For repeat medication requests, please order at least 24 hours in advance by emailing us at medicines@ovg.co.uk or by telephoning 01458 832972. You will be requested to pay prior to collection.
Our current opening times can be found here
Veterinary nurses work within the Veterinary team alongside the vets, providing high level nursing care and support to sick and injured pets.
It is a very demanding but rewarding role which takes you outside of normal 9-5 working hours, involving evening and weekend work as our on-call service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Another large part of the veterinary nurse role is to educate and provide advice to clients to help keep their pets healthy. Here at Orchard Vets we offer a range of complimentary nurse clinics which cover all aspects of preventative health care.
Nurses have the skill set to carry out many other tasks such as providing medical treatments, diagnostic testing, bandaging and wound care, assisting vets in dental and surgical theatre, infection control and even reception duties.
As with any worthwhile job training to become a veterinary nurse takes hard work and dedication but the rewards are limitless with a varied and fulfilling job role.
Veterinary nurse training provided by colleges and universities that offer courses approved by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.
Veterinary nurse training can be done either vocationally to obtain A Level 3 Diploma either on a full-time basis or as an apprenticeship alongside a job in a veterinary practice and takes between two and three years to complete. Or alternatively training can be done at a university to obtain either a Foundation (FdSc) or Bachelor (BSc) Degree, in which case training takes between 3 and 4 years to complete.
Entry requirements vary depending on the route of training taken, for vocational training you need a minimum of 5 GCSE’s at a grade of C/4 or above which MUST include Maths, English Language and a science subject (alternative qualifications of a comparable standard may be accepted, these would need to be discussed with the educational institution providing the course). For a degree course at university you will need to meet the minimum entry requirements set by the university and applications will need to be made via UCAS.
Deciding which course is best for you can be tricky. Both the vocational and higher education routes lead to registration as an RVN (registered veterinary nurse). Vocational courses may be more suited to people who are very practically-minded and prefer to work ‘hands on’ in a veterinary practice. A Degree course will take a little longer but given the additional content of these courses, a degree could lead to additional career opportunities.
There is no age limit as to when you can start training to become a Veterinary Nurse.
This means that we employ and train student nurses prior to and throughout their nursing course until they qualify.
Student nurses can be identified by their uniform. Animal Nursing Assistants wear a maroon uniform whilst students enrolled with the RCVS undertaking the diploma wear green and white striped tunics.
Each student nurse is assigned a Clinical Coach who is either a Veterinary Surgeon or registered Veterinary Nurse working within the practice who agrees to ‘mentor’ the student through their training. They are responsible for supporting the student and supervising the completion of the Nursing Progress Log (NPL) or Central skills Log (CSL).
For further information on becoming a Veterinary Nurse and student training please feel free to contact us and one of our nurses will be happy to answer any questions.
