Blog

How do I do my Job?

By: BVECCS Admin

On: November 28, 2014

Some days – We all ask ourselves that question… Being an Emergency Veterinary Nurse can mean seeing some pretty traumatic patients – which I can tell you some days is really not easy to do. But, it also means helping to save lives, to be a crucial part of the process that pulls your furry family member from their worst day ever, right through to the amazing moment they walk out of the animal hospital on their own four feet back into the comfort of your home.

There are some massive misconceptions about what it actually entails to be a vet nurse and it’s not just playing with cute puppies and kittens all day (Although, patient cuddles are always stolen when there is a spare second). It is a lot more involved than that.

Can you imagine it?

The best way I can explain it is this; imagine that you have just walked into the Emergency Room of a people hospital. You look around and see machines and beds, hear phones and IV pumps and buzzers going off, and all around you the staff are doing a million things at once. There are patients with chest pain, difficulty breathing, broken limbs, been in fights, traffic accidents and the lady in the corner is about to give birth. Can you see it? Now imagine all the patients have fur – Welcome to the exciting world of emergency veterinary medicine. We do all the same things, with a lot of the same equipment.

However, your fur baby can’t tell us where it hurts – which is why we are always asking a million and one questions. We want to ensure that we have the whole picture so that we can give our patients the best possible care and treatment that we can provide.

It can be a challenge

Most days I get home covered in some form of bodily fluid that you probably don’t want to read about, usually after a long shift where food and toilet breaks where taken on the run if lucky. We deal with emotional clients, stressed animals and do our very best to help everyone feel as calm and comfortable as possible. Which as you can imagine is sometimes the hardest part of our job.

So why do I do it?

I can honestly say that my job is also filled with amazing clients, kisses and cuddles from patients, is always something different, a challenge, filled with amazing team members and is super rewarding. Most days you get home feel like you accomplished something and made a real difference. Nothing can replace the feeling of seeing a patient happy and going home, after spending hours by their side doing constant treatments and observations and everything possible to pull them through when you know how critical their condition is. It is the most amazing feeling ever.

So, how do I do my job?

It’s rewarding, challenging, filled with cute faces and amazing success stories. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I do it – because I love it.

Written by Amie Borland, Emergency 24 hours vet at BVECCS animal hospital in Albany Creek, Brisbane.