National Careers Week runs from the 1^st to the 6^th of March!

“I always had animals; I loved all animals. I was never really given any good career advice, so it was long after I had left school that I discovered veterinary nursing. I started working in a practice, but sadly I didn’t have any qualifications and thought I would never become a “proper” veterinary nurse.

Then I found out it was possible to go to Veterinary Nursing College without all the formal qualifications. I needed to take an exam and if I passed this exam, I could gain entry to Veterinary Nursing College – this way of entry into veterinary nursing still exists today. It is more than just an exam – it’s a complete course that you need to complete so it is still possible to be a veterinary nurse, even if you can’t quite get those GCSE’s that you need.

I passed the exam and was enrolled onto a veterinary nursing course. I still look back and wonder how it happened, how lucky was I to have been given the chance! I was never very academic at school, but this time I knew I would have to study hard, because I had found something that I wanted to be.

I worked hard, didn’t miss any classes, did all my homework, revised every day, read books in my lunch hour, even took my books on holiday with me. I was determined I was not going to fail – I really wanted to be a veterinary nurse.

So it happened: I passed all of my exams and became a veterinary nurse. Many years later, I went onto join the British Veterinary Nursing Association’s [BVNA] Council and then became President. I’m now a volunteer at BVNA as a Regional Representative so all my hard work had paid off.

If you want something enough, you can do it: I did and so can you!”

Look out for the BVNA booth at the National Careers Week 2021 virtual event taking place from the 1^st to the 6^th of March! 

At the moment, we’ve all had to adapt and we hope that young people who have an interest in or would like to find out more about a career in animal welfare and veterinary nursing, will go to the #NCW2021 event website and visit our booth. Our booth has information and a video on the training required and routes that can be taken to become a veterinary nurse and describes what work and activities a veterinary nurse carries out.

If you’re a parent or young person, you can find out more about how the virtual event works here where you can find booklets and guides such as The Parent’s Guide to Careers, An introduction to Careers Week and The Future of Work Guide. There are also activities for young people such as a Skills Builder Benchmark self-assessment tool, signposting to Not Going to Uni website and many resources that young people and parents may find useful.

BVNA have our own Learning & Development team who can help with any questions about a career in veterinary nursing. Email bvna@bvna.co.uk and ask your questions or visit the booth at #NWC2021.