Sometimes it's when you first meet someone and they ask what you do for a living.
Sometimes it's a worried client, looking for reassurance.
Often, in my line of work, I'll hear someone say. "Oh, You're just a Nurse."
"Yes! I'm a Veterinary Nurse", I'll proudly reply every time.
I'm just a Nurse…
I'm just a Nurse, who stays up throughout the night with my eyes on your pet. It's my eyes and ears that keep a lookout for any changes in your pets condition, it's my knowledge and gut feeling, that alerts the Vet to any red flags within your pets vitals.
I wear my stethoscope like a necklace, my pockets are filled with thermometers, monitors and pens and if it's towards the end of my shift, you won't want to know what else I might be wearing on my scrubs… It rhymes with Wodily Bluids.
It was me that placed your pets cannula. I drew his blood, ran the tests and alerted the Vet to any abnormalities that were found. Those X-ray's that Fluffy had done at 3am, I took those.
When a pet crashes, I'm usually the first one there to start the life saving chest compressions that we deliver for resuscitation.
I'm just a fluid slinging, medication delivering, anaesthetic monitoring, bed changing, wee walking, wound cleaning, tick pulling, paw holding Vet Nurse.
I'm the one who gets to cuddle your pet, when she is scared or disorientated. I'm the first to get to see her improvement from the treatments that I have been managing and delivering.
I have to think quickly in an emergency, when orders are being called out around the treatment bench. I spend the whole shift on my feet. I don't have a scheduled lunch time and if your pet needs me, I won't have lunch at all. Home time is often past the time my roster says, but for your pet and for my fellow Nurses, I will power on.
I'm just a Nurse….
I'm just a Nurse, who helps you understand the treatment plan. I'm just a Nurse who consoles you when things are uncertain. I have to talk you through the tough subjects, like resuscitation orders and finances, I know my compassion can't fix these things, but I will offer as much as I can.
I will hand feed my patients warm chicken whilst doing a handstand, if that's what helps them eat. Luckily I haven't had quite that combination of preferences yet, but if that is what your pet requests, you can bet that's what I'll do.
I'm there in the witching hours, providing physiotherapy. You may see me outside patiently pleading with a pooch to void their bladder, using every cue word I can possibly dream up. "Wee! Go Toilet! Potty Time! Wee Wee's! Do Wee!". You'll hear me cheer and praise when it works. I'm aware I look crazy and I'm okay with it.
From the moment your pet arrives at the hospital, I'm there for every step of their treatment. The tricky jobs, the dirty jobs and the best ones too (CUDDLES!).
No, I didn't want to be a Vet. Vets are amazing, I love my Vets, but I also love being a Vet Nurse. The job we do together could never cancel one another out.
I'm just a Nurse….
I'm just a Nurse, there's a thousand of me out there. We do this work for love. We're passionate and caring. You may wonder how we do it, sometimes you even ask. We'll all tell you, we're able to do it because someone has to and it might as well be us.
A big shout out to all of my fellow Veterinary Nurses and all of the Veterinarians who I have ever had the privilege of working along side, you are the most driven, selfless and kind hearted people that this world has to offer and I am incredibly proud to be a part of this industry because of you all.
This post first appeared on Courtney's blog: From The Ground Up, and has been republished with full permission
About Courtney
I'm Courtney, a Veterinary Nurse and as far as jobs go, it's basically all I know. I've been Nursing since I left school and I've now been working in emergency for two years.
I'm a single Mum and to be completely honest, that's actually my favourite job (don't tell nursing). I never thought I could be as passionate about something other than animals, before I was blessed with the best kid in the whole world (not even kidding, he's the best one).
Writing is a creative outlet for me, something I've always enjoyed doing but never really thought to pursue. I absolutely love anything Australian and I like to spend my free time trekking our natural wonders or kayaking our beautiful river systems.
