Kim’s animal magic works like a charm
Animal-lover Kim Disney has managed to turn her caring nature for our fourlegged friends into a career.
She had always been passionate about animals but didn’t find out how to become a veterinary nurse until she was 18.
after finishing her a-levels, she did a level 3 Diploma in Veterinary nursing at the College of animal Welfare, which combined study with work experience.
She is now deputy head nurse at veterinary hospital Hamilton Specialist Referrals in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.
‘it’s not just about cuddling animals. it’s hard work and you need a lot of scientific knowledge,’ she says. ‘i can be delivering intensive nursing in emergencies, in theatre, administering anaesthesia, taking X-rays, or working on the wards or in the labs.’
Kim, 26, says the job can involve long hours and be emotionally draining, but she finds it rewarding to see a critical patient recover, or help an injured animal to walk again.
‘We provide a lot of emotional support to owners,’ she adds.
She recommends others planning a career in veterinary nursing to do their research first because there are a lot of scientific and practical skills involved.
She advises those wishing to follow in her footsteps to do work experience first. ‘The job’s not for everyone,’ she says.
michael Hamilton, veterinary surgeon and founder of Hamilton Specialist Referrals, which employs around a dozen nurses, says: ‘We employ nurse auxiliaries, who need no previous qualifications or training, to do tasks such as helping to prepare equipment and walk dogs. They can take part in ward rounds and we can arrange veterinary nurse training for them.
‘We also look for trained nurses with either veterinary nursing degrees or diplomas but either way, it’s personality that counts.
‘many of our staff came to us with speculative approaches, and we are impressed by that.’
You can get into veterinary nursing through the vocational route, by working in a practice while studying part-time for the level 3 Diploma in Veterinary nursing.
For this you will need five GCSEs including English, maths and a science.
alternatively, apply for a veterinary nursing degree. Work experience is almost always essential.
More information can be found at caw.ac.uk, ucas.com, rcvs.org.uk, bluecross.org.uk, pdsa.co.uk