Job Description for post of Registered Veterinary Nurse

Northvet Veterinary Group is a mixed, independent, RCVS accredited veterinary practice on the beautiful Orkney Islands.  Twelve Veterinary Surgeons work at the practice, 2 are small animal vets and another 1 or 2 mixed vets also take part in small animal work in blocks of a week at a time.  Our nursing team is made up of 5 RVNs, 2 student student VNs, an ACA, and a VCA.  We also have a Practice Manager, AI technicians, RAMAs' and a team of administration staff and receptionists.  Our Kirkwall branch is the main small animal hub with 2 vets operating each day.  We also have a branch in the port of Stromness open for consultations three afternoons per week and a branch in Harray for large animals.  

Although Orkney is a group of Islands off the northern tip of Scotland, we do not consider it remote.  Loganair (codeshare partner with British Airways) run multiple flights per day to Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Inverness.  Pentland Ferries run between St Margarets Hope to Gills Bay near Wick and Northlink Ferries run from Stromness to Scrabster near Thurso and from Kirkwall to Aberdeen.  

Geographically the islands are mostly flat and green with well maintained A roads.  You are never far from a beach so sea swimming is popular along with kayaking, paddle boarding and fishing.  Orkney is a very safe place to live with a great community spirit. We have great local shops, hotels bars and restaurants but also have Tescos, lidl etc.  The Pickaquoy Centre is our main sports centre but it also hosts concerts, conferences and bigger events.  In 2025 Orkney will be hosting the Island Games.  The "Picky' Centre has two swimming pools and a very good fitness timetable along with a climbing wall, running track and badminton courts.  Socially we have a lot of music festivals and there is always plenty to do - see www.orkney.com for an idea of what you can get up to after work.  

Even though Orkney only has a population of 22,400 there is everything here that you need, all condensed in a relatively small area.  It is a great place to bring up a family with excellent schools where all children have access to PE, art, music and instrumental tuition.  There is also lots for kids to do locally with lots of opportunities to join sporting clubs, have swimming lessons, go along to toddler groups, girl guides, scouts, boys brigade, music groups, pony club etc. 

Although accommodation is not provided we are very happy to help find accommodation. We offer a relocation package to assist with travel and removal / house move costs.  

With one of our nurses looking ahead to retirement and another due to return to a shorter working week after maternity leave, we have an opportunity for a new nurse to join our team.  A full time post would be ideal but a part time post will also be considered.

Each day we have 3, sometimes 4, vets looking after our small animal work.  Two vets operate in the morning and the other consults from 9.00am - 11.30am.  In the afternoon the vets consult in 1.5hour blocks.  We have two small animals vets (both certificate holders and one AVP) and our mixed vets enjoy taking part in small animal work too - one of our mixed vets has a certificate in small animal surgery and two of our mixed vets enjoy orthopaedic work.  We take pride in providing a high standard of care and due to our location we tackle quite a lot of surgery in house that would normally be referred. We are members of XLVets, a group of independent veterinary practices who work together to provide excellence in practice and we are also an approved training practice for veterinary nurses.

Each day the nursing team for inpatients consists of two nurses and a student nurse / veterinary care assistant.  Another nurse assists with vet consults, processes samples in the lab (idexx suite) and runs nurse clinics.  Typically a full time post would consist of four days per week working in theatre / looking after inpatients and one day per week assisting with vet consults and running nurse clinics.  Our nurses also take turns working at our Stromness branch on the afternoons we have clinics running there and occasionally they attend equine or farm visits.  There is not much opportunity for reception work, just the odd day or half day for holiday cover.

We are happy to have an informal chat over the phone to answer any questions about the role and / or Orkney .

Main Duties & Responsibilities

Theatre & Preparation room

• Preparation of theatre, preparation area, equipment and patients
• Pre, peri and immediate postoperative care
• Assistance with induction and maintenance of anaesthesia (multiparameter monitors provided)
• Assistance during surgical procedures
• General maintenance of hygiene and equipment in and around the theatre
• Sterilising of equipment, cleaning floors, emptying bins etc
• Dispensing of post op medications
• Charging up of operations

Kennels

• Admission and discharge of patients
• Nursing of patients
• Drug administration
• Updating case histories, charging of hospitalisation
• General hygiene of dog and cat wards
• Washing of bedding, towels etc
• Handling of clinical waste etc

Nurse Consultations & Clinics

• Pre and post op checks, bandage changes, administering regular injections
• Puppy and kitten checks / weight clinics / parasite control
• Assisting vets in consulting room as required
• Making up & checking of prescription medications
• Assisting vets on home visits as required

Radiography

• Preparation of equipment and patients
• Assistance with and performance of radiography procedures
• Processing of radiographs
• Maintenance and care of equipment
• Radiation badges

Laboratory

• Obtain blood / urine / skin samples
• Run samples / maintenance of analysers (Idexx suite)
• Packing and sending of samples to external laboratories
• Disposal of samples after testing / maintenance of clean and tidy dispensary
• Updating of lab record books

Reception

• Reception shifts are few and far between (holiday / sickness cover)
• Answering the telephone & routing calls
• Dealing with clients when they arrive for appointments / over the counter sales / enquiries
• Monitoring of PetsApp messages
• Making appointments for consultations, surgical procedures and vet visits
• Processing payments and invoices
• Maintaining records
• Maintenance of a clean and tidy reception / waiting room
• Setting up the transfer of incoming calls to the vet on duty in the evening and the reverse of this procedure in the morning
• Assistance with other tasks as reasonably requested eg dealing with mail, stocking up shelves, vaccination reminders, insurance claims etc

Hours of work

Monday to Friday 8.30am to 5.30pm with one afternoon off per week, plus Saturday mornings as per the rota (at the moment approximately 1 in 5).   Due to the nature of the job, flexibility with these hours is appreciated.

Salary

The salary is negotiable depending on qualification and experience.  Salaries are paid monthly in arrears by BACS and an auto-enrolment pension scheme is in place.  We pay the annual veterinary nurse registration fees and CPD is encouraged and funded.  We provide medical insurance, dental insurance and local active life gym membership.  We have a discount scheme in place for staff pets and all employees receive 28 days full pay for sickness per annum (pro-rata).  Hours worked beyond 37.5 per week are considered overtime and are paid at one and a half times basic hourly rate.

Holidays

These are 26 days per year and we are closed for two days at Christmas and two days at New Year.

Start Date

As soon as possible.

Uniforms

Tunics, scrubs, fleeces and theatre shoes etc are provided along with a 3 in 1 Northvet jacket.

Applications are invited to: 

lynn@northvet.co.uk

Lynn Wilson, Northvet Veterinary Group, 33 Junction Road, Kirkwall, Orkney, KW15 1AG