Wages

Re: Wages

Sal the 1st — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 11:08:37 GMT

[quote user="Charley Struthers"]

Tescos night shift pay more! I knew wages were rubbish but to spend all that time hard slog completing vet nurse qualification to get the same as Joe Bloggs f the street with no qualifications is said. Makes me think maybe should be VCA and get minimum wage anyway. I didn't think wages were that dire. maybe i,ll stick with my £24 an hour and be miserable for life.

[/quote]

well your rate is just about 3 x the rate I get after 29yrs of vet nursing - so guess you could be in for quite a shock if you want to be a vet nurse

Re: Wages

Becky Jones — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 10:36:40 GMT

I ve recently returned to VN ing after a 10 year family break . When I left I was locuming on £10 per hour before tax and that has nt changed in 10 years . Ive been very lucky to get a part time job in my origional training practise , uniforms ( groovy blue scrubs ) , CPD , tons of social events all paid for and more than anything feeling valued,appreciated and respected . I had to do a year of voluntary and prove my worth before being taken on but it was so worth it.

Don t lose faith , maybe put up with crummy wages for a bit then move on , use that experience to stick on your CV then put your name around local practises advertising as a locum . There s always somebody going on maternity leave or off sick etc so you d be surprised how handy you can become .

Just a suggestion . Life s way too short to be miserable !!

Re: Wages

Charley83 — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 10:08:11 GMT

Re: Wages

Sal the 1st — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 09:44:55 GMT

welcome to the real world. You must have been extremely lucky with your previous job!

Re: Wages

Fedup — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 09:33:50 GMT

Crikey,

So it's all quite poor it seems. I see cleaning jobs advertised for £8 per hour round here.

I am in my late forties now and have been in veterinary practice since early 1990's so was expecting the VN's lot to have improved.

Last practice I worked, the vets (experienced ones, not partners) were on around 50-60k per year and my friend who is a GP is only on 60k now, so I think that is similar. I expect new grad would start on considerably less.

Obviously there must be a lot of regional variation

I used to be a head nurse and have done the behaviour cert and nutritional cert (C&G), don't know if that helps though. don't have advanced dip or anything.

No practice I have ever worked for payed retention fee, cpd, or for uniform. So it was hard to get any cpd or certs completed. They didn't even allow time off for CPD, had to come out of annual leave.

I suppose since the new regs, more practices would pay toward cpd, as it is now a requirement.

Well, keep looking around I suppose. Not many vets near me, so a bit limited anyway.

Maybe I should take up cleaning!

Re: Wages

Sally Seddon — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 09:26:03 GMT

I started work as a receptionist and had to take a drop in pay when I became a nurse within the same company! I've been in practice for 8 years this year, I don't think I will ever earn the 16-18k mentioned above.

Re: Wages

Alison Clare Hickman — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 08:52:11 GMT

Only recently (this last year) achieved a fab wage in Vet Nursing...am in North Yorkshire and was previously on £15k for an average 44hpw 6 week rolling rota (and THAT was AFTER an increase from £13k as a student to when I qualified). I am now on about £24k for a 29.75 hpw (4 days including one overnight OOH plus 1:4 weekends). I work locally (1 mile from practice) so walk/drive when needed...it's bliss for the pocket at last. However I left the financial industry for nursing...at one point I was on near enough £50k for far less responsibility...(but much much less happiness in my heart)...

Vets don't earn that much either when you compare their qualification requirement equivalents outside of their profession....

I would say, don't expect much more than between £16k to £19k as an average nationally. That, unless you've got additional qualifications / head nurse responsibilities / referral and specialism experience, when I think you could command say £23k to £28k...

Other nurses might disagree?

Ali h

Re: Wages

molladog — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 08:13:25 GMT

Blimey, wouldn't have minded your salary, only on 19k now + have been in practice for donkey's years (30+ years).

Re: Wages

Sally Seddon — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 08:12:37 GMT

I'm a Svn and earn a little more than the £6.50 you have been offered. My wages won't increase much when I qualify either.