Anyone a vet or vet nurse? Career questions!

[SunThroughTheGrey]

I wanted to be a vet when I was young (which kid didn't!) but life took a different path. I'm now in a place where I could take time out to study and change careers totally.

I've been doing some online certificates on canine welfare and care and I was wondering about maybe going down the vet nurse route? But I'd love to know the reality of the job! I probably have an idealised view of working with animals after a decade of office work.

Tell me the truth! Are you happy? Would you recommend the job to others? Tell me all!

I’m a vet nurse and have been for over 15 years.

I think the thing the majority of RVNs struggle with is the pay. For context I am on £12 an hour despite being 15 years qualified, training the next generation of RVNs and running a team. I also have additional qualifications in behaviour, CT scanning and imaging.
Be prepared to slave for pennies forever and never really be recognised for it. I’ve even had owners ask if I am there to make the vets a cuppa
Some practices work shifts/nights but there’s quite a few 9-5 practices around and part time jobs do come up, there’s a national shortage of RVNs so it is possible to get a decent shift pattern if your experienced enough IMO.

As for the actual job some practices are better than others. I tend not to spend that much time with the animals because they are either under GA or I am doing something bad to them. There’s also quite a bit of working with the general public which some RVNs didn’t realise before training. Some practices make reception work mandatory also (mine does not but it was a module in training!)
Other bad bits are the smells, it’s gruesome at times and also the obvious constant death that does happen on a daily basis in a larger practice. Most vets are lovely but you do get the odd one that treats you like equipment rather than a skilled person

I am never bored particularly at work so that’s a positive. There’s always something to do and it’s a very physical and active job.
I do like the animals (even when they are trying to maul you, which they do ) but it really isn’t lots of cuddling puppies which tends to be the outside view of it!

I would say I am kept busy at work and I have a good team but I feel under appreciated as is almost every RVN I know and if I had my time I would have don't something where I had more meaning in a job if you see what I mean!

I’ve got a good friend who was an RVN and left after about 9 years for office work as the pay was so dire.

Thanks @Housebears and @Lastqueenofscotland I knew the pay was low but didn't know how low. I know there's a lot of mental health issues in vets so I guess that's also something to consider

I am very north but the wage really is shocking.
Most big practices pay a newly qualified not much above minimum wage. I think the majority of our RVNs are on somewhere around £10 or £11/hour.
I am on slightly more at £12 odd which is about average. You can get more in referral (maybe £25-30k a year full time) or night work but not massive amounts!

Maybe the south pays more though

@SunThroughTheGrey

Thanks *@Housebears and @Lastqueenofscotland* I knew the pay was low but didn't know how low. I know there's a lot of mental health issues in vets so I guess that's also something to consider

Look around not a single one of my nurses on less than £15 per hour and if you choose out of hours work the going rate is £25 per hour. There is a move to push salaries up and my employer has minimum levels for time qualified. My nurses run their own clinics, but they also do a lot of work with stock. There is a lot of mess that can never be underestimated it is rare to go home without body fluids on you. As said you need to love people there is lots of client communication and you need to be resilient.

@Lonecatwithkitten take me

Honestly we have campaigned for years with a corporate company for fair pay and it hasn’t happened.
I was involved in quite a bit of data collection in the UK in order to try and convince the powers that be to pay us for our skills and found the average RVN salary from a data survey of just over 1000 nurses was 20k. The range was between 16-28k.
That’s shockingly low for what we do as you know and I wouldn’t recommend anyone go into the job without being aware of how shit the wages are. It’s probably the reason experienced staff retention is so low.

@Housebears I am with one of the cooperates, but I highly value my team so defend their pay at budget time.