Are we valued?

Re: Are we valued?

Wayne Garton — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 22:14:00 GMT

Yes, it was a hypothetical scenario, getting at the fact that nurses should always be valued and appreciated for the hard work thats put in.

Re: Are we valued?

Sal the 1st — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 20:01:56 GMT

[quote user="wayne garton"]

After all.... imagine if every veterinary nurse in the country did not go into work tomorrow!!!!

[/quote]

yep - 1) they wouldnt get paid

and 2 ) it would achieve nothing other than to push up the cost of locum cover until a more permanent solution could be found

but I do agree nobody has to put up with conditions that dont suit - everybody has a choice to go or stay and that applies to any job

Re: Are we valued?

Wayne Garton — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 19:51:49 GMT

I am lucky enough to feel valued at my current practice, where i have been working for 6 months now, i have been working in practice for 4 and a half years and its taken that long! I would like to think most practices do value thier nurses but there will always be those who dont (not thats its an excuse for employers!) I have come to learn however, that no job is worth being unhappy for and would not recommend that anyone ''puts up with it''. After all.... imagine if every veterinary nurse in the country did not go into work tomorrow!!!!

Re: Are we valued?

maylane — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 19:32:04 GMT

I work at a large ish practice where nurses are hugely undervalued financially - regularly unpaid for a proportion of our shifts, not paid for being on call and asked to work shifts that far exceed the legal working time regulations, annual salaries are poor. But the vets are mostly great and as a team everyone supports each other clinically, we see a huge variety of cases, referral and first opinion and have good opportunities for CPD.

I don't feel at all valued by my employer but I love my job. My employer does not deem the nurses fit to be paid for all the hours we work, even at minimum wage.

Re: Are we valued?

SmegSlayer — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 10:47:23 GMT

I think being valued varies on the practice. Most practices are pretty good nowadays. However, I do not feel that our position is supported or promoted very well by the RCVS.

Re: Are we valued?

Katie Mansfield — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 10:13:38 GMT

I think to feel "valued" you must first value yourself; and that could be personally, skills-wise, number of qualifications etc.

As for qualified / un-qualified that's a long and much debated topic that I think we've pretty much discussed to death on here in recent weeks to the point where I don't think starting it up again is going to be helpful.

K x

Re: Are we valued?

Dippy — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 16:06:01 GMT

For me, that has varied enormously. I have worked in practices where I felt valued personally and professionally but not financially and in others where I have been happy money-wise (locum) but felt like I was treated and spoken to like a piece of something someone had trodden in, on occasions. A lot of it has been to do with individuals and not necessarily the whole practice but it's amazing how one person can undermine confidence and your faith in yourself. Equally, when I have felt valued, it has made leaving purely for financial reasons an extremely heartbreaking decision as it made me feel like I was saying I didn't value the emotional and professional support they had given to me during my time there.

Overall summary in my case would be that I have mainly felt valued but underused in terms of skills or areas in which I would have liked to develop. End result, no longer in nursing!