As a veterinary nurse training practice, we often respond to enquiries about training opportunities, how to get into the industry and how to become a veterinary nurse. Below we have listed some of the commonly asked questions and answered them, to clarify the process and how it works if you would like to have Heathfield Vets as your training practice. These answers are based on the system at Plumpton College, as this is the training provider we are linked to.
How can I become a veterinary nurse?
There are two routes to becoming a veterinary nurse, the Foundation Degree in Veterinary Nursing and the Apprenticeship in Veterinary Nursing. The courses have different entry requirements, work experience requirements and costs associated with them, so it is worth fully researching both options before embarking on either, to make sure that you choose the right option for you. We will be focusing primarily on the apprenticeship route in this article as that is the most common route into veterinary nursing, and the one which most of our student veterinary nurses are undertaking.
Which route is better for becoming a veterinary nurse?
Both routes are equally valid – you are unlikely to be asked which one you did as long as you have completed your studies and achieved registration with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons as a Registered Veterinary Nurse. Which one you choose can affect which options you have for further study (for example, the foundation degree can be ‘topped up’ to a degree with further study, which cannot be done with an apprenticeship), but the majority of further study options such as certificates in specific areas of veterinary nursing are open to both routes, with no regard for which one you undertook initially. It is important that you conduct your own extensive research before selecting which option you would like to choose, in order to make sure that the route you have selected is right for you.
What are the entry requirements for an apprenticeship in veterinary nursing?
The entry requirements for the course are outlined on the Plumpton College website. They include GCSE grade requirements and employment requirements.
Although this is not an option here at Heathfield Vets, in some practices you will be able to go into employment with them straight after your GCSEs, as long as you are enrolled in an educational course at the same time. Examples of this in the veterinary field include the Level 2 qualification in Veterinary Nursing, or an animal care assistant course, for example. This is to meet the requirement to remain in some form of education until you are 18 years old. You cannot go directly onto the Level 3 Veterinary Nursing apprenticeship due to the requirement that you need to have been employed full time at an RCVS approved training practice for six months before being able to apply.
Here at Heathfield Vets, we only offer the Level 3 Apprenticeship in Veterinary Nursing. This means that you will need to have completed your A-Levels, or alternative course of study (another common one being the Level 3 in Animal Management) before applying to work with us. There are many options available, as outlined here.
What is the work/study balance on the apprenticeship?
Depending on your contracted hours, you will spend one day per week at college and the rest of your working time in practice. Any additional work for the completion of your course (logging cases for your portfolio, studying for your exams and completing your assignments) is done at home.
How can I become an apprentice at Heathfield Vets?
Initially, you will need to apply to become a kennel assistant here at Heathfield Vets. Our kennel assistants get the opportunity and training as part of their role that not only gives them a well-rounded view of what it is like to work in practice, but also to prepare them for the apprenticeship itself. Our kennel assistants stay in their positions for between 6 and 24 months. While 6 months is the minumum required by the college for entry to the course, there are a number of factors that influence when we invite you to apply to the apprenticeship to become a Student Veterinary Nurse (SVN) here at Heathfield Vets.
- Work performance – while you are a kennel assistant, you work performance is being assessed for suitability to apply to the apprenticeship. If there are areas you are struggling in, we want to make sure you have further training and support to succeed in them, and this means that the minumum six months may not be enough – it is a very short period of time to get settled in a new job, often a new industry and in a role in which most people do not have a lot of prior experience. Being excellent as a kennel assistant sets you up for success as a SVN; once you become an SVN, your workload at work increases with training in all the new skills you need to acquire, and so does your workload at home with studying for exams, completing assignments and logging your cases for your portfolio. We also use the kennel assistant role as an opportunity to start learning some of the skills you will need for the course; it means when you do start, not everything is new to you – this makes the transition easier. Before we recommend you to embark on the apprenticeship, we have to be sure you will be able to manage the additional workload, and this means performing to a high standard in your kennel assistant role.
- Attitude – attitude to your work, colleagues, clients and patients is a big part of success as a veterinary nurse. Demonstrating your willingness to learn, being able to take on board feedback and improve, a genuine love and care for animals and resilience when the day is stressful and things get tough are just some of the factors that need to be considered when assessing someone’s suitability to step into the SVN role. While the work is rewarding, it can also be very challenging, and it is important that kennel assistants have enough experience to be sure that they want to embark on the student journey. It is rare, but we have had some cases where they decide that becoming a veterinary nurse is not for them, and it is better this happens before they invest the time and money in their studies.
- Availability of support – a requirement of having apprentices at the practice is that each one needs to be allocated a clinical coach – this is the person that will your mentor for the three years of study, although you will learn a lot from all your colleagues. There are limits imposed by the college as to how many students each clinical coach can have at a time, in order to make sure that each student gets the appropriate level of support and training. We prefer to keep this ratio as 1:1 as much as possible, as we feel this gives the best experience for our students, and makes sure they get all the support they need. This means that sometimes, kennel assistants have to wait for an existing student to complete their studies before they are invited to apply.
- Time of year – Plumpton always have a September intake, and in most years have a January intake. Depending on when you start working with us, and when you are invited to apply, it can mean waiting for Plumpton’s next intake.
How can I apply for a kennel assistant position?
We announce all recruitment opportunities on our vacancies page and on Facebook. You can also complete the application form on the vacancies page and submit it when we are not recruiting, we will keep it on file so that if a role becomes available within six months of you submitting it, you will be considered alongside the other applicants.
If you have a question that has not been answered here, please do not hesitate to contact us.
