Let me ask you a question.

When you became a VN, what did you think your career would look like?

I had a very fixed view of this - in my head, it looked a little something like this:

1. Become an SVN

2. Qualify

3. Work my way up to head nurse when the head nurse left

4. Do that for as long as I wanted to be in practice

5. Become a rep because they earned more money.

Thankfully, I learned that wasn’t the only path available to me as an RVN - and that diversification could look different to each of us.

It blows my mind that there are so many opportunities for diversification in our careers now. From full-time employment to locumming, recruitment to teaching, private practice to government or army work, the potential of our role is near-endless.

In today’s post for Vet Nurse Awareness Month, I’ll be sharing just a few of the opportunities available for us to look beyond clinical practice - and how my own role diversifying into teaching has brought me more career satisfaction than I thought possible.

Life outside of clinical practice

There are SO many ways that we can change the trajectory of our careers whilst still using our nursing skills. We are not limited to a life in practice - and actually, incorporating different roles, and using our nursing skills in new ways, can bring just as much job satisfaction!

What are the options?

There are so many more than just the ones listed here, but to give you some examples:

• Practice management

• VN teaching (for a fixed institution, or on a flexible basis)

• Roving/district VN support

• Practice social media and marketing support

• Client education events

• Sales

• Technical support

• Veterinary physiotherapy/hydrotherapy/ rehabilitation

• Charity work

• Recruitment

• Writing

• And so much more!

The truth is, we possess a hugely valuable set of transferable skills, which set us up for success in pretty much any industry.

For example: How many jobs have their people tackling 3 emergencies arriving at the same time whilst also managing a ward full of patients at a weekend? Not many. Vet nurses are unique, with exceptional communication, time management and problem solving skills - and it’s not just clinical work where we can use these to our advantage.

Let’s talk about life outside of clinical work

I always thought that if the time ever came for me to leave practice, stopping clinical work would made me less of a nurse. And the more time I spend exploring my passion for teaching, the more I realise that it’s still nursing - it just looks different.

Leaving clinical work doesn’t make you less of a nurse - if that’s the route you decide to take in diversifying your career. It just means you’re using those nursing skills in a different way.

What does diversification in practice look like?

Diversification does not always mean leaving clinical practice. Sure, it might do, but it can also look like:

• Identifying a niche you want to progress in

• Discovering a new practical skill you want to perform

• Setting up a new service for your patients/clients in your hospital

• Moving to a different type of practice, such as from small animal to exotics or large animal work, or from a GP to emergency or referral setting

Diversification is just about expanding your skills and using them in different ways - so if you know that clinical life is for you, there will always be opportunities for you to diversify within practice.

Locum work

If you love clinical work but you want the freedom to choose your own hours and be your own boss, locum life may be for you.

There are plenty of reasons people locum - 1-2 days a week alongside a non-clinical role, for example; temporarily, to fill gaps whilst doing things like travelling; or permanently, allowing you to work clinically without getting involved in the ‘practice politics’.

Additional qualifications

You may decide to diversify your skills and interests within nursing by studying them further. There are TONS of post-RVN courses out there, from advanced nursing certificates in things like oncology, surgical nursing or anaesthesia, to nurse’s certificates in feline nursing, medical nursing, ECC, behaviour, nutrition… the list is near-endless!

You also have more specialist options, such as the VTS certification, if you want to demonstrate your passion for and skills in a particular area of practice.

All of these advanced qualifications allow you to not only develop your knowledge, but also enhance your practical skills, too - because as you learn more, you’ll begin to do more.

Developing new skills

You don’t need to do an additional qualification to learn new skills. Any nurse, at any time, can begin doing more practically, so long as they’re working within their area of competence and within local guidelines (e.g., if you’re in the UK, within Schedule 3).

Put together a list of skills you’d like to learn. Every nurse should have a development plan and regular meetings with their team leader, and these meetings are a great opportunity to highlight anything you’d like to know how to do.

Remember the days as a student nurse, where you’d have a list of skills you needed to do for your NPL (or portfolio, if you’re an NVQ nurse like me!)? Why reserve those lists only for students? We’re all constantly learning, so let’s normalise having lists of advanced skills that RVNs want to learn, too!

Once you’ve done this, tell your team! Get your vets (or other nurses, depending on the skill) to demonstrate it, then get yourself on the next case and put those new skills into practice. Then show someone else and help them learn, too! Remember: see one, do one, teach one!

Pursuing a niche

Pursuing a niche is another great way to diversify your nursing skills. By exploring areas of special interest, your whole team benefits - not just you!

As well as you having advanced knowledge and skills within your niche, your entire team have a passionate, educated nurse to learn from, or refer cases to.

When you look at your team as a whole, if every nurse does this, you’ll have most areas of practice championed by nurses who are skilled in medicine, anaesthesia, lab, dentistry, and ECC… to name just a few examples!

If you’re not sure what your niche is, don’t worry! I always hear lots of people say “I don’t know what my niche is yet” like it’s a bad thing.

Firstly,  spend time exploring different areas of practice. If you’ve not got hands on in referral, for example, how will you know if that’s where you belong? Can you do a shadow week to see what it’s like? Or does your local referral centre have an internship programme where you are trained and supported as you begin your referral journey?

And secondly, remember that not everyone has a niche - and there’s a lot to be said for those amazing GP nurses who are skilled at everything, and always know the answer to a question! General practice really can be a niche in itself!

Shaping the profession

Another great way to diversify alongside clinical work is to get involved at a professional level.

Becoming a council member for RCVS VN council, or BVNA council, for example, can be a fantastic way to develop new skills, and meet amazing people - all whilst helping to shape the profession for the nurses of the future.

So remember, your nursing career is what you make it… and that is SUCH an exciting thing! 

There are so many opportunities waiting for you, whether that’s in a new practice, as a locum, studying for a certificate, pursuing a niche, travelling and volunteering, as a teacher, or serving on a professional council… or anything in between!

Now go out there and get the most out of your career!