Many people who are thinking about veterinary nursing as a career do not know much about the exact qualifications required, where they can train or how they enrol for training. For more detailed information on what to do and how to do it, at the bottom of this page you will find links to the websites of the British Veterinary Nursing Association (BVNA) and also to the Veterinary Nursing Department of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS). Just click on the links to go directly to those sites. From those two sites, you should be able to find out everything you need to know. If you want to telephone or write to them, their details are also written below. However, to get you started, here is some information which answers most of the basic questions we get asked.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Anyone wishing to enter training to become a Veterinary Nurse should have 5 GCSEs at grade C or above, or Scottish Standard Grades 1-3, or Scottish Higher Grades A-E. Whatever form of school qualification you have must include English Language and two passes in a physical or biological science (such as Physics, Chemistry or Biology) or mathematics. However, passes in some examinations of a comparable or higher standard may be accepted in place of the usual requirements.

If you have different qualifications, you should write to the RCVS Veterinary Nursing Review Officer at the RCVS (address below) and tell them what you have so that they can assess your qualifications and decide if they are good enough for you to start training. Apart from foreign qualifications, the most usual ones are:

· BTEC National Diploma or Certificate in Animal Care - equates to the entry requirement provided that merits or distinctions are achieved in specified modules

· GNVQ in Health and Social Care - equates to the entry requirement provided that passes are achieved in specified modules

· GNVQ Intermediate in Science - equates to a partial entry requirement

· BTEC First Diploma in Animal Care - equates to a partial entry requirement provided that merits or distinctions are achieved in at least three modules

Alternatively, you can take the BVNA's Pre-Veterinary Nursing Course. This day-release course has been approved by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and will enable you to enrol for VN training without any other GCSEs. The course lasts one year and is undertaken as part of employment within a suitable veterinary practice. You don’t need any formal entry qualifications to enrol. An examination is held at the end of the year and, if you are successful, you can start veterinary nurse training. However, always check that colleges offering courses which are said to be introductions to veterinary nursing have their courses approved by BVNA - if not, passing their examinations still won’t mean that you can start VN training, unless they teach you to one of the standards outlined above.

Finally, for mature (over 21) students who specifically want to do the Equine (as opposed to the Small Animal) VN course, there is now a completely new way to enter without having the full basic academic qualifications, but you must have worked in equine practice for four years and have references to say that you have the academic ability to pass. Consult the RCVS VN Department for further details. However, remember that this form of entry is for Equine VNs only.

AGE

As far as age is concerned, you must be at least 17 years old. This is partly because you will be working with X-rays and although everyone can be affected by X-rays, young and growing people tend to be worst affected if they have not taken the correct precautions or worn the right protective clothing.

There is no upper age limit on how old you have to be to train. If a vet who is approved to train VNs is prepared to take you on, that's all you need. Some people in their fifties have trained successfully. In fact, many vets prefer a slightly older student, because they're much more likely to have thought about it and want to do it, rather than to think it's cool when they're 17 and rapidly lose interest or be put off by the amount of work.

The only possible problem as far as age is concerned is the fact that local authorities which provide TEC grants for practices training VN students to help offset the costs won't fund students after the age of 25 and may not fund second degree or certificate studies at all. Having said that, many local authorities aren't funding VN training at all at present, so it may not be a problem. Incidentally, this funding goes to the practice, not to you, but it may affect how much the practice can pay you as a salary.

EMPLOYMENT WHILE TRAINING

You MUST be employed in a veterinary practice before you can be enrolled as a trainee nurse, and you must arrange this yourself. This will usually be in a Training Practice (TP) which has been approved by the RCVS to train veterinary nurses. You can get a list of all the TPs in the UK from the RCVS website (link at the bottom of this page.) However, you might also be employed in a Veterinary Nursing Approved Centre (VNAC), which is a large practice or group of practices which supervises a number of TPs. As far as you are concerned, however, it doesn't really matter.

If you have not already done so, go along to your local vet (ask if they train nurses) to do some work experience and to find out more about the daily life of a nurse. You could also ask about employment prospects locally if you want to stay in your local area. Have a properly prepared CV. Even if there is no immediate vacancy, ask if it would be possible to make an appointment to have an informal chat with the Head Nurse. You can then try to sell yourself, while another prospective student nurse sending in her CV will just be a name in a file. If you can persuade the Head Nurse to see you, you may have a better chance to convince her to give you an interview when an appointment becomes vacant. Remember, you will be asked why you want to do VN training, so have a convincing argument ready.

The Head Nurse will expect you to show that you are not just time-wasting. Ask if you can come in to the surgery on Saturday mornings, for example, or school holidays, in order to see if the job is really what you imagine it to be. Volunteer to do cleaning jobs and help out while you're there; that would be much appreciated and show that you don't just have the 'cuddling little furry animals' view of veterinary nursing which many young people have. This is definitely the best way of finding out what it's all about, and most veterinary practices who train nurses are happy to encourage keen youngsters.

Once you've been employed - and usually after a trial period so that they can see if the investment in time and resources they are about to make is backed up by your work and attitude - the practice will then enrol you as a student nurse

TRAINING COURSE DURATION

Training to be a veterinary nurse usually takes at least two years and often more, depending on how good you are, and leads to a Scottish or National Vocational Qualifications Certificate in Veterinary Nursing at S/NVQ Levels 2 and 3. There’s sometimes a bit of confusion about years and S/NVQ levels - in your first year of training you study for S/NVQ level 2 and sit the Part 1 examinations; in the second year of training you study for S/NVQ level 3 and sit the Part 2 exams.

Some people have asked if it would be possible to complete the course in less time. Unfortunately for them, there are minimum periods of training time which must be completed in the training practice, no matter how quickly you pass the exams. The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons will not enter you on the RCVS List of Veterinary Nurses, allowing you to call yourself a qualified Veterinary Nurse, until you have completed the necessary time.

TRAINING

As we said before, during your training you will normally be employed by a veterinary practice which has been approved by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons as an approved Training Practice. During your training you will undertake a wide range of veterinary nursing practice under supervision by qualified VNs and veterinary surgeons.

Your theoretical and practical training will usually be supported by a college-based course either on a day or block-release basis. This will be arranged through your training practice. However, the books which we provide for VN training are designed to enable the student nurse to train in general practice and to be less dependent on block-release or day-release courses. In addition, they enable the student to have her training drip-fed slowly over an extended period of time to suit her ability and to tie in with work actually being done in the practice, rather than concentrated into a short time interval which may have no relation to the work being done at that time in the training practice. Anyway, you can look round our website and see for yourself what we can do to help you.

You will be assessed in the veterinary practice to provide evidence of your work through a practical work Portfolio, and will also undertake RCVS independent examinations at the end of your first and second years. Once you have successfully completed your training and passed the examinations, you will be awarded the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Veterinary Nursing Certificate and may enter the RCVS List of Veterinary Nurses.

BUDGETING DURING TRAINING

As far as finance is concerned, the course lasts at least two years and during this time you will normally be in employment with a veterinary surgeon, so you will certainly be getting a weekly wage. Having said that, as a student nurse, it won't be high. Ask about your salary as a student and as a veterinary nurse before committing yourself, and make sure you can cover your expenses. Budget thoroughly before you start.

Also ask whether or not the practice will pay for any external block or day release studies you may need. Some do, some don't, and they can be quite expensive. Some practices won't even pay your wages for your time spent on a course, never mind the costs of the course itself. Also, check if the practice pays things like RCVS VN enrolment fees and examination entry fees - they are also a lot of money on a student nurse's wage. Students training at our practice get all this paid, and although it will certainly sound excessive to some people, they even get £10 spending money for lunch when they go to sit their exams to try to give them one less thing to worry about - a better frame of mind can count a lot towards those last few marks and the difference between a pass and a fail.

In addition, you may be able to get accommodation provided by your training practice; for example, at our practice, we provide bed-sits for all our nurses at no cost to themselves, and we provide, maintain and repair everything as required. In return, the students do a rota of out of hours duties under the supervision of a veterinary surgeon, which usually works out at about one night in five on duty, so it's not too bad. For younger girls, it's a good stepping stone between home and a place of your own - you have a lot of freedom but there's always the Head Nurse around to make sure you don't go completely over the top!

EXAMINATIONS

The exams are set twice a year, usually in June/July and November/December. In theory, you could complete the exams in a relatively short time, but even if you are able to learn all the theory, your main problem will be your practical work Portfolio for each year, which must be completed from the actual cases you see in your practice. There are also minimum times which must be completed in the training practice, no matter how quickly you do the exams. You must not only have passed the Part 1 written exams but also have had your Level 2 Portfolio approved before you can sit Part 2. Realistically, you will be extremely unlikely to do the course to a sufficient standard for Level 2 in less than a year and for Level 3 in less than a further 18 months.

ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

Once you have qualified as a Veterinary Nurse, there are a number of further courses that you can take if you want to become even more highly qualified. You can study for one of the Diplomas in Advanced Veterinary Nursing (Surgical or Medical) and gain a higher level of competence. Tuition is provided by distance learning and supported by a compulsory residential course. A written and practical examination is usually taken after a minimum period of 18 months study. Successful candidates will be awarded the Diploma in Advanced Veterinary Nursing (Surgical or Medical) and will be entitled to use the initials DipAVN (Surg or Med) after their name.

SALARY & PROSPECTS

Last but definitely not least, ask about salaries. It's a low-paid job in general, with tremendous job satisfaction but very little career structure. You can eventually become a Head Nurse, but apart from that your other routes upwards are as practice manager (usually very little hands-on nursing, however) or repping for a drug company or working for a veterinary insurance company etc etc. You might go into locum nursing, filling in for nurses in various practices on holiday or on sick or maternity leave. But perhaps that's not what you're looking for. Some nurses work for a few years and then go off and do something else - you can go round the world as a British-trained Veterinary Nurse and get a job virtually anywhere to help pay your way.

Having said that, some people have asked about working in the USA. They don’t have a veterinary nursing qualification as we do in the UK. What they do have are animal nursing technicians or auxiliaries, but we don't know how highly trained they are compared with a VN in the UK. A further problem is that, as with veterinary surgeons, it is almost certain that each state will have its own exams which you must pass to work in that state, and you may
qualify to work in one state but not in another unless you pass their exams as well. As far as we are aware, there is not a general qualification to work in all parts of the USA.

If you wanted to work in the USA, you would either have to go to the state you want to work in and qualify, or do the VN course over here and then try to get a job there. However, you would almost certainly still have to pass some exams, although perhaps not the full course. You have to remember that many areas of study such as infectious diseases, vaccinations and even drug names and usage are very different here from in the States. Our books are geared to the UK course, not for work in the States. As far as training in the UK to work in America is concerned, we don't know of any course which is available. It's unlikely that enough people in the UK would enrol for it to make it worth while to run, so nobody does it.

Finally, the great thing about being a Veterinary Nurse is that it’s a fantastic safety net because there’s such a demand for trained nurses. If things go wrong in life, you can usually find a job within a very few days in any part of the country, often with accommodation and, if you’re really lucky, use of a practice vehicle. However, find out before you commit yourself - if there’s anything you’re still unsure about, contact us via the e-mail link and we’ll try to advise you.

USEFUL CONTACT INFORMATION

If you are thinking about veterinary nursing as a career and want some general information contact the following organisation:

The British Veterinary Nursing Association
Level 15
Terminus House
Terminus Street
Harlow
Essex CM20 1XA

Tel: 01279 450567
Website: www.bvna.org.uk

If you have you decided to train as a veterinary nurse and want to find out where to train or to enrol with the royal college of veterinary surgeons as a student veterinary nurse contact the following organisation:

The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons
Belgravia House
62-64 Horseferry Road
London SW1P 2AF

Tel: 020 7222 2001
Website: www.rcvs.org.uk/vet_nurses