Is veterinary nursing for me?
Explore the incredible rewards and opportunities a career in veterinary nursing can give you.
What does a vet nurse do?
As a veterinary nurse, you’re the backbone of your practice, assisting veterinary surgeons, nursing animals during treatment and supporting pet owners. As a qualified veterinary nurse, your role is far more complex and varied than many people realise. You're much more than an assistant - you're a skilled medical professional with your own areas of expertise and responsibility.
On this page
Your daily responsibilities
As a registered vet nurse, you’ll have a wide range of daily responsibilities, including:
Direct animal care
- Providing nursing care to sick and injured animals
- Monitoring animals under anaesthesia during surgery - a critical duty requiring constant attention
- Administering medications and treatments prescribed by the vet
- Providing emergency first aid when needed
- Carrying out diagnostic procedures such as taking X-rays and laboratory tests
Clinical support
- Assisting during surgical procedures - you'll be the vet's right hand in theatre
- Sterilising surgical instruments and equipment to maintain high hygiene standards
- Preparing animals for examinations and procedures
- Taking blood samples and other specimens for testing
- Operating diagnostic equipment such as X-ray machines and laboratory analysers
Client communication
- Educating pet owners about animal health and welfare
- Explaining treatment plans and aftercare instructions
- Providing emotional support to worried pet owners
- Managing reception duties such as answering phones and booking appointments
- Handling difficult conversations when treatment doesn't go as hoped
Administrative tasks
- Maintaining detailed patient records to ensure effective ongoing care
- Managing practice management tasks such as stock control and ordering supplies
- Processing insurance claims and handling payments
- Keeping up with health and safety requirements
Specialist areas
Anaesthesia and surgical support
Like many vet nurses, you might develop expertise in anaesthesia - monitoring animals' vital signs during operations and ensuring they wake up safely. This highly skilled area requires detailed knowledge of different anaesthetic drugs and their effects on various species.
Laboratory work
If analysing results appeals to you, this area involves running blood, urine and other diagnostic tests. You'll need to understand different results and identify when to flag abnormal findings to the vet.
Radiography (X-rays)
Positioning animals correctly and operating equipment safely is all part of the job for a radiography specialist. As well as these technical skills, you’ll also learn how to spot obvious problems from the produced images.
Emergency and critical care
Working in emergency care means you might be the first person to assess an injured animal and provide life-saving treatment - before the vet arrives.
Animal behaviour and welfare
This is a great area of vet nursing if you like the idea of helping animals with behavioural problems or providing advice on training and socialisation.
Different work environments
General practice
Like most vet nurses, you’ll probably start your career in general practice, seeing a mix of emergency cases and routine appointments. You'll work with cats, dogs, rabbits and sometimes more exotic pets.
Specialist referral centres
These hospitals handle complex cases referred by general practitioners, giving you the opportunity to work in areas like:
- Orthopaedic surgery
- Cardiology
- Oncology (cancer treatment)
- Ophthalmology (eye problems)
- Dermatology (skin conditions)
- Emergency and critical care
Working in 24-hour emergency clinics can be intense but incredibly rewarding. They’re fast-paced environments where you'll deal with life-threatening situations.
Charity work
Organisations like the PDSA and Blue Cross provide veterinary care for people who can't afford private treatment. This work often involves managing higher caseloads and more challenging cases.
Exotic and zoo work
You’ll need to undergo additional training to work with wildlife, zoo animals or exotic pets, but it will give you the chance to work with some fascinating species.
A typical day
| 8:00 AM | Arrive and check on any animals that stayed overnight |
|---|---|
| 8:30 AM | Team briefing about the day's surgeries and appointments |
| 9:00 AM | Start morning appointments, taking observations and assisting with examinations |
| 10:30 AM | Prepare surgical patients for operations |
| 11:00 AM | Assist with surgeries and monitor anaesthesia |
| 1:00 PM | Lunch break (often staggered with colleagues) |
| 2:00 PM | Post-operative care, checking on surgical patients |
| 3:00 PM | Afternoon appointments continue |
| 4:00 PM | Laboratory work, processing blood samples |
| 5:00 PM | Admin tasks, updating patient records |
| 6:00 PM | Final checks on hospitalised patients before handover to evening staff |
You also need to be aware that emergency cases can completely change your day – so flexibility is essential!
Skills you'll develop
Technical skills
- Medical knowledge - understanding anatomy, physiology and common diseases
- Practical procedures - injections, IV catheters, blood samples
- Equipment operation - X-ray machines, laboratory analysers, monitoring equipment
- Surgical assistance - maintaining sterile conditions, anticipating the surgeon's needs
Communication skills
- Client education - explaining complex medical information, simply
- Emotional support - helping pet owners through difficult times
- Team collaboration - working effectively with vets, other nurses and reception staff
- Written communication - accurate record-keeping and report writing
Problem-solving skills
- Critical thinking - recognising when an animal's condition is deteriorating
- Prioritisation - managing multiple tasks and identifying what's most urgent
- Adaptability - handling unexpected situations and changing priorities
Career progression
Senior veterinary nurse
With experience, you can become a senior vet nurse, mentoring junior staff and taking on more complex cases.
Head nurse or team leader
You’ll be leading the nursing team, managing rotas and liaising with practice management.
Practice manager
Moving into business management, you’ll handle finances, staff and strategic planning.
Specialist nursing
Developing expertise in your chosen area, such as anaesthesia, emergency care or maybe exotic animals.
Education and training
Share your skills by teaching student veterinary nurses or developing training programmes.
Self-employment
You may decide to use your experience to set up your own business, offering services like pet sitting for animals who need medical care, or perhaps a training consultancy.
Continuing professional development
Once qualified as a registered vet nurse, you’ll be required to complete at least 15 hours of continuing professional development (CPD) every year. This ensures you stay up-to-date with veterinary medicine advances and maintain your professional registration.
Your CPD hours can include:
- Attending conferences and workshops
- Online learning modules
- Reading veterinary journals
- Shadowing specialists in different areas
Many vet nurses find this ongoing learning one of the most enjoyable aspects of the job - you’ll soon find that there’s always something new to discover.
The reality of the job
While you’re likely to find vet nursing incredibly rewarding, it's important to understand what you're signing up for:
The highs - saving lives, helping animals feel better, supporting grateful pet owners, working in a close team, constantly learning new things
The challenges - dealing with animal deaths, comforting upset owners, physical demands, sometimes working unsociable hours, ongoing study requirements
If you’re genuinely passionate about animal welfare and enjoy hands-on, varied work, a career in vet nursing offers a genuinely different every day - while giving you the chance to make a real difference to animal lives.
Veterinary nursing career case studies
To help you find out more about the diverse career paths available to you, read our new case studies from veterinary nurses in a wide variety of different roles.
Though your own career path will be unique, we hope you will find ideas and inspiration from reading about others.