When it comes to a job as a vet assistant, there is more to it than just having a love for animals. While this is often enough of a reason for many people to consider taking animal care courses, it's important that you consider other qualities required in vet care jobs and look to see how they might match your personal characteristics.
What Is It Like Working As A Veterinary Nurse?
As animal care online training teaches you fairly early on, vet clinics can often be chaotic places full of emotional owners and frightened animals, but the rewards are huge, particularly in terms of job satisfaction. It's just one of the many factors that make animal care such an attractive proposition.
It’s a fast-growing industry too, as the stats show it has been growing by just under 4% a year, every year, since 2017. That means your services as a qualified vet assistant will always be in demand.
What Skills Do I Need To Be A Veterinary Nurse?
Well, there are many, and you may or may not have all of them. Some people are born with these attributes, whereas others are taught them through life experience. So, here we offer some career counselling advice on the finer details of the personal traits a Vet Nurse calls for.
- Focus - Of the veterinary practice you're working in will be a busy and chaotic place, with many distractions to stop you from getting tasks completed. As such, you'll need to have an ability to focus on the job at hand, so you can get it completed, especially as an animal's health may depend on it!
- Active Listening - a skill you won't need animal health care courses to perfect is your ability to listen, but it's one you'll need as a Vet Nurse. In the role, you have to follow the instructions of vets and vet technicians to the letter, or the care you're providing may not be right, so strong listening skills are an absolute must.
- Compassion - it goes without saying that veterinary Nurses should have a love for animals to be suited to the role, so compassion for them is a given. However, this needs to extend to the owners who may get bad news about their fluffy pals from time to time. Be compassionate to everyone, including humans, and you won't go far wrong.
- Attention to Detail - there's not much room for error when caring for pets - something that will be pretty evident at some point in your animal health courses. That's why attention to detail is a vital skill in this line of work, particularly as you might be giving medication, monitoring animal health or sterilising surgical equipment. Sometimes it can literally mean life or death for the animals you're looking after, so it's an important aspect to get right.
- Patience - Sometimes, both animals and people can be difficult, and you get are exposed to a wide range of personality types, both human and canine. As such, in this kind of emotional situation (a sick pet), animals and their owners can become fractious, frustrated and difficult to deal with. You have to remember it's a stressful situation for everyone involved and exercise patience at all times.
After completing the relevant animal care courses and becoming a fully-fledged vet nurse, you'll face a number of challenges every day. In addition to what we've already discussed, you’ll need great problem-solving, critical thinking and conflict-management abilities. You'll need to be physically fit, too, as you'll pretty much always be on your feet! Have you considered a vet nurse course?
Achieve Your Vet Nurse Career With Short Courses Online
So, if, after reading our blog, you feel like you have what it takes to make it as a vet nurse, the great news is that the training you need is more affordable and convenient than ever. Thanks to CPD short courses online from OCA; you get to learn what you need at a pace and time that suits you and your current obligations. Great value offers like our Vet Assistant & Animal Bundle mean we're cost-effective too!
Our learning experience transcends traditional text-based learning, too, as it's video-based and modular, meaning you can fit in a module via your phone whenever you have a spare five minutes. What to see that experience a bit more closely? Then take a look at our Study Demo that shows you exactly what to expect as an OCA learner.
Alternatively, if you'd like to find out more about us, visit us at www.onlinecoursesaustralia.edu.au, where you'll find affordable, cheap training covering more than 20 different industries, as well as flexible payment options and details of how all our courses come with 1 to 1 mentoring and tutorial support.
However, if you'd prefer to talk to us directly about your learning needs, just call 130 611 404 or drop us an email at support@onlinecourses.com.au, and we'll get back to you as soon as we can. Explore a vet nurse course today!
