Workforce shortages and the increase in pet ownership, seen as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, have contributed to the challenges faced by members of the veterinary nursing profession, leading to high numbers of registered veterinary nurses expressing a desire to leave clinical practice in the next five years (Robinson et al, 2020; Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS), 2022).
The high numbers of registered veterinary nurses choosing to leave clinical practice each year was attributed to reduced levels of intrinsic motivation by Coates (2013), who concluded that despite the meaningful nature of the veterinary nurse job role, factors such as stress, lack of recognition and low levels of pay contributed to registered veterinary nurses' desire to seek alternative careers. The RCVS (2022) suggests that further research is required to understand why individuals leave the veterinary nurse profession and what their future career plans are.
The findings of Page-Jones and Abbey's (2015) research show that membership of the veterinary professions gives people a strong sense of identity and that their careers help to define who they are. They also suggest that veterinary professional identity is formed while veterinary nurses and veterinary surgeons are training and that veterinary educators should be aware of the influence they can have. Armitage-Chan and May (2019) built on this and high-lighted that veterinary educators act as role models and help to validate student's newly formed professional identities. The research of Cake et al (2020) was similar. They focussed on the identity of veterinary students and found that they have a strong sense of vocational identity that stems from their love of animals and gives them the intrinsic motivation required to pursue a veterinary career. Both the findings of Page-Jones and Abbey (2015) and Cake et al (2020) highlighted how people who personally identify as animal lovers are drawn to the veterinary professions because they believe this will enable them to align their personal and professional identities.
A person's memories, their interpretations of experiences, and their previous achievements all affect the level of motivation they have for a particular task, influencing their expectation of success and helping them to determine whether to engage in a task. This decision is an ongoing process. When a person engages with a task, they will have new experiences and possible achievements which will lead to them creating new memories that will then influence their decision to engage with similar tasks in the future. For example, the experiences a student veterinary nurse has during their clinical placement will influence their decision to persist with their future career as a registered veterinary nurse (Wigfield and Eccles, 2000; Eccles and Wigfield, 2002; Eccles and Wigfield, 2020).
Theories of motivation, such as the situated expectancyvalue theory (SEVT), can be used to identify how a person's values and beliefs have influenced their choice to engage with a particular task, for example planning their career as a registered veterinary nurse. There are four subjective task values within the SEVT. Firstly, intrinsic value, which is the value associated with the anticipation of enjoying the task. Secondly, utility value, which is how useful the task is perceived to be. Thirdly, attainment value, which is the perceived importance of engaging with the task, and finally, the perceived cost, which is the potential detriment associated with the task. The factors a person considers when making a decision can be attributed to the different aspects of the subjective task values and their motivation for a task can be analysed to reveal detailed insights (Eccles and Wigfield, 2020).
In order to increase the number of practicing registered veterinary nurses, it is necessary for veterinary nurse graduates to have a desire to have a long-term career in clinical veterinary nurse practice. The aim of this research was to apply the subjective task values of the SEVT and explore the future career plans and expectations of final year student veterinary nurses. The findings could then be used to inform future teaching practice for veterinary nurse educators. The research question the study aimed to address was ‘how do the values and beliefs of final year students, on a BSc (Hons) Veterinary Nursing programme, impact their desire to seek future employment in the veterinary nurse industry?’
Methods
Online interviews via Microsoft Teams, with ten participants, were used to collect qualitative data. The semi-structured nature of the interviews provided a basic framework to ensure all of the core questions were asked, but also allowed for emergent topics to be explored (Cohen et al, 2018). The interview questions can be seen in Appendix A.
The participants were selected using convenience sampling, and were recruited from a cohort of 42 final year students on a BSc (Hons) Veterinary Nursing programme (Cohen et al, 2018). It was essential to recruit final year students because they were near enough to the end of the programme that they were likely to have a realistic idea of their future career plans (Donald et al, 2019). The students were informed about the research project via an in-class announcement and those who put themselves forward to participate provided informed consent by completing an opt-in consent form. An online survey, using Qualtrics, was used to collect basic demographic data, and it also asked the participants for an estimate of how long they envisaged they would work in clinical practice as a registered veterinary nurse following their graduation (Kallio et al, 2016). There were 14 students from the cohort who chose to respond to the survey. They all expressed a desire to work in clinical veterinary nursing practice following graduation. A total of ten students were then selected to participate in the online semi-structured interviews. The participants were selected to include students who indicated plans to work in clinical veterinary nursing practice for differing timeframes, ranging from 5–30-years. The decision to select ten participants was based on the number of participants used for similar research projects (Matusovich et al, 2010; Peters and Daly, 2013; Harniman, 2023). Before beginning the data collection for the main study, a pilot study was conducted with three participants who were not included in the main study. Following the pilot study, some minor adjustments were made to the interview questions to improve their efficiency (Chiesa and Hobb, 2008; Starkey et al, 2014; Kallio et al, 2016).
Ethical considerations
The Ethics Committee at Hartpury University approved the project before the data collection began and assigned the reference number ETHICS2021-01. The British Educational Research Association (BERA) (2018) guidelines were considered during the design of the project. The dynamics associated with the researcher being a senior lecturer and the participants being students was taken into account. The data were anonymised, by assigning pseudonyms to each participant, and securely stored in accordance with The General Data Protection Regulations (2018).
Data analysis
Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. The process was closely adhered to and included assigning initial codes and then refining the codes in to four final themes (Braun and Clarke, 2006; Kiger and Varpio, 2020; Braun and Clarke, 2021). The final themes can be seen in Table 1.
Table 1. Final themes
| Theme number | Final theme name |
|---|---|
| Theme 1 | Career plans |
| Theme 2 | Wellbeing |
| Theme 3 | Veterinary nurse career longevity |
| Theme 4 | Academic achievement |
Results
Theme 1: career plans
The participants shared information about the type of veterinary practice they would like to work for in the future. Some wanted to work in a larger hospital. For example, ‘I can't see myself wanting to work anywhere but in a hospital environment’ (Student 1). Some wanted to work in a smaller clinic. For example, ‘I know I want to get into a small clinic’ (Student 2).
Many of the participants gave examples of things they enjoyed about the veterinary nurse role. Examples included, ‘I still love the job itself and I can't wait to get back into practice’ (Student 2) and ‘I would like to be in a profession which means something to people, yeah, it will be nice to have a label and say like yeah I am a professional’ (Student 9). Another participant commented on the challenges faced by veterinary nurse managers and highlighted this as something they would not like to do in the future, ‘I personally find it difficult to believe that you can be a nurse, a good nurse, and a good manager’ (Student 10).
Despite not being specifically questioned about this during their interviews, all but one of the participants, discussed plans for the future career options they envisaged themselves exploring following their clinical veterinary nursing careers. The most popular was to become a veterinary nurse lecturer (Table 2). Comments provided by participants suggested they considered the alternative careers they discussed to be superior to veterinary nursing. For example, ‘in the RSPCA or some, something a bit further up like that’ (Student 3) and when talking about their plans to retrain to be a veterinary surgeon a participant shared, ‘I think that knowing that I am progressing towards something greater’ (Student 8). Others suggested that their alternative career options would have less pressure then veterinary nursing, ‘I am interested in canine hydrotherapy still, still helping animals, but in a different way, maybe with not so much pressure’ (Student 9).
Table 2. The alternative career aspirations discussed by participants
| Participant pseudonym | Alternative future career aspirations |
|---|---|
| Student 1 | Canine hydrotherapist |
| Student 2 | Veterinary nurse lecturer or work in a laboratory |
| Student 3 | RSPCA officer or the armed forces |
| Student 4 | Veterinary surgeon |
| Student 5 | Veterinary nurse lecturer or pharmaceutical sales |
| Student 6 | Veterinary nurse lecturer or recruitment |
| Student 7 | No alternative career discussed |
| Student 8 | Veterinary surgeon or RSPCA officer |
| Student 9 | Canine hydrotherapist |
| Student 10 | Expressed a desire to leave the veterinary nurse profession, but did not specifically mention an alternative career |
Theme 2: wellbeing
The participants discussed a variety of wellbeing matters relating to their future career plans. Some participants commented on the impact that the demanding nature of the veterinary nurse job role has on their mental health and wellbeing, for example ‘it's like very draining in a lot of aspects, so physically, mentally, emotionally’ (Student 7). Some participants discussed the impact that assisting with euthanasia had on their mental health and expressed a desire to avoid that part of the job. For example, ‘euthanising animals that used to get me a lot when I was in placement, especially when I was in the hospital ‘cause that would happen a few times a day, probably why I want to stick to smaller practices ‘cause it doesn't happen so often’ (Student 9).
It was evident that some participants found the lack of understanding others have for the veterinary nurse profession frustrating. Comments included, ‘I think just general pressures of the job as well, obviously as you know it's not all sort of cuddles with puppies as much as everyone likes to say that and obviously like the, uh, euthanasia side and you know seeing animals like gravely ill’ (Student 5).
Some of the participants highlighted concerns about the high suicide rates of staff working in the veterinary industry. For example, ‘depression, anxiety, burnout and worse than that with suicide rates as they are. I think all these things can contribute towards this’ (Student 2).
Theme 3: veterinary nurse career longevity
The participants were reluctant to share the challenges they felt that registered veterinary nurses face when working in clinical practice, and many of them considered their answers for a long time before responding. A key challenge highlighted by participants was the longevity of the career, with many participants sharing that they thought it was unsuitable for older people. Examples included, ‘I don't know if it's realistic that'll be doing it ‘til I'm like 60’ (Student 4) and ‘the old, oldest practicing nurse that would probably be seen who's been physically practicing and doing all the sort of physically demanding parts were probably about 35, so I don't really see a lot of older nurses’ (Student 6).
Future family-related plans dominated the discussions about work–life balance in the participant's responses. Some participants highlighted concerns about the inflexibility of the veterinary nurse role. For example, ‘because it is quite demanding, you know, it's long hours that you work and they're not always catered around children, you know dropping off at school and picking up times. I think sometimes people do leave the profession ‘cause they find something that fits more into their lifestyle’ (Student 6).
The participants were asked to talk about their salary expectations, and they all provided a figure that they think would be realistic for newly qualified registered veterinary nurses to be paid. The figures provided ranged from £17 000 to £23 000 per year. The salary expectations of all participants can be seen in Table 3. Most participants commented that the pay for veterinary nurses is low and highlighted this as a factor which could limit their veterinary nurse career longevity. Comments included ‘I do think it's quite disgusting that practices will happily pay that, but expect so much from someone that's barely on minimum wage’ (Student 3). A participant who was a mature student, provided a different perspective, they shared, ‘I've just had lower paid jobs, RVNs are not well paid, but I'll be getting more than I have been’ (Student 2).
Table 3. Participant's salary expectations
| Participant pseudonym | Participants salary expectations |
|---|---|
| Student 1 | £18 000 |
| Student 2 | £17 000–18 000 |
| Student 3 | £20 000 |
| Student 4 | £23 000 |
| Student 5 | £20 000 |
| Student 6 | £18 000–£21 000 |
| Student 7 | £23 000 |
| Student 8 | £20 000 |
| Student 9 | £20 000 |
| Student 10 | £18 000–20 000 |
Theme 4: academic achievement
A few participants discussed a desire to complete additional qualifications and how their veterinary nursing degree would enable this. For example, ‘it opens so many doors to kind of master's degrees or certificate holders and stuff like that it, it opens so many doors and finally gives you the freedom and recognition’ (Student 1).
Some commented on their degree enabling them to seek employment as a registered veterinary nurse and that their degree had equipped them with the skills they require for the job role. For example, ‘you can go straight into a job and you're ready for that and you've got all the skills that you need’ (Student 4).
Discussion
This research aimed to identify the values and beliefs that motivated final year veterinary nurses' future career plans and expectations. All participants shared plans to seek employment as registered veterinary nurses following graduation. Their desire to join the veterinary nurse profession can be attributed to the high levels of intrinsic value they place on promoting animal welfare and their belief in the importance of the role of a registered veterinary nurse has links with the attainment subjective task values described in the SEVT. They also place value on their desire to use the skills they acquired during their degree and to be part of a profession which aligns to the utility subjective task values in the SEVT (Dunne et al, 2018; Eccles and Wigfield, 2020; Harniman, 2023).
Links were made between the demanding nature of the veterinary nurse role and the mental wellbeing of veterinary staff. Patient euthanasia was discussed by a number of participants as an aspect of the role they found particularly traumatic. Brscic et al (2021) had similar findings and reported that veterinary professionals have a high level of empathy for animals which increases their distress when it comes to euthanasia. They suggested that veterinary curricula should cover how to deal with animal death, grief of pet owners and moral stress to help to prepare veterinary professionals for dealing with challenging situations. Although veterinary nurse training programmes do incorporate discussion of animal euthanasia, specifically preparing student veterinary nurses to deal with the emotional trauma associated with animal euthanasia would be advantageous.
Several of the participants shared concerns about the high suicide rates in the veterinary professions. Other research links the high suicide rates in the veterinary profession to the emotionally traumatic nature of the work (Roberts et al, 2013; Milner et al, 2015; Deacon and Brough, 2021). In order to prepare veterinary nurses for their clinical careers, it is necessary for universities to provide students with suitable wellbeing support to foster a culture of openness, to empower student veterinary nurses to share their concerns and receive support to help them to maintain the motivation they require to engage in long-term clinical careers. The recommendations of Reynolds and Reynolds-Golding (2023) are similar. They suggest that veterinary nurse educators should equip students with a ‘toolkit’ of support for their emotional wellbeing.
The low pay associated with the veterinary nurse profession was a cause for concern for most participants with one describing it as ‘disgusting’. It is clear from the findings that the participants believe that the pay is not representative of the job role. This is a common finding in veterinary nurse research and is reflected in the average salary estimations provided by careers websites, with both UCAS and the National Careers Service providing estimates for new graduates that are only marginally above the national minimum wage (Robinson et al, 2020; National Careers Service, 2024; UCAS, 2024). Silverwood (2021) described the low pay as ‘the financial plight of the veterinary nurse’ and stated that many veterinary nurses are paid less than hospitality workers. They speculated that if the low pay continues then the nationwide shortage of veterinary nurses will get worse. Hamlin (2019) makes the point that the global animal-related industries are highly lucrative, and that this is not reflected in veterinary nurse pay. With the findings of these authors in mind, it is no wonder that most of the participants of this study had feelings of dissatisfaction when it came to their salary expectations.
All but one of the participants, without being directly asked, shared details of alternative career options they had considered. Some participants stated that they would like to do ‘something greater’ than veterinary nursing. This would suggest that they did not feel that the veterinary nurse profession will enable them to fill their potential (Page-Jones and Abbey, 2015). All of the alternative careers considered by the participants were animal-related and even the participant who was considering the armed forces wanted to join the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, demonstrating that the participant's value animal welfare and that they would be able to apply the transferrable skills acquired from their veterinary nurse degrees in their chosen alternative careers. Some of the reasons given for considering other careers included topics that have already been discussed, such as low pay and lack of responsibility. There were also suggestions that the veterinary nurse profession is not suitable for older people because of both the physically demanding nature of the job and the lack of flexibility which people with childcare responsibilities may find prohibitive. The RCVS (2022) report has similar findings and also high-lights the need for further research into the career plans of registered veterinary nurses who leave the profession as a requirement.
The aspects of the veterinary nurse job role that participants felt could limit the longevity of their clinical careers can all be attributed to the perceived cost subjective task value of the SEVT. If the perceived cost of engaging with an activity outweighs the benefits, then the person's motivation to continue will be reduced and, in the case of veterinary nurses, this reduction in motivation could lead them to leave clinical practice and seek alternative employment (Eccles and Wigfield, 2020). Alongside ensuring that veterinary nurse graduates have the necessary knowledge and skills, veterinary nurse educators should act as positive role models to validate their student's newly formed professional identities, to ensure they are prepared for clinical veterinary nurse practice and have a suitable level of resilience to negotiate challenging situations (Armitage-Chan and May, 2019).
Limitations
The participants were known to the researcher and this could be a limitation because it increases the likelihood for the researcher to make assumptions of the participant's meaning when interpreting the data. To minimise the possibility of this, the thematic analysis process was closely adhered to. It is also possible that the established rapport between the researcher and the participants could be an advantage and helped the participants to feel relaxed during their interviews and provide detailed insights into their experiences (de la Croix et al, 2018; Braun and Clarke, 2021).
Conclusions
The participants all expressed a desire to work as registered veterinary nurses in clinical practice and held the belief that the veterinary nurse role is worthwhile because it would enable them to have a positive impact on animal health and welfare. Alongside this, they recognised that they were likely to encounter challenges that may limit the longevity of their veterinary nurse clinical careers and had already considered alternative career options.
Emotional trauma, associated with certain aspects of the veterinary nurse role, is commonly encountered by registered veterinary nurses working in clinical practice. In the context of the SEVT, the anticipation of experiencing emotional trauma will relate to the perceived cost subjective task value and high levels of perceived cost lead to a decreased motivation to persist with the task.
Another aspect of the registered veterinary nurse job role that could be considered a perceived cost is the low pay. Veterinary nurse salaries have been regularly discussed in published literature and the majority of the participants in this study held the opinion that the veterinary nurse salaries are not reflective of the work they do. The lack of flexibility of the job role is also a cause for concern. All of these factors contribute to lower levels of motivation and may then prompt veterinary nurses to make the decision to leave the profession.
Veterinary nurse educators should accept that, in accordance to current research, members of the profession are unlikely to spend their whole career working in clinical practice. They are likely to leave and to seek employment with a greater level of autonomy, higher pay and less emotional trauma. In light of these findings, veterinary nurse educators should support student veterinary nurses in developing the resilience required to face the challenging nature of clinical practice. They should also ensure that graduate registered veterinary nurses have the transferrable skills they would require if they choose to seek an alternative future career.
KEY POINTS
- Motivation for graduate veterinary nurses to seek employment in clinical practice is essential to address the current workforce shortages in the profession.
- Working as registered veterinary nurses in clinical practice was a plan shared by all participants.
- Participants were looking forwards to some aspects of the veterinary nurse role and highlighted other aspects they were expecting to be challenging and could limit the longevity of their clinical careers.
- Retraining as a veterinary surgeon, lecturing and working as a canine hydrotherapist are examples of the alternative future career options participants had considered.
- Veterinary nurse educators should equip students with the necessary tools to support their wellbeing, and with transferable skills that could be applied to another vocation if required.