Requirements

Veterinary nurse - requirements

As a veterinary nurse you’ll use your passion for care and specialist training to work closely with veterinary surgeons, supporting the health and wellbeing of a variety of animals. Learn more about working as a veterinary nurse, find out what’s involved and what you’ll need to study and do to get into the field.

Know what you'll need to land a job below.

What qualifications do you need to be a veterinary nurse?

To be a veterinary nurse you must complete a RCVS accredited course in veterinary nursing and register as a veterinary nurse. There are several pathways to doing this, including:

Veterinary Nursing

To transfer into veterinary nursing from another subject or to get accredited through a level 3 work-based diploma, you’ll usually need to already be employed at a practice or have some experience.

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Do you need a postgraduate qualification to be a veterinary nurse?

Postgraduate qualifications are useful for getting into some specialist areas and are needed for research or education roles.

Some of the postgraduate courses available to veterinary nurses include:

Veterinary epidemiology
Wild animal health
Veterinary education
Advanced veterinary nursing
Advanced veterinary clinical studies
Livestock health and production

What skills do you need to be a veterinary nurse?

In this role you’ll need to demonstrate compassion, a passion for animal wellbeing and clinical experience.

Hard skills usually include:

Clinical skills
Animal handling
Diagnostic methods
Using medical equipment
Surgical skills
Nursing

Soft skills include:

Empathy and compassion
Written and verbal communication
Motivation
Eye for detail
Cleanliness
Organisation and management
Dealing with pressure

Do you need work experience to be a veterinary nurse?

To get onto any RCVS accredited course you’ll need to show that you have relevant work experience in a veterinary or animal-focused environment. This might be a work placement in a practice or working in an animal rescue centre, for example.

Competition for work experience in this field is strong so you’ll need to invest time and effort into getting work experience before making any job applications.