Any vet nurses? Tell me how to get started please!

[EeylopsOwlEmporium]

I've recently found out I'll be made redundant in a few months from my admin job of 13 years. I've always wished I did vet nursing at uni (instead of choosing something I ended up hating and leaving halfway through) and am wondering if I can get into it now? I know there's an apprenticeship - type route, but am I too old for this at 35? If not, do I just send my CV around asking to be considered for student positions? Or do I need some kind of registration/qualification first? I've looked on google but can only seem to find brief descriptions of the two routes of study and nothing about how to actually get into the placements. I plan to have a chat with my local surgery but don't want to waste anyone's time if it's just a pipe dream at my age. Thanks

this is quite good and has a bit on placements

The link WeAll posted pretty much covers it but I just wanted to make you aware of how competitive it can be to get a placement. Our latest student nurse has just enrolled ready for September after waiting three years for the opportunity, having been working as a veterinary care assistant/assistant receptionist in that time and completing a level 2 diploma, on minimum wage. We won't have another student now for 2-3 years but will still continue to receive several letters a week asking for placements, including people willing to volunteer unpaid to get a foot in the door. :(

Have you considered an admin role in the veterinary industry instead? It's a foot in the door for when a nursing placement comes up and you'd get a realistic idea of what the nurses do day to day it's backbreaking and poorly paid

As toboldgo says it is very competitive and you need to be prepared for an apprentice wage. The apprentice route is not for the faint hearted you are working long hours in practice, going to college one day a week, keeping up to date with your nursing progress log on line and completing all your assignments. You could go back to uni and do the foundation degree course for three years. Basic week in practice is 40 hours with on-call/out of hours on top, staying late is very common and missing lunch breaks is often the norm.
My nurses are not badly paid, but not fabulously. But they regularly get rude comments from clients about how they must be raking it in, they often get shouted at by clients and often have clients be rude to them. As my daughter puts it, it is a lot of wee, poo and sick. There is a huge amount of cleaning. We get bitten, scratched and bruised on a regular basis. Just three weeks ago I got so badly bitten that my hand swelled up due to infection in a joint and the tendon sheaths and I had to take 11 antibiotic tablets a day.
To go into as a 'mature' student nurse you have to be 100% you could stick with it despite all of this.

Thanks for your replies. I understand it's very competitive, and I'm well prepared to not be able to get a placement, but I feel like if I don't try now I never will. The cleaning, wee, poo, sick and scratched bitten and bruised is pretty much how I'd describe my evenings and weekends to be honest - I have a horse, ferrets and a dog and I've had other species over the years too. I'm well aware of the disgusting things that can come out of an ill animal!
I currently work 40 hours a week at minimum wage so the nurse's wage can't be any worse, I just have to deal with the lower wage while a student. I actually started off saying I'd love to be reception/admin in a vet so if that's what's available I'd be fine with that, but if I can get into the nursing I'd love to. But I do need some money coming in so the uni route seems impossible now