Veterinary nurse

As a veterinary nurse you are the veterinarian's right hand at an animal clinic. You care for and tend sick and injured animals help with examinations and operations and are a safe and calm contact for both the animal and the worried owner. It is a trade where care professionalism and overview must work together.

You receive animals and owners, prepare consultations, and assist the veterinarian during examinations and procedures. You prepare instruments, keep the animal calm, care for hospitalized animals, and monitor their condition after treatment. Additionally there's laboratory work such as samples and analyses, clinic hygiene, and considerable contact with customers — for example guidance on medication, feeding, and care at home.

• 01You learn to handle and calm animals so they can be safely examined and treated.
• 02You learn to assist during examinations, treatments, and operations.
• 03You learn to care for stocked animals and monitor their condition.
• 04You learn laboratory work and how to take and prepare samples.
• 05You learn clinic hygiene, sterile technique, and medication handling.
• 06You learn to communicate clearly and calmly with animal owners in stressful situations.

Veterinary nurse is a vocational education that alternates between school and practical training. You typically start with a basic course and continue with the main course with practical training at an animal clinic where you get paid. You can start after primary school or later, and it helps a lot to have experience with animals and a good dose of patience before you start.

Once trained, you work at animal clinics and animal hospitals. With experience, you can specialize, take on more responsibility at the clinic or work with specific animal species. For some, it also becomes a springboard to study further in animal health or related areas.

“You don't speak the animal's language — so you must learn to read everything it can't tell you.”