Overview of this occupation
Veterinary Nurses care for animals under treatment and in temporary residence at veterinary facilities and assist Veterinarians to perform procedures and operations.
What they do:
- Assist health care practitioners during examinations, treatments, or procedures
- Assist patients with hygiene or daily living activities
- Conduct diagnostic tests to determine patient health
- Examine patients or clients to assess general physical condition or identify potential issues
- Feed patients
- Monitor patients following surgeries or other procedures
- Perform endoscopic procedures
- Position patients for treatment, procedures, or examination
- Record vital statistics or other health information
- Schedule patient procedures or appointments
What technology tools they use:
- Medical imaging apparatus
- Patient management systems and electronic health records
What their interests are:
- Outdoors – they enjoy working outside. This could include growing things and caring for animals.
- Practical – they enjoy working with equipment, operating machinery and fixing things.
Source: Australian Skills Classification, job and Skills Australia, Commonwealth of Australia. Used under Creative Commons BY 4.0 licence and Jobs and Skills Australia, ABS Census 2016, Customised Report.
Quick facts
Veterinary Nurse
All employees nationwide 1
The number of people employed in an occupations as their main job across all Australian states.
Projected growth 2
The projected increase in employment in Australia from May 2023 to May 2028.
Working in NSW 3
The distribution of people employed in an occupation in NSW.
Median weekly earnings before tax 4
Earnings are before tax and include amounts salary sacrificed.
Median age of all workers 5
This shows the median age of all workers in this occupation.
Part-time workers 6
Those who usually work less than 35 hours per week.
See footnotes for source details and additional information.
Skills and knowledge
What are they good at?
This table lists skills and knowledge categories according to how relevant they are for this occupation.
High expertise | Intermediate |
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Source: Australian Skills Classification, Jobs and Skills Australia, Commonwealth of Australia. Used under Creative Commons BY 4.0 licence.
Education and qualifications
Veterinary Nurse – Skill level 3
Occupations at Skill Level 3 have a level of skill commensurate with one of the following:
- AQF Certificate IV or
- AQF Certificate III including at least two years of onthejob training
At least three years of relevant experience many substitute for the formal qualifications listed above.
Source: Conceptual basis of ANZSCO, ABS Survey, Release Nov 2021.
Qualifications in this workforce
This table shows the distribution of employment by highest qualification completed (in any field of study).7
Year 12 and below
Certificate III or IV
Diploma or Advanced Diploma
Bachelor`s degree
Post-graduate
Source: ABS, 2021 Census of Population and Housing based on place of usual residence.
Use this as a guide for understanding what qualifications are the most common in this field. For personalised support on your education journey, talk to a Careers NSW specialist.
Talk to one of our specialists
At any career stage you can talk with a specialist from Careers NSW about your goals and how you can achieve them.