Hi everyone and welcome to another episode of Vet Chat, and today is a special episode because I'm delighted to be joined by Lou Northway, who is probably better known to many of you as Lou the vet nurse. So, Lou, boss to have you on, it's great. To have a chat.

It's certainly nice to sort of touch base when we're all sort of locked away in our own homes. So yeah, it's, it's great to have you on board and I just wonder if you could maybe just take a moment to introduce yourself to those people who've been hid under a rock and you. Oh, thanks for the kind introduction, Ben.

That's really kind. Well, my name's Louise Northway, formerly. But yes, as Ben said, many people now know me as the vet nurse.

I am a registered veterinary nurse working in the UK. I've been in practise now for 16 years, and I'm probably one of the most job-loving vet nurses that exists on the planet. If I do say.

Say myself. The reason why most people know me now is Lee, the vet nurse is I have quite a large social media following. As I started a social media page for nurses about 2 years ago now, where I could just basically share hints, tips and like the best bits of my days in practise as a nurse and.

It's been amazing. So that's me in a nutshell. Yeah, I think it's interesting that you share hints and tips to vet nurses.

I think the one tip that I would share with anybody who is coming up and through vet school at the moment is on day one when you walk into a practise, get the vet nurses on site because they will help you without any shadow of a doubter, you know, it's certainly the one thing that I look at with my professional career is that had it not been for vet nurses, it would have certainly gone down. So I have a lot to be grateful for. So what, what made you want to be a vet nurse, Luke?

I think like most people that are in our profession, a love of animals was the start. So I grew up with, having pet hamsters and bunnies, and unfortunately they ended up having to need to go to the vets quite a lot. So every, I used to absolutely love going in with my mum, and sort of seeing what was done, but actually my idea of veterinary nursing didn't come until I was in my teens when I had my work experience, because I think when you're growing up, and you watch vet programmes on TV, for example, in my era it was Animal Hospital.

You only ever saw what the work of what the vets did. You didn't really know what a veterinary nurse was, so it wasn't until I had my work experience at school that I was like, that is what I wanna do in a nutshell. Yes, that is me.

And I loved how the nurses were so hands on with the patients and the different types of animals they got to care for, . And yeah, that's it really, but I, yeah, it's it's just something I always wanted to do, be work with animals in some capacity, and I had my work experience and that sealed the deal, so. Yeah, I think it's always interesting to see how people end up doing what they're doing and of course, you know, you touched on it there, you know, the vast majority of people who, who end up doing what, you know, we do as vets and as nurses, are, you know, that the core focus of that is that initial desire.

To care for animals, and that of course is fundamental to our day to day work. But if you're chatting to somebody who, you know, maybe is interested in being a vet nurse or, you know, would like to find out more about it. Why, you know, why, why should they consider it as a career?

Oh gosh, where do I start? I mean, I I think when we're sort of like telling people about our profession, we shouldn't sugarcoat it. I think it's important to give sort of teenagers knowledge of the.

The best bits and also the hard and the, you know, the hardest bits of our job as well. But for me, it's making a difference. So, caring for the patients and using my knowledge and my skill, to help them feel better.

But also supporting my team. So sharing knowledge with others, absorbing knowledge from others. You're never bored because you're constantly learning.

And also, one of my other favourite parts of being a pet nurse is communication and contact with clients. So, from being a pet owner myself, knowing how much my pets mean to me, it's an absolute honour to be able to care for other people's pets and to think that they trust you with their prized possession is just, you know, a really lovely feeling. But it's, there's so many doors that can open from nursing.

You can work abroad, you can work in the UK, you can work with wildlife, zoo animals, small animals, equine, farm animals. Like, there is just so many opportunities and, and pathways, and I can't, well, I can't see myself doing anything else still. So it's got to be pretty good.

Yeah, I was gonna say it's always good when you speak to people who are passionate about what they do. And of course that's not to say that, you know, you, you talk about sugarcoating things, that's not to say that every day is perfect, and of course like every job, you know, you do have days that you just go oh. Do you know what, like this is just, this is, this is too much.

I I don't want to do this anymore, and I, I can certainly think of several during my career. I'm fortunate enough to have had people who've invested in me to, bring me back some points of wanting to leave things. But if you sort.

I've ever really thought, do you know what, no, this this isn't for me, I'm gonna go and do something else. I wouldn't say I've ever had the feeling like I was ready to sort of walk away and go, you know, change my career at all, but there's definitely been days where it's been very hard and I've finished the day very upset and perhaps I've had some abuse from a client and I just think to myself, like I could be sat working in an office being paid 3 times as much to not have this, this abuse. But then when I get home and I think about it more, I think, well, if I did that I would be bored, I wouldn't be motivated, I wouldn't be stimulated, I wouldn't be caring for the patients that I love dealing with so much.

I wouldn't be with my team and I wouldn't be a part of this amazing profession, and that is the thing that always pulls me back in. And when I think, as you've already said, you've had support in helping you manage times when it's tough, and I think that's something as a profession we are getting better at helping each other with. And I hope that sort of at universities and colleges that becomes part of the training, so dealing with people in difficult situations, because that is the main thing that causes people to burn out.

So, yes, I do have bad tech days too where I cry in the car on the way home. Of course I do. I'm normal like everyone else.

But it's then sort of how you manage that. And then of course, you know, everyone who is training or has trained to be a vet nurse will be all too aware of the, the commitment and the workload that goes into to getting that badge. And I think as a profession, you know, we have got better at celebrating vet nurses and their contribution, you know, and, and I think, you know, it's, it's something that to me has been very, very.

Encouraging to see that that we're, you know, we're we're really starting to identify all of those qualities that vet nurses bring to a practise, but, but what does it mean to you to wear that badge? I'm so proud. I still am really proud.

I know it's, it sounds a bit corny, but when I get put my uniform on. And I pin my badge on every Monday morning unless I've forgotten to take it off on a Friday and it's been through the washing machine. I, I just feel enormously proud and sometimes I think it's, I think we're almost afraid to feel proud of what we do, but it's really important to acknowledge it and if you're ever sort of thinking.

To yourself, oh gosh, you know, I don't feel proud of what I'm doing, just go into practise, take a step back and look at what you will do in a day as a team, cos you're part of that, you're part of the jigsaw, and then you, you're like feeling of self-worth will increase because, you know, we don't do this job on our own, we do it together. And I just, I love being a part of it. I think that's always good when you've got someone who's such an advocate for it, but appreciates what, you know, that, that qualification means, and I think sometimes we possibly lose sight of, you know, how much we have invested to get where we are.

And actually, you know, the massive achievement that that that is, and I think. You know, for me that's, that's something to always reflect on, you know, I'm I'm, I'm one of those people that has my vet school certificate stuck up on the wall every now and then when you sort of lose sight of what you're doing, when you have that glance up, you can go, actually, yeah, do you know what, we all put graft into getting those qualifications. Now you obviously talk a lot about, you know, sort of vetting.

Goals and things like that. So what's a vet nurse goal? What are your vet nurse goals?

My vet nurse goals are to share knowledge, try to change culture in practise, so it's inclusive of everybody because teamwork makes the dream work as cliche as that sounds, a practise that has a good team ethos is a happy practise. And as, as much as I think sort of, roles in practise are important, so titles, for example, I think, you know, when we're working together. It's almost like leave your title at the door and let's just share what we know.

I just want to be the best nurse I can be and the other day I shared a quote. This quote to me, it just really epitomised what nursing is or what our profession is in general, cos obviously we're constantly learning and we're constantly wanting to be the best, and we put this massive amount of pressure on ourselves to be the best, but the quote says, Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.

And that is by a lady called, Maya Angelou. I think I said that right, I hope so. And I just thought, well, that's it.

That is for me, because I'm, I'm always trying to do my best, but I want to do even better, and I'm just gonna keep learning. I'm gonna keep going on courses, I'm gonna con continue sharing and absorbing other people's knowledge as well. And that's what's gonna keep me going forward.

So it's just keeping a positive open learning mindset and keep travelling forward. Yeah, absolutely, 100%, and I think, you know, it's also for me, I always look at one of these things and go, you know, it's OK to be happy where you are. I, I think, you know, it's one of them funny things.

I think where in society nowadays we're very, very quick to sort of focus on what's next, and, and, you know, we're going to do that and we're gonna do that, but actually it's taking those stock of, of what you've done as well, you know, it's, I dare say that there's nobody in this profession that can't turn around and say. Yeah, actually, do you know what, vet nurses keep our practise running, because I think, you know, it is such a vital role in the practise now, both on a personal and on a team level. So I think, you know.

It's interesting, you're clearly passionate about what you do and and you love what you do. But what are the, what are the hard things about being a vet nurse? I think for me as I've got older, emotionally, especially I think when you go through situations yourself, like last year I lost my dog, I struggle with sad situations, so euthanasia, more than what I used to, not that I never cared before, but it really, really hurts me when I have to assist.

And I think in some situations if you've been through in practise they're particularly traumatic. Sometimes it can sort of travel forwards with you. So making sure that you have time and professional support to manage those situations is really important, but I think that's probably one of the hard things.

The other hard thing I struggle with is, as I've already mentioned, negative comments from clients, both face to face and online. So, you know, our profession gets trolled a lot by, those that do not understand what is involved and why things are the way they are. But even when it's not specifically about you, you do take it personally because you know that team they're talking about probably had a really tough day.

And you know that that team will now read what's written about them and be feeling awful also. So I think you know client education on our profession, we really all need to take sort of responsibility to promote what we do and what's involved, especially regarding finances, because I think that would then take off this sort of Negative opinion perhaps of our profession that's often shared in the media. Yeah, I think that's it, isn't it?

You know what what we are to the general public is very different to, to, you know, what we, what we see from the inside looking out. Yeah, I mean some are amazing and so thankful and you, you feel so grateful that you've got that relationship with them, but others are just so rude sometimes. And you just want to be able to say to them, like, I've got a, a Volkswagen Polo outside and a massive mortgage, and, you know, I don't have much money left at the end of the month.

So when you say, you know, I'm doing my job for the money, I can assure you, I'm not. So, but you can't, you can't really, you know, well, you can, but it's so hard. You just sometimes want to say, you know, you've got a massive Range Rover outside.

Like, your life is clearly much better financially than mine, but obviously, we can't say that. Well it's one of them I think where, where I live, I think there's a lot of Range Rovers that are on on, on finance and people own kind of the front driver's side wheel. But I think you know like you say, it's finding your own version of it and you know.

For some people that's financial, for some people that's work, for some people that's personal. And, and of course, you know, one of the big steps that you've made. It is into that sort of social media spotlight, which is obviously, you know, a bold and a brave move, because as you, as you point out, you know, you are sort of putting yourself out front and centre there.

But you know, why, why did you make that? Yeah, the idea came about very randomly on, it was just before Christmas a few years ago, I was sat watching Netflix, eating crisps or or something along those lines and . I thought, gosh, you know, I'm really bored, and I was just sat there thinking about work and how much I'd actually like, prefer to be at work and sat at home at that point, because I was just bored out of my mind.

And I thought, what, I want to talk to more people, how can I engage with more nurses. I was also slightly inspired by Cat the vet, as, she had a Facebook page, but she generally engages more with pet owners, but my focus was to engage with other nurses. And at that point also I'd just finished a certificate in anaesthesia and I thought, oh, do you know what, there's been some pearls of wisdom I've learned on this course, which if I'd known this years ago, I could have done things much easier or simpler or understood things much clearer.

And I thought, oh, it'd be quite good to sort of share some pearls of wisdom. So that is when my social media page was born. But as I say, the focus, like my target audience is other nurses, .

Not necessarily pet owners. But then I would hope if a pet owner was to look at my page, they'd be like, crikey, these nurses, like they know loads, they do loads. They're here, there and everywhere.

Like, that's, so indirectly, I guess they would be influenced possibly. But, I wanted to, like, feel, like, build a really positive community with other nurses, championing the best bits of our job, because I think we've become slightly. To follow the trend of social media like just we just go on to have a whinge.

So, you know, someone on your road hasn't put their bin out in the right place or, you know, things like that. But actually it's like, why do we just have to go on there to whinge all the time? Why can't we get on social media to like champion the bits we're the things we love, the things we're excited about, the cases that have gone really well, like, why aren't we sharing it?

And I thought, do you know what? I'm gonna do that. So there we go.

Yeah, I, I think it's interesting actually you touch on that sort of, on the bandwagon social media mentality. I remember seeing a really funny, a sort of inverted commas funny video the other day where it was like, you know, how people have found new things to whinge about during lockdown and, and you know the this guy had put a video out where it was all of the neighbours out doing lap for care. And sort of putting in subtitles where he's looking at his neighbour going oh you know I see Joan from number 19 as an out, and people are sort of so quick to judge what everyone else is doing and saying, so you know it is that that bold step of putting yourself out there and saying, right, look, do you know what, actually, I, I wanted.

Want to make a positive impact in that sphere and it's a real challenge to do that. But, but have you taken any learnings from that experience? Is it, you know, obviously when you start these things, I dare say, you know, like me with starting my business, you go in with almost rose-tinted glasses.

But what, what, what sort of, what has it taught you? I've had a lot of lessons actually through . Putting myself out there online, like to start with, inspiration and ideas like came in abundance, you know, I was like full of it and creating content which was not sort of a challenge.

But as time has gone on, especially now I'm not in practise at the moment, finding inspiration to create content for your followers is actually really hard work, and really hard to motivate yourself. And like, when I was working full time, I'd sometimes then sit up until midnight when I'd got home from work. Creating content.

So I think the learning curve there is finding the balance if you're gonna do it. And also that you don't have to post every day, although you get sort of addicted and you feel like you need to, but you don't need to. And probably that sometimes you can attract unsavoury characters to social media because it is social media.

So I, I have had some incidences with trolling, but not very recently, which is nice. But not about being a nurse, weirdly, about other things, but I'm not gonna talk about that now, but it, it has definitely been an eye opener. Yeah, it kind of, what, what amazes me is how much spare time other people seem to have, like, you know, that sort of the effort it must take to find someone to troll, to troll them about stuff, you just sort of think, mate, like.

You must have. Yeah, and it's, it's bizarre because the person that trolled me, I'm sure like they that I reported obviously their profile and I'm sure they recreated this like three different profiles, but I knew it was them because the grammar was not very good and it had the same writing style. So, but it it was just very bizarre.

I thought gosh, you know, why have you got the time to sit there at home and like leave me alone, I'm not, I'm not here to like start a fight. I just, you know, want to do what I'm doing. You know, you spend a lot of time writing content when you can identify the grammar of the same people in different profiles, I think that's fair play.

So I think interestingly for me, obviously, you know, you've had a lot of acclaim and a lot of sort of, you know, sort of recognization from the Royal College, and, you know, from the BVNA . That's obviously incredibly flattering, but does it, does it increase the pressure on you? Does it make it harder to do what?

Yeah, I mean, I would say the bigger my pages got and the more I've been doing and the more I've been putting myself out there, so speaking at conferences, and I've won some awards as well, which I am really proud about, but it does put enormous pressure to keep it up, you know, so keep posting, keep inspiring, keep doing the things that you've got awards for. And it has been quite challenging actually the last 6 months or so. I have had some professional sort of support with the whole imposter syndrome situation, just to allow myself to recognise that I've been working chuffing hard and everything that I've achieved, you know, I have achieved because I've worked really hard and it's OK.

But yeah, on those days when you're feeling sort of not as inspirational, and then you log onto Facebook and your face is there again, it's like, oh gosh, like I don't feel like that person today. But I know a lot of people will feel like how I do too, very normal in our profession. But yeah, I, it, it has been challenging, but it, I, you know, today I'm having a really good day, so I can see that everything that I've done is really positive and I want to keep doing it.

That's always it, you know, it's life in every avenue will always have pros and cons and ups and downs and good and bad, but it is, it's, I think also that sort of realisation and it's becoming, you know, more and more, talked about across the profession and obviously like Katie is doing amazing things with the likes of She's been helping me as well. And that's it and you know there's so many. People that are are coaching, but coaching with a knowledge of the profession.

And obviously, you know, like Caroline Crowe was very much, you know, the sort of trailblazer for coaching in the veterinary sphere and it's great to see other people taking on that mantle but taking their learnings from clinical life to support others. And of course some will stay in the clinical sphere, some will will move on to other spheres, and, and, and. It's, it's identifying that that's fine, it's doing what's what's right for you.

And of course, you know, for you, you've got the right thing and that the, it's great to speak to someone who loves what they do and very openly and clearly loves what they do, because actually you've clearly found the right thing for you. But if you were to be speaking to somebody who maybe didn't think what they're doing is the right thing for them, . I would say do what makes you happy and if you don't, you know, you've tried to navigate your way to stay in this profession and you don't feel like you're not, you know, you're not finishing your working day feeling satisfied, then it's absolutely absolutely OK to diversify, you haven't failed.

And you can, you don't have to be working in practise to have an impact in the veterinary profession either, like there's loads of different roles outside of practise life where you can still make a huge difference. So I think, you know, wherever you are, just think about what are your values, what do you care about, what is it that gives you that buzz and that sense of satisfaction and chase it. And do what you want, it's your life.

There's this pressure that we all have to do be doing similar things, or, you know, we look at someone successful and you think, oh, I should be doing what they're doing, but no, you don't, you don't have to do that at all. So be yourself. Now I think I need to sort of wrap up on one very big and massive question.

And I think this is, is, is specifically aimed towards all of the vets out there. So if you could give one message to vets. From you as a vet nurse.

It would be probably let us help you and delegate to us as much as you can because we can help make your working day much easier. That's it probably. Yeah.

No, I think that, I think that's cracking advice, and I think, you know, I've, I've been so blessed to work as part of teams where, you know, I can literally walk into a room with a dog and say, guys, can you please do this, this, this, because I've got 4 people waiting, and, and you know, without even need to to stop for a second. Though that you've got that fantastic team of nurses behind you who can go, right, yeah, bang bang bang, we'll take it back out to the owner and we'll let you know when the results are in and that does make life. And like I'm very lucky where I work, all the vets are very much on board with delegation to nurses, and they'll bring a sick patient through and they'll write a shopping list of what they'd like us to do basically, bloods, x-rays, put an IV in, take bloods, administer this medication, do this medication, administer a fluid bonus, let us know after this has happened.

And like that's exactly what we should be doing. They don't need to be doing all of that, especially in the middle of their consult block when they've still got another 5 appointments to do. Like, give yourself a break and delegate to your nursing team because they can do it.

I think that sounds like it's a really good team, so in the first time ever on the podcast, I'm gonna let someone do a shout out to them. Wendover Heights Veterinary centre. Wendover Heights, congratulations, you have nailed the vet.

By the sounds of things. But Lou, it's great to chat to you. Obviously it's weird times at the moment being furloughed and stuff, but it's great to see you doing such positive things in the profession.

Now of course you've got your own exciting sort of familial diversification coming up, haven't you, with, with, with baby due in I don't know, September, I don't even know what month I'm in right now. It's well, the best of luck with it. It's a fantastic adventure, and you know, another very different string to your bow, but thank you so much thank you for having me.

Oh, thanks so much, Ben. It's been great to chat.