A survey carried out by the Irish Veterinary Nurses Association (IVNA) and sub committee Irish Veterinary Nurses Unite (IVNU) revealed that 45% of nurses plan to leave the profession within the next five years. The rate of pay being cited as the main reason for their eventual exit from the industry. Another reason for this is how undervalued and unappreciated nurses feel and what’s adding to this, is the way in which we advertise our veterinary nurse jobs ads. Here’s why you need to nurse your job ads….

The IVNA published a position statement on classified job ads. In this, it states that the veterinary nursing profession became a regulated and protected profession in accordance with the Veterinary Practice Act (VPA) 2005. This means that only registered veterinary nurses can carry out procedures of a veterinary nurse and that any non-registered person or otherwise carrying out these procedures are guilty of an offence.

There’s a lack of transparency and consistency when it comes to how employers word and phrase their job advertisements for veterinary nurses. Registered veterinary nurses have high levels of qualification, knowledge and skills yet they are, unfortunately, still competing for jobs with unqualified persons and student nurses. Adding to this problem is how our classified job ads are written. Let’s reduce the number of nurses leaving the industry, let’s not overlook them anymore, let’s nurse or job ads! Here’s how you can do it….

To summarise the IVNA’s guidelines, this is how we can be more transparent in creating our job ads:

• Clear job title, specifying the position you wish to fill

• Job description; clear & concise outline of tasks involved in advertised role

• Name and location of the practice; lets employees gauge the practice for themselves

• An indication of pay; lets nurses evaluate before applying

Having a job title that states “Veterinary Nurse/Student Nurse/Animal Care Assistant” is in breach of the Veterinary Practice Act, as mentioned above. It further undermines the qualifications and skills of a registered veterinary nurse. It also blurs the lines of pay, the main reason nurses said they would exit the industry. It suggests that a student nurse or unqualified ‘animal care assistant’ could carry out the same duties as a registered veterinary nurse. 

Please take the time to look at the IVNA's position statement here - let's play our part and keep our nurses in this much loved profession.