting in the consulting room, working in the operating theatre maintaining anaesthesia, cleaning and sterilising instruments, preparing patients for surgery, assisting in taking and processing X-rays, working in the laboratory, dispensing drugs, etc.
The most important and always the most popular part of the day is spent caring for the patients.
Dogs and cats, and of course other species, have to be cleaned, fed, groomed, and above all, loved.
We have all learned to try not to become too emotionally involved with our patients but all too frequently we do and the empty cage, still with its label, around the middle of the day usually means something furry or hairy is sharing lunch with a nurse in the staff room. Surely this is what nursing is all about: caring.
Clients are frequently unaware of the wide range of duties we undertake and the depth of study needed to enable us to qualify. More and more veterinary practices are happy to emply qualified nurses knowing they have been trained to an accepted standard.
The work is challenging. always interesting and never ever dull. There are some unhappy occasions but these are necessary and hopefully are not too frequent.
Most nurses, when qualified, remain in general practice but there are an increasing number of openings in associated areas. Some nurses become veterinary representatives, others work for veterinary wholesalers and drug comapnies, quarantine kennels, breeding kennels and catteries and boarding establishments.
For further details ask the nurse next time you go to the vet.
