In this blog for #VNAM2025, we hear from April Murphy on the huge difference that veterinary nurses make to their colleagues and patients.

April Murphy is the Head Registered Veterinary Nurse for Petals Vets, a new independent practice. She has been a Registered Veterinary Nurse for over 4 years and has worked in a variety of veterinary practices. April has completed her ISFM Certificate in Feline Nursing, and also the Colourful CPD Nurse Consulting Certificate. She has a cat called Toffee who means the world to her, he is purrfect!

April is passionate about feline care and nursing, nurse consulting and anaesthesia. She loves spending time with her family and really enjoys writing.

April hopes to encourage veterinary nurses, students, and veterinary care assistants to have a voice and feel valued in their role because she believes we are all amazing professionals.

“May marks Veterinary Nursing Awareness Month, a campaign originated from BVNA, where we recognise the important work of the veterinary nursing profession.

“Not to sound biased as a registered veterinary nurse myself, but… we are awesome! However, I am sure most of you feel the same as I do that lots of what we do continually goes unnoticed. I can only speak for myself, but I have worked in several jobs where the work of veterinary nurses can be undervalued, under-appreciated and massively overlooked. We study relentlessly for 3 years or more to obtain our RVN title, regardless of route of qualification. Sleepless nights, continuous reading, studying and hard work.

“We are still often not recognised by the public as professionals in our own right and this is why I am so passionate about cheerleading us VNs because, let’s face it, we are absolute bosses!

“The main reason why we are often overlooked is the public’s perception of what a veterinary nurse does. The iceberg theory is something which I relate to – most of our work is simply not seen by the public.

“ALL veterinary practices should be TEAM-led – every single member of the team is important and makes a difference.

“Another reason that VNs may feel undervalued is because of the lack of voice we sometimes have in practice. I can again, speak from this at a personal level. As an RVN, a qualified professional, I sometimes don’t feel listened to which then makes us feel a whole array of emotions ranging from lacking self-confidence, feeling deflated, feeling undervalued and ultimately, considering our future within the profession. I have seen many veterinary nurses during my time leave the profession – and they are incredible nurses! It’s so sad seeing such skilled people leaving the profession.

“During my time as a veterinary nurse, I have been told many things ranging from, ‘it wouldn’t make a difference if I was working there or not’, ‘to change my look’ in order to get a certain job (I have red hair and was told by a female professional that I wasn’t as not polished or defined enough) and so much more which would be too long to list quite frankly!

“At the time, it’s hard to not let this get to you but I look back and think, this has made me a stronger person and I am not going to change who I am and what I stand for, for anyone. I am not going to be made to feel small and not important.

“On a positive note, I absolutely love being a veterinary nurse. I love being an advocate for the patients and being a voice for them. If I can leave my shift each day knowing I have spoken up for them and made a positive difference. I want to improve practice, I want to improve the public’s perception of a veterinary nurse, I want to ensure we are reaching for amazing animal welfare and wellbeing to all of our patients. At the end of the day, the patients are the reason we do our job. Seeing a patient make their steps to recovery and seeing the positive impact, makes this job worthwhile and so rewarding.

“Veterinary nurses are the ones holding patients’ paws as they are recovering from an anaesthetic or if they are an inpatient in the practice.

“When clients make the difficult decision of saying goodbye to their beloved pet, I tell them how much their owner loves them, whilst trying to hold back my own tears.

“I genuinely love veterinary nursing and couldn’t think of doing anything else. I always strive to better myself in any way possible. We can learn so much from each other- as I always say, every day is a school day!!

“I once was a veterinary nurse who felt worried about putting forward my ideas and opinions to colleagues. Now, I am taking all of my knowledge and experience, giving ideas and knowing I am making a positive difference. We are not just ‘the vet’s assistant’ or ‘mini-vets’. We are professionals in our own right, we are superstars and we should all be so unbelievably proud of what we have achieved.

“This month, I really want all veterinary nurses, student veterinary nurses, support staff to know, that YOU MATTER. Your voice MATTERS. Your ideas and opinion MATTER. Keep speaking up for your patients and don’t let others make you feel otherwise. We are all incredible individuals and we should all #ShineBrightLikeADiamond.

“For anyone who is currently feeling deflated, YOU GOT THIS!

“This time shall pass and you will feel stronger than ever. The Veterinary Nursing community is incredible, and the amount of support around you is too. If we all come together to speak about our experiences, good or bad, we can help each other and support one another.

“Just remember, each and every one of us is a pocket of stardust and we make such a positive difference to our patients. Keep being your amazing self!”

Visit our website here for more information on how you can get involved with Veterinary Nursing Awareness Month this year.

#VNAM2025 | #WhatVNsDo | #Shinebrightlikeadiamond