Recommendations for Veterinary Nursing courses

Rips

LostCovey wrote: »

I have had a fair bit of contact with students of veterinary nursing. My overall impression is that they are being exploited.

- there are way too many colleges offering courses in veterinary nursing, in what looks like a cynical fee-gathering exercise

- the academic standard of the courses is quite high considering the type of work graduates will be doing

- there are very few jobs, and what jobs there are are tend to be poorly paid with tough working conditions

I think a lot of these courses are set up to exploit (mainly female) really well-motivated people with a love of animals.

Anyone thinking of doing veterinary nursing in Ireland should think twice.

LostCovey

As a VN who has graduated from one of these courses, I have to say I agree with you.

Fortunately I think I started the course at just the right time, the years before me (the inital VN courses) were totally messed around with dis-organisation and problems with registration. I have worked with these nurses in practice (some who were still ineligble for register!) and heard about their situations.

They mostly have their act together now, but with the numbers of graduates they have put through, and the numbers of currently employed VN's sitting exams to be eligible for register, anybody starting out in first year now, is going to end up in a very competitive job environment.

Exploitation?! On that note I just wanted to add, for anyone considering applying for this course, that you will have to work out at least 30 weeks of unpaid placement.

Without a grant, or 'Mammy and Daddy' you will really struggle, especially if you have to travel for your placement.

Not only that, but good placements are hard to come by. And without one, you will really suffer, be working just as hard for free and not gaining the experience you need to pass your course.

Marax

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TopJockey

jacket/potato wrote: »

im in second yr vet nursing in ait and ill tell ya best place ever to do it!! the points are cut off point 380 but because the class sizes are kept at 40(for a more individual hands on experience) she would need maybe 400..
we study both the lab side and the practical side of veterinary nursing and cover both small and large animal placement.. after easter we go on 10 weeks placement in a vet practice where we get to learn the more practical side of it and in the three years we cover small large and equine
Also once a year we organise a lecturer to come ion with exotics and we learn about spiders, snakes etc so we cover a huge range of ground in the college.
as vet nurses with only 110 all together this year in the 7000 strong college we have organised a vet nursing soociety so all the years can meet and we organize class parties and table quizzes.in my opinion ait is the best place to do it because u get such a rounded perspective of the career and u get to no wat siode u would like the most, pharm , practice, behaviour or a continuation onto veterinary medicine somewhere else.

best of luck regards,
jacket/potato
vetnurse yr2 AIT

Hey, I'm in junior cert and am having to choose my subject for the leaving. I'm hoping to get geography ag science and technical graphics do u think I would be able to be a veterinary nurse with those subjects? Thanks

boomerang

Biology would be an enormous help to you and ag science will help for large animal.

TopJockey

Ya thanks, I ended up picking biology instead to tech graph. Now just to get enough points

TopJockey

boomerang wrote: »

Biology would be an enormous help to you and ag science will help for large animal.

Thanks, I ended up picking biology instead of tech graph. Now all I have to do is get the points

NovemberBaby

Hi everyone,

So I had veterinary medicine in UCD as my first CAO choice with veterinary nursing second. I didn't get the points for vet med, but I've been accepted into the vet nursing course in UCD. I was all set to repeat for vet med, but I find maths really challenging and don't know if I can improve my result. Is it really necessary to be strong at maths for vet med? How important is chemistry in the vet med and nursing course? I was told at the UCD open day not to go for vet nursing if vet med is my first choice as I'd be frustrated. Any advice would be hugely appreciated.

Thanks! Sarah.

thegreatgonzo

I studied vet nursing, I would be weak enough at maths and chemistry but still did well by doing the work and turning up for class etc.
Leaving aside the maths issue for a minute, I think the most important question is if you'd rather be a nurse or a vet. You can always get grinds to help through challenging subjects but it is very demoralising to find yourself in the wrong course.
Consider what kind of career you want and then consider the differences between a vet's role and a nurse's role and see which suits you best.
There is always the option of studying veterinary abroad and there is a big thread here on boards about it if that would help.