Employer of Choice Spotlight: A Chat with Head Vet Nurse - Bridget Swart - Vets on Carlton - ep 223

Julie South [00:00:05]:
This is Veterinary Voices, episode 223 and I'm Julie South. Veterinary Voices is all about showcasing veterinary clinic employers of choice, those clinics that are absolutely great to work at, not according to us, but according to their teams. Veterinary Voices is brought to you by vetclinicjobs.com the job board direct Hiring Reimagined no agency. To find out more about the clinics that we profile, visit vetclinicjobs.com Today is the fourth in the series showcasing Whanganui Vet Clinic Employer of Choice Vets on Carlton and Whanganui Vets Services, two sister clinics in the Manawatu small seaside city of Whanganui. If you're a veterinary professional who's qualified to work in New Zealand and you're looking to make your next move, then you definitely owe it to yourself to check out the series. So far we've caught up with The Managing Director, Mr. Tom Dinwiddie, head of Reception team Diana Coffey, and last week head veterinarian Dr. David Rankin.

Julie South [00:01:28]:
All of them have said how much they enjoy going to work each day. Now you can be probably, maybe, possibly kind of thinking that they have to say that because they're on this podcast, right? And yes, that's a fair enough comment to make. But what about those reviews that have been made by other team members at these two clinics? Not sure what I'm talking about. If you go to vetclinicjobs.com vets on carlton you'll see that they currently have an average of 4.7 stars out of 5 across 7 completely anonymous and verified reviews. Each and every employer review at Vet Clinic Jobs is verified by a real human being. We need to know. The reviewer needs to verify that an employee who's doing a review making a review has the right to review an employer because they have first hand experience as an employee. So don't just take the word of the team members that I've interviewed so far in this series.

Julie South [00:02:48]:
Go check out the verified reviews reviews of people who haven't been on this podcast and have been and are or were employees at Vets on Carlton, Whanganui Vet Services team members who are also saying things like, for example, and you can check this out at vetclinicjobs.com vetsoncarlton vets on Carleton is overall a great team to work with, supportive staff that are very helpful and not only that, but eager to push you to accomplish your goals. Always being the sideline cheerleader with a ton of laughter and sleeky jokes, even Some not so five star comments, like for a country vet clinic, this is a good clinic. Yes, the building needs a facelift which is planned. However, the equipment, for example new dental gear is top notch. Check out the comments that make up the 4.7 average out of 5. All links mentioned in this episode are in the show notes of wherever you're listening to this show right now. Today we're catching up with the head veterinary nurse at the Vets on Carlton Clinic, Bridget. As you'll pick up from Bridgette's accent, she most definitely wasn't born in Whanganui or even in New Zealand.

Julie South [00:04:22]:
She also has a young family. So what's that like? Carry on listening. Right now, Vets On Carlton isn't looking for another veterinary nurse, but if you're a nurse and you like what you hear here, then visit vetclinicjobs.com vetsoncarlton and subscribe to them. This means that as soon as they post a vet nurse vacancy, you'll be the first to hear about it. Now let's join the chat I had with Bridget so you can hear firsthand what she thinks of Whanganui as a place to live, how easy it's been to fit into living in Whanganui and what it's like working with veterinarians who fully support their nurses to utilise their professional nurses nursing skills.

Bridget Swart [00:05:19]:
I'm Bridget Swart and I'm currently the head vet nurse at Vets on Carlton and have been so for three years now.

Julie South [00:05:26]:
Bridget, what does a typical day look like for you, if such a thing exists?

Bridget Swart [00:05:31]:
A difficult day.

Julie South [00:05:33]:
Sorry? A typical day.

Bridget Swart [00:05:34]:
Oh, typical day. I thought you said difficult day. I was like, oh, that's a hard one. A typical day would be kind of admitting patients in the morning. We prep them all for the surgeons. So we will do all their pre med, do their TPRs, things like that. And then we'll do morning rounds, which has become a new thing with us, but working out fantastic. So we do morning rounds, which includes the consult there as well.

Bridget Swart [00:06:00]:
Then we crack on with surgery. We do have, you know, quite a lot of good nurses there, so we get to do quite a bit, get surgery out the way and then in the afternoon it would be doing bills, calling owners, following up on the patients and then obviously getting our patients home safely.

Julie South [00:06:18]:
You mentioned that morning rounds is a relatively new thing. Was this something that you instigated?

Bridget Swart [00:06:25]:
So it has been something I've been trying to get in, but we've had a locum vet that has kind of really pushed for it, which was really great because it really gets everyone on the same page and we know what's going on with each patient, even patients that are coming through from the consult rooms. So it has made quite a big difference.

Julie South [00:06:41]:
How would you describe your clients?

Bridget Swart [00:06:44]:
Clients are pretty easygoing. There's always, obviously, clients that can be a little bit difficult, but I think it stems from a place of them loving their pets and really wanting the best for their pets. But we have some really good easygoing clients. Yeah.

Julie South [00:06:59]:
You're the head nurse. I've heard stories. Now, I know this isn't going to apply to you. I've heard stories where everybody is absolutely terrified of the head vet nurse. How do you work? What's your management, your leadership style?

Bridget Swart [00:07:18]:
For me, I think. I think, yeah, anyone going into a head nursing position, everyone is always scared of them. But what I try to do is obviously work with everyone and I would never ask my staff to do anything that I'm not prepared to do. So, you know, if I see something that needs to get done, I'm willing to go and do it and not have to, you know, get someone else to do it just because it's, you know, it's a silly little job that needs to get done. So I think from my side, it's more. I really put a lot of effort into also making connections with the staff.

Julie South [00:07:51]:
In or since your time at Vets on Carlton, what would you describe as your most satisfying case?

Bridget Swart [00:07:58]:
There's so many, to be fair, but if I had to pick one that was quite satisfying would be. We had a diabetic cat that came in, it had fell down some stairs just because it's obviously had really low glucose. I was really involved in that case and just seeing the outcome and nursing that case from literally the first consult because I was the first face that they saw chatting them through everything and just having a really good positive outcome from that case and being given the opportunity to be a part of that case and be a part of the client's interaction was really, really cool.

Julie South [00:08:35]:
Going to put you on the spot. I'd like you to describe your team in just three words, please.

Bridget Swart [00:08:44]:
Okay. In three words, I would have to say, so knowledgeable, fun and hard working. Really hard working.

Julie South [00:08:52]:
They are hard working. Has now come up twice. We have your three words. Fabulous, professional, dedicated, respectable, family oriented, friendly, passionate, great, supportive. What's important to you at work when you go to work? I mean, we all go to work. I go to work because I need to. Right. I Mean, I love what I do, but we go to work for the money.

Julie South [00:09:21]:
So aside from that, what else is important to you?

Bridget Swart [00:09:25]:
I think having a great culture is really important. We spend like so much time at work around, you know, other people that we, we work with and having a good culture where you can enjoy your time there, have fun, be supportive, because that's also there is part of it. Yeah.

Julie South [00:09:44]:
How does that play out at Vets on Carlton?

Bridget Swart [00:09:47]:
We're pretty much what a. Not a close knit team that, you know, no one can come in and get in there, but we're a really close team where we really have each other's back. You know, if someone's having a bad day and they've been for an admit, someone else will take the admit for them and be like, listen, you know, you go have five, I'll go do this admit. We're always there for each other, which I think really helps. And we do share a lot of our feelings and, and how, you know, we feeling at the time, which I think is great because, you know, one day you can be happy, one day you don't feel 100% and you're a bit down. But communicating that to people helps also people understand your demeanor throughout the day.

Julie South [00:10:31]:
I can hear from your accent that you are not a Whanganui ITE born and bred. What was it like moving into Whanganui from outside? How welcoming was it?

Bridget Swart [00:10:46]:
I think for me it felt daunting at the time, but if I knew then what I know now, I think it would have been a lot easier in my transition. Only because I've. Yeah, nothing. But everyone has been amazing, really accommodating a very easy team to get along with.

Julie South [00:11:04]:
What's Whanganui like to live in as a city? Because you've. I. I'm presuming, listening to your accent, that you are a big city girl and Whanganui cannot be described as a big city. How's that been?

Bridget Swart [00:11:18]:
I think it's been really great. I really love the lifestyle here, you know, slower pace. I've obviously got two kids, so you've got to have a place that obviously they can really, you know, find things for them to do. And Wanganui has quite a lot to offer for people, you know, that do have kids and it's been great. Like we've made a few friends, which has also contributed to, you know, settling in really, really well. Weather here is great. Summers are amazing. Yeah.

Bridget Swart [00:11:48]:
And just, yeah, slowing down on weekends. It's what you need.

Julie South [00:11:51]:
Perfect. Seek into me for me to ask you when you're not at work, what are you doing? What does Wanganui offer you?

Bridget Swart [00:11:58]:
When I'm not at work, I would say mostly every second weekend I go to my parents and live in.

Julie South [00:12:04]:
Okay.

Bridget Swart [00:12:05]:
Because I'm lucky enough they stay close. But we would either be going to the library, we would be going to the splash center. We kind of surround our weekends around what we can do as a family.

Julie South [00:12:16]:
Can I ask you the age of your children?

Bridget Swart [00:12:19]:
So I've got Alexandra, who's three and a half, and I've got Amelia, who is currently five months.

Julie South [00:12:25]:
Oh, wow. Okay. So none of them, neither of them are at school yet?

Bridget Swart [00:12:29]:
No, none of them are at school age yet.

Julie South [00:12:31]:
What sort of person do you think will fit in best in the team, specifically at vets on Carlton? Because you are looking for a veterinarian right now. But what sort of personality type do you think will fit him best?

Bridget Swart [00:12:47]:
I would have to say just someone that enjoys having fun, you know, having a bit of banter at work because that always obviously alleviates a lot of stress that people have within the workplace. But also be someone that enjoys doing a high standard of work because obviously the nurses enjoy, you know, practising at high standard as well. But mostly just have fun.

Julie South [00:13:11]:
As a nurse, have you found that your nursing team skills are utilized?

Bridget Swart [00:13:19]:
Oh, absolutely, absolutely. I think this is definitely a clinic that focuses on utilizing the nurses skill and I think what happens from there is that you get nurses that are happy within their role and you can get more out of them, you know, and utilizing nurses in that way also frees up vets to be able to do things that they need to do and it keeps their day not as busy.

Julie South [00:13:43]:
What sort of responsibility do the vets give your nurses? Legal responsibility.

Bridget Swart [00:13:50]:
We pre med and obviously our vets are in the room at all times. You know, we pre med, we do intubate our patients, place catheters, draw bloods. The nurses will, you know, do X rays for the vet obviously present, but we will do all the collimating. We will do the positioning. Yeah, we do. We get to do quite a bit and it makes jobs satisfaction for the nurse is good.

Julie South [00:14:14]:
How are you supported professionally with career development, the nursing, you and the nursing team?

Bridget Swart [00:14:20]:
We do get CBD allowance every, you know, year that we can use. We get offered quite a lot to do those as well, which we try and take up as much as we can, time allowing as well. But we do have that. We get to go to conference each year as well. Which is really great. Obviously not all of us at once, but we each get an opportunity to go to conference. Yeah. And anything that we do have interest in, we just need to ask.

Bridget Swart [00:14:46]:
And. Yeah. And it's usually accommodated with what do you hopefully.

Julie South [00:14:51]:
Because the recruiter that you used gave you as much information as possible about Vets on Carlton. But if you were seeing the position now as say a head fit nurse, even though we're looking for a veterinarian, what do you wish you had known ahead of time that you didn't know at the time?

Bridget Swart [00:15:14]:
To be honest, I don't think there's anything at the moment like I feel my recruiter and I had a really good conversation and we did a lot of homework, you know, about the position and I was obviously, I'm quite comfortable in, in my role in my position that, yeah, I'm nothing that I would change.

Julie South [00:15:34]:
Okay, thank you. Is there anything that I haven't asked you that you would like to say about working at Bets on Carlton?

Bridget Swart [00:15:42]:
I think the reality within looking for positions is that it's hard to realize that every job has some kind of almost not green side of it. But I think if you water your grass, so if you, you come into a position that you can grow in as a person as well and have people around you that can nurture you, really would benefit you. And coming in with a positive mindset obviously is great.

Julie South [00:16:18]:
As you've just heard, Vets on Carlton is a clinic that's supported by a very professional and skilled nursing team. If you're a veterinarian who wants to work with skilled nurses and you're looking to make your next career move, maybe, just maybe, Vets on Carlton could be your next clinic. As you heard Bridget say, provided you bring a can do attitude and you have a great sense of humour who likes having a banter with your teammates, you'll fit in off air. Bridget shared with me some of the different types of training the nurses have gone on. We're not just talking about clinical or surgical training either. One nurse thought she could do with some upskilling, so she asked and the clinic organised it for her. If you'd like to know more about Whanganui as a potential place to live, then check out the video@vetclinicjobs.com vetsoncarlton all links are in the show notes for you. If you want to know more about the small animal veterinarian's job, then check out the video Tanya's recording about it.

Julie South [00:17:30]:
Again, links are in the show notes wherever you're listening. And just in case you didn't know or realize, at vet clinic jobs you're applying directly with the clinic, there's no middleman recruitment agency involved. Now, changing the subject ever so slightly, if you are listening to this episode and you've been advertising for ages on a regular job board to find staff and you are still looking, then let's chat. Because advertising on vet clinic jobs will seriously get you the results that you're looking for. Because this isn't your regular static job board where nothing happens. We have clinics that have listed with other job board for months, absolutely ages, with no results, no job offers made. And then they've come to vet clinic jobs and within just a couple of months they've found their next dream team member. These aren't flash in the pan once off events, they happen time and time again.

Julie South [00:18:36]:
But you have to be ready to do things a little differently because if you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got. Which in this case is usually nothing. Thanks for listening. Remember to check out vetclinicjobs.com vetsoncarlton for more info about the vacancies that they have and about the team and the clinic. And tune back in again next week when I catch up with recent Massey University Veterinary Science graduate Aidan. Until then, this is Julie south signing off and inviting you to go out there and be the most fantabulous version of you you can be because you work with a great team of people who lift you up and want to see you shine bright. Until then, Kakati Ano.