Vet Nursing Jobs - List Of Duties Involved

If you are considering taking up a vet nursing job, you must know what exactly you have got to do. Becoming a vet nurse is much different than becoming a human nurse, simply because animals have very different temperaments and biology than humans have. Today, many more people are keeping pets for companionship and protection, and hence vet nursing jobs have become hugely popular.

Knowing the duties is very important if you want to do well in a vet nursing job. Of course, the main purpose is to help the veterinarian in his or her tasks as they go about treating people's pets. However, it is important to know the finer details of the job portfolio.

The following is a list of the duties that are to be performed by vet nurses:

  • Vet nurses have to assist the vet doctors when they are dealing with the owners of the pets, i.e. during the consultations. They have to be with the vet and assist them when they examine and treat the pets.
  • Vet nurses are responsible for conducting the diagnostic tests on the animals. They have to collect blood samples and send them to pathological departments for analyses, and they have to also collect urine and fecal samples of the ill animals. They are also responsible for monitoring the animals through radiographs and other diagnostic methods.
  • Vet nurses have to control the pets when they are being treated.
  • Vet nurses have to administer proper doses of anesthesia to the animals being treated and then prepare them for surgeries by clipping their nails, shaving their furs and applying disinfectants on the skin.
  • During surgeries, vet nurses have to assist vet surgeons in a number of ways. They have to help them in administering and maintaining proper doses of anesthesia. During the surgery, they have to handle instruments as they are required. Then they have to help in swabbing the blood that is collected due to surgery, administering oxygen and other intravenous fluids, etc. They also have to provide dressings on the surgical wounds once the operation has been completed.
  • After the operations and treatments are done with, the vet nurses have to place the animals within their proper confinements and regularly monitor their conditions till they are completely nursed back to health.
  • Vet nurses must help in the recuperation of the pets, by feeding and exercising them. They must also maintain the hygiene of the pets and regularly bathe, brush and groom them.
  • Vet nurses must keep records of all the medications that the animals are supposed to take, and give it to them under the directions of the veterinarian.

These are the duties of the vet nurses with regards to the pets that are undergoing treatments. But that is not the complete list. People in vet nursing jobs also have to perform other sundry tasks in the vet clinic.

The following is a list of those tasks:

  • Vet nurses have to clean the examination and treatment tables with antiseptics. They must also maintain cleanliness in the place where animals are treated; including cleaning of cages, bench tops, examination rooms, etc.
  • Vet nurses are supposed to sterilize the equipment needed for treatments of the animals.
  • Vet nurses have to maintain the inventory of the things required for animal treatment.
  • It is the responsibility of the vet nurses to admit animals for surgery and to discharge them after the treatment.

Some more supplementary tasks of vet nurses include:

  • Doubling up as receptionists in the vet clinic and answering calls
  • Giving tips to pet owners on proper grooming care and nourishment of their pets
  • Instructing pet owners how to keep their pets free from parasites
  • Maintaining records in the vet clinic

Hence, there are a whole lot of duties that vet nursing jobs entail. If you are taking up this job, it is better that you know about them in advance, so that you do not have second thoughts midway.