Spring 2017 | Issue 12 Spring 2016 | Issue 10 | Page 14

A day in the life of... a vet nurse
By Juliet Pearce

lucky to have here at West Hatch.
The animals are weighed, given their premed and settled into their accommodation.
I then prepare the operating theatre.
The vet arrives at 9am and it’s straight
to work. We work our way through
the operating list up until lunch time.
The operations we carry out include
neutering, dentals, x-rays, lump removals
and various other necessary procedures.
The patients are made comfortable, given
pain relief and warmth to aide a smooth
recovery.
After lunch the patients are checked
and then it’s time to clean and scrub the
theatre, clean and sterilise the kits, update
patient information on the computer, drug
ordering and generally helping the vet.

I knew from the age of 13 that I wanted
to be a veterinary nurse and it’s a job that
I still absolutely love to this day!
I started out in a mixed veterinary practice,
where I trained, qualified and eventually
became head nurse. I worked there for
several years and some shorter spells in
other veterinary practices, before I decided
that I wanted to do something different.
So I joined the team here at West Hatch,
as I decided rescue and animal shelter
work was a great new challenge and
at the same time I hoped it would
be rewarding.
My day starts at 8:30am. I admit the
patients into our fully equipped, on-site
veterinary suite which we are extremely
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As a veterinary nurse here at West Hatch
you also get to see some quite horrible
cruelty cases too. Sometimes the animals
come into the Centre in such a mess,
and it’s hard and upsetting to understand
what that poor animal has been through?
What is fantastic though, is that with our
amazing team of Inspectors, animal care
assistants, veterinary surgeons and nurses,
you get to see these animals transform and
come through the other side!
There is nothing better than when you
see an animal, healthy, bright and happy,
go off to their new home and you think
to yourself “wow I was part of making
that happen!”
So yes, I can honestly say that working
as a veterinary