Caring for our furry friends – Vet Nursing is rewarding work

Amber Herod started her job as a vet nurse at VetLife St Kilda one week before her graduation in 2024. She joined a team with two other Otago Polytechnic alumni, including Michelle James, who has been involved in the veterinary industry for over a decade.

“It’s not a glamorous career, but it’s so rewarding,” Amber says. “I always know I wanted to be around animals, so vet nursing just made sense.”

Michelle adds, “I love hospital care because when a sick patient comes in I can watch it get better and thrive—being the one that has helped an animal get better is what I love and strive for.”

Most Vet Nurses enter the field with a Certificate in Animal Care (Level 3), then continue into a two year Diploma in Veterinary Nursing (Level 6), which includes 750 hours of practical work experience. There is then an option to add a third year of online study to complete a Bachelor of Veterinary Nursing degree.

Although Michelle originally wanted to be a veterinarian, she has found she prefers vet nursing for the variety of duties, as many vets spend a lot of time in surgery.

“You get the excitement, the thrill from the care that you give to the patients. I mean, vets do a wonderful job, don't get me wrong, but I feel like we do a lot more than what a vet might actually do. We just can't do the actual surgery or prescribe medications.”

Amber notes that nursing includes a combination of hospital assistance and preventative care, and she’s recently enjoyed getting deep into research about the preventative side of animal health.

“It’s an awesome feeling when you give an animal back and can say ‘this is what we’ve done, and this is what you should do going forward,’ to provide complete care.”

Although they studied years apart, both Michelle and Amber have positive opinions of Otago Polytechnic’s Vet Nursing qualifications.

“I found it very hands-on and very organised and well put together,” says Michelle. “It made life much easier. My experience was learning lots and making friends, which was a bonus.”

Amber agrees, noting, “It's such an ideal setup for people who learn by doing things rather than sitting in a lecture room and writing things down. And the tutors were just amazing. I definitely appreciated it.”

Placements are an important component of every vet nursing qualification offered at Otago Polytechnic. The Diploma in Veterinary Nursing includes 750 hours of practical work experience. Placements offer preparation for the realities of the workplace by providing experience in a number of different clinics.

“So you're working with different teams, different sizes of teams, clinics that who've got really good funding and some that don’t, and you learn how they adapt,” Amber explains.

While it’s rewarding to see a patient recover and go home, there are also more difficult moments on the job. The vet nurses emphasise it’s important to go into any medical role with a clear understanding of the realities of the job, from cleaning duties and difficult customers to seeing animals in distress and dealing with loss.

“There are hard days and tough weeks, but the reward at the end of it is worth it,” Michelle says. “The smaller the team, the tighter the bond. I’m still friends with people from my first job.”

Otago Polytechnic trains veterinary nurses to high standards, and Amber talks about some of the challenges that she encountered. While studying, she had to re-sit a paper, which made her second-guess whether vet nursing was right for her.

But then through the student support team, she was able to get a diagnosis for ADHD, which was a game changer.

“When I graduated and crossed the stage, I waved to the lecturers. That definitely made it worth it.

“My advice is to keep going, stick with it, and back yourself. The accommodations and support were so awesome. And the resources  were great – the library, the Hub, the counsellors, the learning advisors.

“The course itself is incredible, but outside of that the Polytechnic in general is an awesome place to study.”