Veterinary Nursing

Veterinary Nurses care for animals under treatment and in temporary residence at veterinary facilities and assist Veterinarians to perform procedures and operations.

Typical tasks a veterinary nurse would do include:

• holding animals to allow examination and treatment by Veterinarians
• cleaning and sterilising examination tables and equipment
• preparing instruments and handing them to the Veterinarian
• assisting Veterinarians to administer anaesthetics and oxygen during operations
• placing animals in cages for recovery from operations and monitoring their condition
• giving medications to animals
• maintaining stock control and records
• providing animal care advice, and preparing, delivering, and reviewing animal care education programs
• may perform diagnostic laboratory tests
• may act as receptionist, accept payments and undertake clerical work

You can study to become a vet nurse on The Gold Coast.

As per Job Outlook, a qualified vet nurse earns $1,088 a week, on average.

To be a qualified vet nurse in Australia you need to have successfully completed a certificate III in Animal Studies and a Certificate IV in Veterinary Nursing.

Veterinary courses cost approximately $12,285 per year.

It takes 21 months to complete both the Certificate III in Animal Studies and Certificate IV in Veterinary Nursing.

Note that there is placement for vet nurse courses:

Certificate III in Animal Studies
Stage 1 – 80 hours Work Experience (optional)

Certificate IV in Veterinary Nursing
Stage 2 – 120 hours Vocational Placement
Stage 3 – 120 hours Vocational Placement

If you are not currently employed or volunteering in industry, during your course you will be required to complete vocational placement so you can start practising your new skills in a real-world environment. You’ll be required to work shifts determined by your placement provider, and these can include early mornings or late nights, any day of the week, including public holidays. TAFE Queensland may be able to assist in arranging suitable placements.

Completing placement is compulsory, and you will be expected to manage family and work commitments in order to complete your shifts. You may be expected to travel up to one hour to attend your vocational placement facility and will be responsible for all costs associated with attending that facility. Due to limitations on placement availability, TAFE Queensland cannot guarantee proximity to your location.

You are required to complete 240 hours of placement to satisfy this component of your qualification.

Veterinary Technician
To become a Veterinary Technician, you need to study a bachelor’s degree of Veterinary Technology. This is often more of an academic path than an applied one, as there are generally fewer clinical roles for veterinary technicians in Australian general practice.

Veterinary Nurse
To become a veterinary nurse, you need to study a package course of Certificate III in Animal Studies, packaged with Certificate IV in Veterinary Nursing. These courses take 21 months to study. Veterinary Nurses work closely with Veterinarians and often perform higher-level tasks such as aiding with the administration of anaesthesia during surgery, taking and running tests on blood and stool samples, performing dental procedures, preparing animals for surgery, and educating owners on proper aftercare. They also assist with cleaning and sterilising cages.

If you complete this questionnaire we’ll be able to send you some detailed information on the course and explain what documents you’ll need for enrolment.