In this blog for Veterinary Nursing Awareness Month, BVNA Junior Vice President Steph Worsley discusses how she qualified as an RVN in 2003, but since then her journey has led her in several directions.

Find out more about VNAM here, and how you can get involved this year.

Four years after I qualified I took the leap into locum work, this led me to working at Liverpool University Small Animal Hospital. I honestly thought I would only be there short term, a few weeks or a couple of months at most, however I was very wrong. I quickly realised that I enjoyed the challenges of referral work – mixing that with helping teach veterinary students with their clinical skills, it was a position I never thought I would be in. I was very lucky that a job role within the medicine team came up and I was successful in my application. Over the following 10 years I was very proud to help guide and teach hundreds of vet students, several of whom I am still in contact with today. I still get that proud feeling when I read or see one of them reach an achievement, in the veterinary field or outside it.

I never thought of myself as a natural teacher, I still don’t, however I came to realise that I needed to push myself out of my comfort zone every now and then. This led me, while I was still in my role at the university, to organise and host CPD events, and even start lecturing at CPD events myself. I knew the topics I was passionate about and I knew that I was surrounded by many people whose knowledge exceeded mine and I could always ask them for guidance.

I am currently a Head RVN and still use my skills I learnt to help guide SVNs now. I also utilise the knowledge I gained while working at the University to assist the vets I work with, discussing cases and bringing a nursing aspect to the care we give our patients.

Steph Worsley, BVNA Junior Vice President