# Any vet nurses on here?



## kate.m.

Ive recently decided to retrain as a vet nurse (my dream job!) & am really looking 4ward to it! The only trouble is, the training is 2 years & we'd planned to ttc august 2010. My hubby now wants to wait untill i finish training (including the 6 month probation period that would be january 2012!!) i am just wondering if anyone on here has done the vet nurse training? or knows any1 who has? There is a pregnant trainee vet nurse there at the mo, but as ive only just started the job, i dont wanna talk babies with them yet! So i know it must be possible. 

What would you do? Hubby has (at a push) suggested that we ttc 6 months before im due to finish training... but that would still be july 2011, a whole year after we'd planned to ttc! 

Help!! I really really weant to do this job, but i dont want to wait till im 28/29 to ttc! Im 25 now, and it just seems like such a long time to wait!!


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## CurlyCasper

Not a VN, but I do know a bit about the training.

I'd get qualified first - you might not have the energy to train during or after pregnancy. And VNs have to do loads of practical experience to qualify (70 weeks I think). Are you already working in another role in a practice? Because you'd need to have been somewhere at least a year to get decent maternity pay, if that's a consideration.

The time will fly by. I always wanted kids in mid 20s, but we had to wait to make our careers secure, and it means we are in a much better position - mentally and financially secure - to do it now. I'm 30!

If you're really determined, why not look into a part-time degree and see how that would work for you?


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## toffee87

I'm in a similar situation, I want to do my secondary PGCE and atleast start my first job, which means waiting til late 2011, early 2012! 

I'd get your training and the first bit of the job over first, get the biggest loops out first, as you'll have enough stress anyway!


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## kate.m.

yeah, my mind changes like the wind! Sometimes i realise how sensible (& easier) it would be to do the training first... but then other times i think "yeah, but we could still do it anyway!".

As for my role, ive literally just been accepted into a vet practice as a trainee nurse. I would have to do 6 months probation before i even start training. I think i might just wait untill the original ttc date & reassess then? By that time i'd have been training for 8 months & would understand more about what's expected of me?


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## pinklizzy

Hi, I'm a VN! I did my training through the degree so it took 4 years but it's the same in terms of completing your portfolio and practical exams etc. IMO doing the job as well as training (esp if you're doing a 40+hr week) is tough without being pregnant at the same time. There are also a number of hazards as part of the job-heavy lifiting, x-rays, anaesthetic gases, toxo etc. Trying to avoid all of these as well as trying to get through all your required elements for the portfolio would also be difficult.
Don't mean to sound so negative, sorry! 
I've been qualified for 4 years now and we are WTT for a bit longer because the job isn't an easy one to do while pregnant. Feel free to PM if you want any more info (I'm an assessor too if you have portfolio queries!)
Have fun, it's a great job :happydance:


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## kate.m.

Thanks pinklizzy, thats deffo all stuff I need to think about! I was wondering about things like xrays etc, but iv found out that one vet and one vn is pregnant at the practice at the moment (its a massive practice!) & they just dont do the xrays. She did say that she was due to qualify this year "but im pregnant now, so thats gonna have to be put on hold for a bit". Im not sure if she meant because of mat leave, or because she's had to stop training whilst pregnant?. 

Good to know theres an assessor on here! It seems like a great job! I really hope it is, ive been disappointed by a job before (teaching)! But every vet nurse ive spoken to seems to still love their job & i think thats so important! Much more important than money IMO!

Now i need to choose between having a job i love and having a baby!! How is that decision even possible?! lol!


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## pinklizzy

If it's a large practice then it's probably easier to avoid having to x-ray, although it is a fairly large portion of the level 3 training. We are a fairly small practice with me as the only qualified VN with a VCA so it's a lot more difficult.
I do have days where I question exactly why it is I do this job :dohh: but on the whole it's very rewarding and interesting-no two days are ever the same! Will you be working in small animal or mixed practice? Obviously mixed practice has other issues to consider in terms of pregnancy, nothing's ever easy is it!


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## kate.m.

Its a really exciting practice! There are about 13 vets and 30 nurses- all at different levels of qualification. I will be working in the small animal practice, but they also have a farm animal and an equine practice, and links with chester zoo, if i want to do other things! My friend (who put in a good word for me to get the job! bless her!) got to help out with an orangutan's dental! lol! There is 1 vet there who is quite scary- he's like the gordon ramsey of the vet world! lol!


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## toffee87

Sounds great! I used to want to be a VT, but I realised I don't like blood lol. (nearly fainted on work exp week)


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## angel1990

hi, im a trained vet care assistant lol. want to continue my VN traing but cant find a practice anywere!! driving me mad but i might wait now til i have had a baby lol. loved doing the job and want to go back into it! miss it soo much!!


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## Jenren

Congrats on getting your placement - did you just write to all the vet centres or apply for a actual trainee job ??


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## kate.m.

I just wrote to all the training centres near me (there were about 8 of em within an hours drive) and only this 1 invited me for interview- they said they were really impressed with my cv, but just worried i wouldnt be able to cope on the wages- coz they thought i was getting megga£ as a teacher! I told em im supply teaching & get £500 a month if im lucky, & they were like "oh, you'll b fine then!" So they asked me to come in for 1 day experience (seeing as i had no experience working with animals other than my own!) & said "if ur sure u still want to do it after ur days experience, the job's yours!"

Picked my uniform up today! Its not very sexy! lol!


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## Jenren

Sounds fab - may try that myself at equestrian centres / vets. 
Good Luck hun xx


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## pinklizzy

kate.m. said:


> *Picked my uniform up today! Its not very sexy! lol!*

lol, nope! :rofl: Do you have the traditional student green and white striped tunic and the simon cowell elasticated waist trousers with the pleat down the front?!
I was so glad to get my greens and wear a dress or scrubs most of the time now.


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## kate.m.

yup! :rofl: The Simon Cowell trousers! They're actually a little tight, so im gonna either have to change them for a bigger size, or walk around with a wedgie all day! :rofl: Its the elasticated waist that got me! But at least the top covers that bit up!


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## pinklizzy

Have you started your VN training yet? Hope you're enjoying it! :mrgreen:


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## kate.m.

Hiya! Not started the actual college part of training yet, but ive been doing a hell of a lot of practical stuff: xrays, running bloods, monitoring anaesthetics, injections... and a LOT of cleaning! :rofl:


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## pinklizzy

Oh yeah, the cleaning :rofl:Sounds like you've been doing a lot though, I ended up doing 12 hrs today :sleep:


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## kate.m.

I nearly took a cat home today! Its got grade 6 heart failure (not exactly sure if ive used the correct term?) and could either die in 6 months or 6 years, nobody knows, but when it does die it will be sudden.. its a silver tabbly maine coone & only 5 months old; its owners wanted it putting down now- because they didnt want to get too attached to it before it died! The vet hasnt put it to sleep yet- she's trying to find a home for it, to see if any1 wants to take it for its final months/years, tried to persuade hubby, but he said that a cat with heart failure doesnt need to be chased around by a great dane!! I suppose he has a point!!


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## Jenren

So you enjoying it ?
Do you feel you have made the right decision with your career ?


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## kate.m.

Yeah im really enjoying it! I deffo think ive made the right decision! Its (obviously) soo different to teaching, but i love it! It has its sad parts, and its stressful parts, but working with animals is just so rewarding! This cat hadnt eaten at all after its op & it had to eat before it went home, and i eventually persuaded it to demolish a whole tin of cat food! I felt so chuffed! lol! I think that something that annoyed me about teaching is that: there is no end goal/result... even if ur kids get fantastic results, u gotta push em further n make em do more...& it made me feel like whatever u do isnt good enough, because you could always do better (not sure if that makes sense?! lol!) but this is different!


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## Jenren

Id love to be vet nurse - sounds like you def made the right decision.
xx


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## eightambliss

Good for you! Think how awesome it will be to tell your child that mommy saves animals for a living (I'm a major animal lover). By the way, that's a huge dog in your profile picture!


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## kate.m.

:rofl: Im tempted to describe my career as "I help kittens get better!" Sounds too cute for words! Thats my "baby" in my pic! lol! She is a bit of a monster, but such a softy.... I had to get up at 5am the other day..... because there was a fly in her bed that she wanted me to get rid of, because she was scared of it! She was just whimpering at it from the corner of the room!!! :rofl:

The major decision for me was the wage cut: Choosing between bein rich & miserable, or poor & happy! I finally went for the latter.... but ive recently realised_ ive made that decision before_! When my parents divorced I chose to live with my Mum in her 2 bed housing authority flat, rather than live with my Dad in his 5 bedroom house with stables, horses, acres and an orchard.... and i felt pretty damn happy about my decision! Wouldnt have had it any other way!


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## pinklizzy

kate.m. said:


> Yeah im really enjoying it! I deffo think ive made the right decision! Its (obviously) soo different to teaching, but i love it! It has its sad parts, and its stressful parts, but working with animals is just so rewarding! This cat hadnt eaten at all after its op & it had to eat before it went home, and i eventually persuaded it to demolish a whole tin of cat food! I felt so chuffed! lol! I think that something that annoyed me about teaching is that: there is no end goal/result... even if ur kids get fantastic results, u gotta push em further n make em do more...& it made me feel like whatever u do isnt good enough, because you could always do better (not sure if that makes sense?! lol!) but this is different!

That's one thing that I love about this job, you can really feel as if you've made a difference and getting an animal to eat is one of those things! Sending an animal home after major surgery/medical treatment and knowing that the nursing care has made a big difference to their recovery. Much more important than the vets :winkwink: I do have days when I come home and cry and it can be very stressful but I still can't imagine doing anything else. I'm really glad you're enjoying it :happydance:


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