Nessa Harbottle's Groups Activities

RVN looking to top up wages remotely

Nessa Harbottle — Tue, 03 Jun 2025 07:41:01 GMT

I am an RVN, 7 years qualified and I am looking for a part time remote only position in order to top up my current wages.

I have contacted a few people but I’m struggling to get responses. I have been offered a position but again, struggling to make contact now and so unsure if this opportunity is still available.

Does anyone know of any legit companies looking for someone to help them out? Ideally within the veterinary community but not necessarily.

Lantra Unit 1

Claire Hawke — Fri, 20 Dec 2024 17:39:01 GMT

Hello everyone,

I need help and advice for my unit 1 -

Section 3: Daily practice – the team, health and safety,

stock and waste, and record keeping

Can anyone. help me with study tips or advice

Thank you

Why have vet bills gone up so much?

Arlo Guthrie — Wed, 16 Oct 2024 21:19:25 GMT

Here is the first of a series of films I am making which look at the reasons for the increasing cost of veterinary care. If you think they might help foster greater understanding amongst owners, you might like to share them. Films will also be available on all the major social networks and of course YouTube

youtube.com/.../lg_EeamSbSI

How do you avoid getting stale in practice?

Clare Marsh — Fri, 09 Aug 2024 17:30:37 GMT

Hello all.

i’m just about to start my second year of student nurse training, but I’m already thinking about the future, and the biggest thing on my mind is the question of staying engaged. I’ve been doing nurse consultations for a while now, and the repetition can be quite tedious - nail clip, post-op, health check, health check, repeat… The kennels and operations side is a bit more varied, but I can sense that the turnover of spay, castrate, dental, spay, castrate, dental, mass removal might also get quite stale.

i hate the idea of getting complacent or disengaged from my work, and I’m determined to keep learning and trying to advance my skills and knowledge, but I’m wondering if anyone can suggest other strategies for staying fresh when it all starts to feel a bit samey?

Will there ever be a Advanced Nurse Practitioner status?

Dan Lidgbird — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 11:51:36 GMT

So...do we think that there will ever be qualification similar to those nurses in human medicine who are able to diagnose and prescribe for certain conditions?

Messed up OSCES?

Amy Mothershaw — Sat, 06 Jul 2024 17:00:54 GMT

Just sat my OSCES (CQ) and it went worse than I thought it would!! I know I've failed at least 2. As well as those 2, I forgot to shake/mix the bottles of drugs before use, and I ran out of time on nearly every one! I think I got away with my radiography one because I collinated with in the grid/plate and then when the patient was in position I only shrunk my collimation. But then I think I moved him? There were multiple of the same instrument out on the instrument task which threw me, and I don't know if I did the WHO hand sanitising for long enough! I don't know, I just feel like I made loads of little mistakes (and some bigger ones) and am feeling a bit deflated :( How do you get through the 6 week wait?!

Is career progression a bigger problem than pay for nurses?

Arlo Guthrie — Fri, 23 Jun 2023 11:14:39 GMT

Just had this news story through, and I wondered what everyone makes of the results. I was surprised that career progression, not pay, was cited as the most common reason for vet nurses resigning.

https://www.vetnurse.co.uk/b/veterinary-nursing-news/posts/most-vet-nurses-resign-to-progress-their-career

What do you think?

How can I get out of nursing?

Wildlife Nurse — Wed, 28 Feb 2024 13:47:28 GMT

Does anyone have any advice on how to get out of nursing?! I've been nursing for many years and I am now struggling. It's time to hang up the uniform.

I've been looking for months now and can barely find any alternative roles. Would massively appreciate any advice, I'm loosing the will!!

Thank-you!

What are your career goals?

Evie Yon — Mon, 13 May 2024 09:11:09 GMT

It's Vet Nursing Awareness Month and as you know, the theme this year is 'progression'. So, what better time to find out a bit more about your career goals? I am seeking RVNs/SVNs to respond to a survey investigating their career goals to offer insight into what they need to achieve them. In turn, this may lead to the encouragement of RVNs to maximise their potential and improve job satisfaction within the veterinary nursing profession.

I'm Evie, an RVN with experience in first opinion and referral nursing, and am currently a Senior Teaching Fellow in Veterinary Nursing at the RVC. I'm really interested in capturing the thoughts and opinions of practicing RVNs and SVNs to find out what they hope to achieve within their careers. This is so important to ensure that we're aware of barriers and necessary opportunities to help to improve job satisfaction in veterinary nursing, and to hopefully improve retention.

If you think you can help, please click this link: https://app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/rvc/career-aspirations-of-veterinary-nurses. The survey should only take 10-15 minutes of your time, which would be massively appreciated.

Please feel free to get in touch with any questions by replying to this post, or you will find my email address in the survey information.

Thank you so much in advance,

Evie

Can you give me any advice about starting to locum?

Nessa Harbottle — Sun, 12 May 2024 09:47:05 GMT

Hi all

I am in between jobs at the moment and don’t potentially start my next job until August. I need to locum between now and then and I have signed up with IVC and also an umbrella company. Other than that I have no idea what else I need to do.

I have been qualified as a RVN for 6 years but I suffer badly with imposter syndrome and confidence issues which worries me but should I be joining an agency as well. Who decides on the amount paid and how do I find positions near where I live?

I am literally looking for any advice and as much help as possible with this.

Thank you

Can you give me some tips for surviving in practice

Clare Marsh — Sat, 27 Apr 2024 18:16:51 GMT

Hello all,

I’m a first-year diploma student nurse, having started in September. I’m getting on well - so everyone tells me - and starting to feel like I’m able to contribute as part of the nursing team. I do solo anaesthetics and feel like I’m pulling my weight during kennels shifts and the occasional consult shift, but I’ve found recently that it’s getting to be a lot. We’re a busy first opinion hospital and we’ve been through a bad patch recently - new computer system to master, lots of staff off - and I’ve been getting to the end of the day exhausted. I might be on my feet for 8 hours, and I’m terrible at taking my full half-hour lunch break because I’m worrying about my colleagues and am desperate to get back to helping out. I also struggle to hydrate properly when it’s busy and finishing the day with a thumping headache is quite common. I even found myself envying the smokers who have their nicotine fix to help them out! (I’m a life-long non-smoker and have no wish to start, but for the first time I can see the attraction.) I also find myself reaching for sugary snacks to keep going, although in the whole my diet is a lot better than a lot my colleagues, judging my the number of Deliveroo riders who turn up…

All of that is to say, does anyone have any tips for keeping body and soul together when it’s getting hard? I’ve been warned numerous times that I need to pace myself or I’ll burn out, but I hate seeing my team struggle and want to do as much as I can for them.

Who'd like some money?

Arlo Guthrie — Wed, 28 Feb 2024 17:29:36 GMT

Recently, I've notice some of you coming quite quickly to answer questions posted on VetNurse, and I guess that means you must be subscribed to get the digest, here https://www.vetnurse.co.uk/p/questions

My ambition here is to grow this community of helpful people, so all vet nurses can think of this place as somewhere they can come to ask any question, safe in the knowledge that they will get a helpful, authoritative answer from other members of the community, and they will never be made to feel like they have asked a silly question, unlike some other social media platforms, where you also often have no idea what level of qualification someone has for expressing their opinion.

So, where i am going with this, is an idea to give a certain percentage of the profits of this website back to you, its members.

My idea is to give out Amazon vouchers every month to those members who have helped others, by answering questions posted in the forum.

To qualify, you would need to display your real name and level of qualification in your profile, and be subscribed to the digest: https://www.vetnurse.co.uk/p/questions

My thinking is that in the early days, whilst there are a relatively small number of questions posted, I can just dish out some vouchers at random to those who meet those criteria.

But if the idea is popular, then perhaps I can tie it in with an automated system which gives me a list of people to get vouchers according to a point system at the end of each month.

Whaddyafink?

Fairygodmother Robyn Young Olivia Coulton Louise B Katherine Spear Nick Shackleton annette454

Incidentally, recruitment advertising on this site is cheap by comparison with other sites, and in the future I may increase it and that will allow me to give even more back to you.

Advanced Nursing Options and Post-nominals

Amy M — Wed, 03 Apr 2024 14:21:52 GMT

I am interested in doing some sort of advanced certificate in vet nursing. However, I am confused about all the options and what they all mean.

I have seen on the University of Glasgow website the MSc/PgDip/PgCert which I kind of understand, but different universities/colleges offer different types of content. I have also seen on the Myerscough website about a year ago you can do certificates in anesthesia, ECC, dentistry and something else which I can't remember and cannot find again on the website. I also see lots of post-nominals which I cannot find what they mean example: C&G CERT VNE, CertVNECC, NCert etc.

Can anyone please explain or point me in the direction of a perfectly organised simple chart?

Thank you, everyone!

Travelling to college fees paid?

Michelle Richmond — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 20:35:12 GMT

I'm in a practice that historically has never paid for the petrol/diesel cost for the students attending college one day a week- I really feel this is unfair and I have pushed for a resolution ( This is the only practice that I have worked in not to pay the students travel costs?) The journey is nearly 90miles round trip and on a student's salary this is a costly trip. ( The student does get paid for being at college) What does your practice do in relation to travel costs? It is a Vets4Pets practice.

VetNurse Clinical Article Club

Arlo Guthrie — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 09:21:46 GMT