By Sue White
While registered veterinary nurse Elizabeth McConnell has 20 years’ experience helping animals back to health, you won’t see her when next taking the family pet down to the local veterinary clinic.
As a senior veterinary nurse at Taronga Wildlife Hospital, McConnell is busy providing care for five-tonne elephants, tiny two-gram frogs, and supporting critically endangered animals such as native plains-wanderers or Sumatran tigers.
“I love that my job challenges me and forces me to be adaptable and patient,” she says of the role that gives her the chance to continually learn about new species and new treatment techniques.
Elizabeth McConnell, senior veterinary nurse at Taronga Wildlife Hospital.
After working as a vet nurse in various domestic small animal clinics, McConnell completed a bachelor of biological sciences and spent a few months volunteering in China as a vet nurse for rescued Asiatic black bears.
She quickly discovered her passion for working with Australia’s native wildlife, so became a volunteer wildlife carer and took courses in wildlife veterinary nursing, rescue, care and rehabilitation. Volunteering as a vet nurse at the Australian Wildlife Heath Centre at Healesville Sanctuary came next: eventually it landed her a locum role at the centre.
Now, as part of her role at Taronga, McConnell is helping others in the field expand their knowledge of working with sick and injured wildlife. She teaches on Taronga’s wildlife treatment and care course, which has trained more than 1100 veterinary nurses and vets to look after a wide range of Australian animal species.
“[Supporting these animals might mean] performing first aid on a rainbow lorikeet and providing correct housing and nutrition, right through to assisting with X-rays and surgery on a bare-nosed wombat,” McConnell says.
President of the Veterinary Nurses Council of Australia Gary Fitzgerald says the community has come a long way in beginning to understand the contributions of vet nurses.
“They contribute so much to the positive outcomes for the pets and wildlife of Australia, often behind the scenes and unrecognised,” he says.
“They are responsible, technically skilled and emotionally invested in their role.”
To support the sector, Veterinary Nurses Council of Australia is developing a graduate mentoring program for its members and is working closely with Australasian Veterinary Boards Council on a move towards national registration and regulation of veterinary nurses and technicians.
WORKING WITH ANIMALS
- Veterinary nurses often start with a certificate IV in veterinary nursing. While it’s not required, many employers prefer it, and there are moves towards mandatory qualifications across the industry.
- Climbing the ladder as a vet nurse may involve becoming head nurse at their clinic, some nurses end up specialising in an area such as animal dentistry, equine care or wildlife care. Bachelor degrees can also support this type of career progression.
- Vet nurses wanting a change become practice managers, animal welfare inspectors or sales reps for veterinary equipment.
There’s also work on a wage review submission, as low remuneration (along with compassion fatigue and high workloads) is exacerbating the shortage of veterinary nurses.
“All of these challenges offer opportunities for positive and proactive change,” he says.
As for McConnell, while releasing native animals back into the wild is one of the things she loves most about her job, she hopes that over time more colleagues across the industry become trained –and their clinics better funded – to help support our native wildlife.
“Habitat loss, climate change, pollution and urbanisation are resulting in more wildlife in need,” she says.
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