Many of you will know Courtney from her incredible Instagram page @Veterinaryanursethesia, but today we talk to her about her Veterinary Nursing journey and how her passion for anesthesia led her to the role of a Clinical Educator at Burton’s Medical.
Courtney has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to Veterinary anesthesia and we know you will love this interview.
Veterinary Nurse Clinical Educator in Anaesthesia
Tell us a little about your Veterinary Nursing career so far
It all started in 2006 when I decided I was going to become a veterinary nurse – I had been working in a kennel and cattery since I was 14 years old and absolutely loved caring for people’s pets, but I also watched a lot of medical TV shows like “24 hours in A&E” and thought I wanted to work in the emergency services. So once I realised you could have a career combing the two, that was it, I signed up!
As part of my application, I needed to have spent some time observing practice to fulfill the entry requirements of the course. Piece of cake I thought until my work experience afternoon lasted about 23 minutes before I passed out when I saw the testicles of a German Shepherd no longer IN the German Shepherd… Alas, I still went on to study for my Diploma in Veterinary Nursing in New Zealand.
And the fainting has never stopped – I just did the surgical tasks required to pass my Diploma and then vowed to never become a surgical nurse.
To this day, I am always honest in job interviews by saying I am not someone who will jump at the chance of scrubbing in and that I prefer to sit for certain things (like placing a central line).
After I finished studying, I worked in several small animal practices in Auckland for the next 5 years, before moving to a Sales and Marketing coordinating role with what was the biggest veterinary corporate group in the country at the time. I really enjoyed this role and on reflection, I realised it is because I got fulfillment in helping veterinary nurses with the roll-out of promotional material for things like weight clinics or dental checks, by making sure the team understood clearly what we were doing, why we were doing it and by getting them inspired and excited to see the value in sharing their knowledge with the public!
Eventually, I ended up back in practice as a Head Veterinary Nurse at the same teaching hospital I trained all those years ago. Having a nurturing personality, I could see that a lot of students were always nervous about the concept of anaesthesia and I would say “it isn’t so scary once you start to break it all down” and before I knew it, I was reading more and more about anaesthesia so that I could answer any of their questions.
Once I realised I wanted more anaesthesia experience to advance my knowledge now that I was hooked, I made the move to Australia to work in a large referral hospital. I learned so much so quickly and providing high-level care in anaesthesia only fuelled my passion more.
After less than a year in Australia, I moved to the United Kingdom, sat my OSCES, and started locuming in London until my dream job as an Anaesthesia RVN came up at the Royal Veterinary College (RVC). In the meantime, I wanted to know more about anaesthesia, so I enrolled in the Improve International Nurses Certificate in Anaesthesia (NCert Anaesth). It taught me a lot, helped me understand what I was capable of, and I got to meet some incredible and inspiring RVNs along the way.
Then finally, after looking at the RVCs careers page every day, I finally saw an advertisement for a part-time role in the anaesthesia department and jumped at the chance the apply. I eventually moved to a full-time role within the anaesthesia department at the RVC, where I stayed for 4 years. Having the opportunity to work alongside students, breaking down the barriers to the fear of anaesthesia and walking them through the entire anaesthesia process was incredibly rewarding.
These experiences all paved the perfect pathway to a Clinical Educator role, and I was lucky enough to find it with Burtons Medical Equipment.
Why did you decide you wanted to take the route you are on now?
Having spent the last few years finding fulfillment in teaching and educating students and RVNs in practice, I knew this was something I wanted to pursue further.
The environment at the RVC was an inspiring one and I had started writing for journals, presenting at Congresses, and also sharing information on social media pages to reach as many people as I could.
When I saw the role advertised for Burtons to join their Clinical Team, everything lined up!
The role was advertised as providing ‘internal training and external CPD on all topics of anaesthesia, focusing particularly on patient monitoring and mechanical ventilation’. It was everything I was doing in the evenings at home after I had finished a normal day of work in the teaching hospital, but now I could have this as a job on its own!
Did you need to undertake any further training or qualifications to get into your current role?
I already had my NCert Anaesth qualification when I started with Burtons, and I am working towards my PgCert in Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia through Edinburgh University in the next year.
For me, having an anaesthesia qualification was an advantage, but the role was suitable for anyone with a deep interest in veterinary anaesthesia and a desire to further their knowledge and education. Once I started this role, I did undergo more intensive training in some areas of anaesthesia such as ventilation – but it is easier to learn something when you enjoy the topic so much!
I haven’t pursued a veterinary educational qualification (yet!) but having worked as a Clinical Coach for student veterinary nurses and working in a large university teaching hospital, gave me a lot of experience in different ways to communicate a concept to people with different learning styles.
What does an average day as an Anaesthesia Educator for Burtons look like for you?
As with every day in a veterinary practice, no two days are the same! I do a lot of clinical writing for our educational blogs, write presentations to present at Congress, phone and video call RVNs around the UK to help with ventilation queries they have, provide training internally to the team, and then sometimes I am doing things like filming for our YouTube channel or recording a podcast.
One of the projects I am working on at the moment is organising evenings and weekends of hands-on ventilation CPD; imagine solidifying your theory learning on positive pressure ventilation by having the opportunity to apply it minutes later to a real-life, carbon dioxide-expiring canine model!
This type of learning excites me as we can focus 1:1 with RVNs, mimicking hypercapnia and hypocapnia, without the distraction or stress of it being a real patient being operated on when there are a million other things are going on in the theatre.
What do you enjoy most about your job now? And are there any downsides?
What I enjoy about this role is that I am still learning every single day. While working in practice, sometimes you are faced with a ‘here and now’ situation and you do whatever you have to do for the patient and you may never get the time to read and learn why it was done this way, or what can be done next time.
Now I have the time to read and reflect on different anaesthesia scenarios so that I can give the best advice to fellow RVNs and SVNs in practice.
In all honestly, there are no downsides because I am right where I want to be, still doing something I love, just without the patient in front of me – I still get to teach and talk to RVNs about anaesthesia.
If I must pick a downside, it is that my snack consumption has gone up because I can easily reward myself for what I think is a well-written paragraph for an educational blog!
Do you still work as an RVN in practice?
I do – I love being a veterinary nurse and I don’t think I could ever truly stop. You will usually find me at a busy 24-hour hospital on the weekends, either day or night shifts, so I can keep my hands furry.
It is also a great way for me to stay relevant with what RVNs in practice want to know in regards to anaesthesia. I also get to use lots of different types of monitoring equipment and I find this a real benefit whenever I am trying to troubleshoot a query someone has.
Is there anything you particularly miss from working as a Vet Nurse in practice full time?
Since I have spent my last few full-time years working in a teaching hospital, I miss the students as within the anaesthesia department, we would get about 12-16 final year veterinary students pass through on their rotations every two weeks. But not all is lost, I still get to talk and interact with people in practice every day with my role in Burtons.
I knew I would miss the animals, so I was finally in a position to be able to adopt a little black cat called Ngeru, which is Maori for cat and translates to ‘sleek and smooth’.
Thankfully, getting to locum still gives me that animal fix that I knew I would miss.
What advice would you give to any RVNs looking to move their career in the direction of working in education?
I have spoken to many talented RVNs who say they would like to get into teaching or lecturing but don’t feel they know enough yet – but, it is impossible to know everything before you start! We’re in an industry that is constantly evolving, where learning is never-ending.
If you want to get into education, there are several roles I see often see advertised. It might be as an online CPD speaker, working in the industry as a product or a company representative, or becoming a tutor for a training college. Even if you find a role that isn’t full-time, it is a good start and foot in the door.
Don’t feel discouraged by thinking it is out of your reach, get in touch with them and apply!
Building the base of writing and speaking was also very beneficial for me in knowing that this is definitely something I want to do, and also gave my future employer a way of seeing my presenting and writing style. I would recommend getting in touch with the BVNA if you would like to publish a journal article – I found my first experience with them very supportive.
Off the back of my first article series on brachycephalic anaesthesia, I was asked to speak at the BVNA Congress.
These things are all steps forward towards achieving a career in education.
Finally, as a Registered Veterinary Nurse, what are your current future career goals or aspirations?
As I am sure this echoes with many RVNs, I want to continue to expand my knowledge on the speciality I am passionate about.
My personal goal is to gain a high-level anaesthesia qualification so that I can fulfill my professional goal of providing education to everyone in the industry, and have them enjoy anaesthesia as much as I do!
This not only benefits the patient in every single way but also progresses the standards and future of the veterinary nursing industry.
