To retrain as a vet nurse in my 40s?

[InterloperMum]

I recently re-trained as a healthcare professional (occupational therapist) and have realised it is not for me due to the lack of role clarity / definition. Currently work in NHS.

I'm thinking of re-training again. I have always loved animals. I wanted to be a vet when I was younger but knew I wouldn't be able to meet the academic requirements.

I'm a very practical person, not squemish, don't mind cleaning, good with customers and physically fit.

I have two children at school, am London based.

Has anyone ever re-trained as a vet nurse? Do you work as a vet nurse? Would you recommend it? What are the downsides? I realise the pay is not great.

How might I go about it? I would need to earn whilst training.

Any advice would be gratefully received. Thank you.

That sounds horrendous. I hope your experience is an extreme one for the industry. I’d be amazed if my lovely vet is actually awful in any of the ways you describe.

I hope so too. I've worked in a lot of practices, both PAYE and as a self employed locum and every single one has had immense problems for the staff, the critters, the clients or all three.

It all needs root and branch reform and the way the practice ownership has changed this last 20 years has not had a good effect but it's private sector so you just have to hope for the best.

Don’t do it OP.
If I could go back - I would choose a different career.
Basically what others here have said: long hours, expected to do overtime if an emergency comes in, on call, poor pay, stressful, and sometimes really heartbreaking.

I have worked with amazing nurses and vets, and there are more than a few pets that I will never forget. But I don’t think it was worth it, and I was always in a worse position financially than my friends who chose differently

if you qualify and then locum, you can get a lot more money though.

(but don’t go into veterinary!)

RVN for almost 30 years here . Love my profession - its part of my soul . Would i choose it again given the chance ? No . As others have said ; long hours , shit pay, a lot of stress and physically demaning. . The animals themselves are the least stressful part. The only perk really . I have never earned more than 29000 pa and it shows . Can barely afford my rent and have had two jobs most of my life to make ends meet. There is little career progression. If you are already financially secure and securly housed then go for it- the job satisfaction can be immense.if not , my advice is swerve it - cuddle someone else's dog in your spare time and stay as an OT and find your groove with that with your (hopefully ) good benefits and pay. Sorry to be cynical but its just not for everybody. Xx

Being brutal is go and speak to someone who can talk you through why you've retrained for one job and want to go and do another.

Don't rush into a new career. Again.

Sending love xx i hear you x

Another RVN here (16 years)

Don't do it. I would never recommend it to anybody. I’ve no idea why I still do it other than I have no other qualifications and don’t know where to begin. I work in emergency work now and still get no thanks and am constantly skint.

The pay is shocking for the skill set we have. If I could go back I would not choose the same path.

@Bordercollierun and @Elmo311 @WakeUpchangeChannelSleeeeeep this is a depressing thread ...no ? 😥 I dont post much on MN but we all feel strongly enough that we had to come on here to try and stop OP making a potentially bad decision they may regret. Doesnt say much for our profession and that does make me a bit sad. Hopefully she will stay as an OP .

As a vet can I thank you please? Infinite respect for my RVN colleagues. I think morale is low across the profession though and would certainly not encourage anyone I cared about into it. I also often think of leaving but have no idea what else I would do. I still love my patients and those clients who aren't irretrievably convinced I'm only wanting to milk them for every penny they have.

Thank you! I have worked with some amazing vets and nurses over the years (as well as receptionists who always take the brunt) So many caring and lovely people, not to mention the animals which I still even now go home and think about.

Morale has been so low since the cost of living crisis and min wage increases. I’ve been qualified 16 years, run a team of 15, have 2 diplomas and barely scrape £15/hour. The nurses below me are pretty much on min wage and are burning out while our corporate runs us ragged.

I feel like I’ve wasted my life on this career but I'm trapped now due to childcare and not being able to afford to retrain.

sorry to make your thread so depressing OP

I agree. I can get a vein in anything. Tortoise jug or tail. Rat lateral tail veins. I can manage a vet practice, nurse anything back to health and set up machines of all stripes and interpret the results churned out. Min of ag (as was) docs, insurance claims, wages, clean floors and I can get shit out of or off of anything at all leaving it fragrant as a daisy. Put in 10, 12 14 hour shifts without sitting down and only having one piss and yet I would get spoken to like I was shit on a shoe by my 'superiors' on the regular.

It's a mugs game.

You sound amazing xx

The grass is always greener. I’ve got a lot going on right now so can’t be giving lots of reasons and/or details. My main point though, is you should seriously stick with OT and find your niche/accept working life isn’t perfect. The time it takes to retrain, to then find you’re even more
disillusioned with the work and pay- don’t do it. If the pay rewarded the effort, but at the end of the day- we work for the money….

Don't do it OP, although I think you've already realised that!
I trained as a VN and worked in practice when i left school, about 20 years ago. I actually really enjoyed it and especially the amazing team (some of the VN's I worked with are still some of my best friends today) I left the profession age 25 for a position i couldn't pass up on, I often thank my lucky stars that opportunity came up! It's a young persons career imo, I would be much worse off fanancially and probably mentally and physically had I still been nursing in my 40's.

What drew you to OT in the first place? What fires you up that is people related? I'm thinking you would be better off using your existing qualification - narrow down your specialist interest/client group...move to private practice......work for a charity. Your energy will gradually drop off as you age anyway and at this stage you are better working with what you have than going into something physically demanding and low paid that requires extensive retraining.

There are so many different types of OT work. You may just need to keep trying different roles until you find one more suited to you. The pay is so much better and you will always be in demand.

Is there a way of combining your OT qualification and working with animals? Maybe therapy dogs?

I think you would be bloody stupid to give up a NHS salary, pension contributions, AL, pay progression and opportunities to work as a vet nurse.

You also say you have just retrained as an OT and now you want to give it up - are you just chasing the impossible?

The OT placements you've had sound very tough! I too would be looking for OT work in a different area- community, private, paeds etc. An OT friend works part time now and also teaches nordic walking.

IF you did want to retrain again, an osteopath can treat both humans and animals. I see a lady who does horse/rider osteopath sessions, also treating dogs and cats. I used to visit an osteopathy school and nearly all the students had already had a different career- police officer, fitness trainer, teacher etc. The training is full or part time and once qualified, you could rent a room and set your own hours.

No advise, OP, but I keep misreading your title as ‘AIBU to retrain as a wet nurse’ and wondering whether anyone still uses wetnurses…

😆

I’m a vet - there are very few vet nurses still working as VNs (some go into practice management, repping etc) in their 40s mainly because the salaries in no way recompense the skill levels and hard work involved and because it’s physically demanding and the hours are not family friendly. As a qualified nurse you would be doing well to get £30k (some corporates pay that) and without the NHS benefits of pensions etc - statutory minimums are the norm. The two routes into it are a 3 year degree with unpaid placements - which personally I think is madness even as an 18 year old when the job prospects are poor - or an apprenticeship route which takes around 2 years employed on minimum wage, one day a week at college, with college work to do on top of working another 4 days a week in practice. These placements are hard to come by as not every practice is a training provider - from the practice point of view they pay college costs and need a nurse or vet who is an assessor to set time aside to mentor the student. We usually employ staff as either a receptionist or animal care assistant for a year or so before considering training them.

I'm a vet nurse having trained 15 years ago, its a rewarding job but like all jobs , it has its downsides . Since becoming a mum I have realised how the profession lacks any flexibility especially if you are required to do on call (really depends if your kids are younger or more independent). Good luck which ever route you choose xx

RVN here. I actually teach the course these days. It’s been a rewarding career. As others have said, the hours are long and the pay is extremely poor.
I loved it for many years in spite of this… the sheer variety in my day made it worth getting out of bed for. You could be doing clinics, lab work, x-rays, anaesthetics and general nursing care all in one day. I rarely had a boring day.
It’s a hell of a lot to learn and you don’t get a great deal of kudos for it from the general public… most people assume our job is just to restrain the animals for the vet to do those things. The truth is the vets do the formal diagnosing, prescribing and major surgery but the nurses do absolutely everything else associated with those things. Even now when I’m teaching my students my mind is blown by the sheer breadth of what vet nurses need to know.
I have a couple of students in their 40s training to be RVNs, they’re the most focused in the class. It’s definitely not too late and if you have a genuine love of animals and medicine then it’s worth it.

Another RVN here…

I think most things have been covered, the extremely poor pay, unsociable hours, getting screamed/shouted at by horrible owners who have often got themselves (let their pet) get into an awful state which is completely heartbreaking.

I am a head nurse that manages a team of around 12 people, I am on around £10k a year less than my friend who is a manager in a non-veterinary industry and manages 4 people.

There are aspects of the job I love, but sadly now, the aspects I don’t love far outweigh these. I’m currently on maternity leave and don’t plan on returning to my job, which is a real shame as I’ve dedicated the last 15 years of my life to it, even completing an advanced certificate.

Getting an SVN role is often tricky and normally go to people who have been working in the practice as patient care assistants for years on NMW before they are advertised externally.

There is a large amount of theory work to do including exams, assignments, practical assessments and completing a portfolio while working, as well as revising and learning the practical skills. This equals late nights etc so would consider this if you already have children.

One tiny bit of food for thought which is likely controversial - corporate owned practices do offer much more in terms of benefits, I work for one and have been incredibly lucky in that time to have had 8 weeks off fully paid following knee surgery and a pretty good maternity package. I’ve also had a much better experience working for a corporate practice than I ever did at an independent practice, but that’s a story for another day!

Hope this is insightful, sorry to be a debbie downer about the career path but sadly that is how it is. Good luck with whatever you decide to do OP.