Dr Cath Watson, BVSc - Companion Animal Veterinarian - has worked in a range of practices, both in here in Godzone Aotearoa New Zealand and in the United Kingdom.   She’s been a locum, an employee, and a business owner.

Right now, Cath’s based in Central Otago but travels the country as a locum. 

The reason Cath and Julie South of VetStaff are talking today is because of Cath's involvement in Healthy Pets New Zealand – a really special New Zealand research charity.   

In her spare time, Cath has a passion for anything outdoors and loves exploring New Zealand's back-country by foot, bike, kayak or skis.   

Healthy Pets New Zealand

Healthy Pets NZ is a registered charity that supports research into improved health and welfare for kiwi pets. 

Established by the Companion Animal Branch of the New Zealand Veterinary Association in 1998, Healthy Pets is a team of volunteer veterinary professionals consisting of veterinarians, researchers, veterinary nurses and educators. Each is passionate about outcome focussed research that assists companion animals in New Zealand. 

Fundraising at Healthy Pets

Healthy Pets doesn't receive any government grants so fundraises through sponsorships, bequests and donations for outcome-focused research. This research makes a difference to the lives of kiwi pets and their owners. 

Over the last 20 years, Healthy Pets research has resulted in new diagnostic and treatment options becoming available to the veterinary profession in New Zealand. 

They recently began funding research into the value of pets to society and the human-pet bond. 

Healthy Pets research continues to help improve care, results in new and better diagnostic investigation, and explores new treatment options for a range of issues affecting kiwi pets.

Healthy Pets researchers seek to publish their results and communicate important findings to the public.

Healthy Pets Research

Research Objectives

• To promote better public understanding of companion animal welfare, breeding, nutrition, management, health, diseases and performance.
• To encourage the study and understanding of companion animals in New Zealand.
• To foster project or welfare work in connection with companion animals.
• To assist with projects related to advancing the wellbeing of all companion animals.

Healthy Pets New Zealand research.

Could Your Kind of People recognise Their Kind of Clinic?

A job ad may catch a vet’s or nurse’s eye. But it’s their own due diligence that determines whether they apply—or keep in touch.

Culture Story Centres turn real experiences from inside your team into credible, discoverable recruitment evidence, giving vets and nurses meaningful reasons to choose your clinic.

Explore Culture Story Centres for veterinary clinics

Before you start looking for your next vet or vet nurse job – there are some things you need to do first – to avoid heartbreak and stress further down the track.

In summary

Get clear on why you’re considering a new job.   If you like where you are, give your current clinic the opportunity to meet you in the middle.   If you’re a good vet or nurse and you match the culture and vice versa, they’ll want to keep you.   

Giving them the opportunity ahead of you looking elsewhere is the right thing to do.    

If that doesn’t work and you end up in a counter-offer situation then here’re the six Qs to ask yourself:

#1 - Why the counter offer now?

#2 - Will earning more money fix what’s wrong?

#3 - At face value is staying at your current clinic, the best clinic for you?    

#4 - Is accepting the counter offer the best decision for your career – in the long run?

#5 - How will your relationship with your co-workers change?  

#6 – Why are you leaving?   Really?   Revisit your list – why are you leaving?   What is going to change?

Do you want to stay?

Staying is the easy way – especially if/when your current clinic presents you with a counter offer.

In your mind’s eye, I want you to fast forward when considering whether you want to stay.   

Ask yourself:  

·       Are you prepared to step into your challenge zone  – ie, out of your comfort zone – and negotiate something better today?  Without looking for another job?

·       Do you feel ‘brave’ enough that you’ll be well received?    That doesn’t mean that your requests will be met, but that you won’t be ridiculed or bullied simply because you asked.   

·       What will it take for you to stay?

·       If they say no now, and then make you a counter offer down the track, what will you do at that point?  Will you remember they weren’t willing to do this until backed into a corner?

Because maybe, just maybe, you can negotiate with your current clinic terms that make you want to stay.  

My recommendation is to do that before you start looking for another job.   Not in a counter offer situation.

Could Your Kind of People recognise Their Kind of Clinic?

A job ad may catch a vet’s or nurse’s eye. But it’s their own due diligence that determines whether they apply—or keep in touch.

Culture Story Centres turn real experiences from inside your team into credible, discoverable recruitment evidence, giving vets and nurses meaningful reasons to choose your clinic.

Explore Culture Story Centres for veterinary clinics

7 attributes of great team players

1.     Understand their role

2.     Embrace collaboration

3.     Hold themselves accountable

4.     Committed to their team

5.     Flexible

6.     Optimistic and future-focussed

7.     Can be relied upon and trusted

Johari Window + 56 adjectives

5 things to compare yourself to every day

Could Your Kind of People recognise Their Kind of Clinic?

A job ad may catch a vet’s or nurse’s eye. But it’s their own due diligence that determines whether they apply—or keep in touch.

Culture Story Centres turn real experiences from inside your team into credible, discoverable recruitment evidence, giving vets and nurses meaningful reasons to choose your clinic.

Explore Culture Story Centres for veterinary clinics

What makes a great leader?    

Are people born natural leaders or can leadership be developed and taught?

What’s the difference between a LEADER and a MANAGER?

Did you realise that when you, or someone on your team is a great leader (or not) it affects your clinic’s ability to attract and recruit great vets and nurses?   

Three differences Leadership vs Management

1. Process vs Vision

2. Organising vs Aligning

3. Position vs Quality

Five Qualities of Effective Leaders 

Here are five leadership attributes and qualities that effective leaders have in their personal and professional lives.  These are men and women who inspire others to take action and set a course for future success. 

1.           Become more self-aware and prioritise personal development.

2.           Focus on developing others

3.           Encourage strategic thinking, innovation, action and diversity

4.           Ensure you’re ethical and civic-minded.

5.           Practice effective cross-cultural communication

Could Your Kind of People recognise Their Kind of Clinic?

A job ad may catch a vet’s or nurse’s eye. But it’s their own due diligence that determines whether they apply—or keep in touch.

Culture Story Centres turn real experiences from inside your team into credible, discoverable recruitment evidence, giving vets and nurses meaningful reasons to choose your clinic.

Explore Culture Story Centres for veterinary clinics

One small word - four different situations when you probably don't even realise you're using it + examples of how to swap to a statement more empowering and powerful (without being bossy or aggressive).

A world first (as far as we can tell) initiative from VetStaff - we're looking for pilot veterinary clinics to be part of our Beta Launch. 

You don't have to be an existing VetStaff client to participate.   If you want to DIY your own recruitment then this new initiative is perfect for you.   To find out more email [email protected].

Everyone and everything we do at VetStaff is underpinned by two core beliefs.  

The first is that we believe all veterinary professionals deserve to work at a vet clinic job of their dreams where they’re respected and valued.  

The second is that all vet clinics deserve to have engaged and motivated employees working for them who love Monday mornings.  

If that sounds like the type of recruitment agency you’d like to work with, then please check us out at vetstaff.co.nz 

Could Your Kind of People recognise Their Kind of Clinic?

A job ad may catch a vet’s or nurse’s eye. But it’s their own due diligence that determines whether they apply—or keep in touch.

Culture Story Centres turn real experiences from inside your team into credible, discoverable recruitment evidence, giving vets and nurses meaningful reasons to choose your clinic.

Explore Culture Story Centres for veterinary clinics

Pressure is not Stress - Nick Petrie - Presenter at the NZVA 2022 Conference - VBB session

Nicholas Petrie

What "human rumination" is.

Julie shares one of the ways she gets out of downward rumination spirals when she recognises them playing out in her life.

Nick Petrie's White Paper - Pressure is Not Stress - 4 steps to be resilient in disruptive times

Dr Jane Ough - Companion Animal Veterinarian and Conservationist - part 3 of 3

Could Your Kind of People recognise Their Kind of Clinic?

A job ad may catch a vet’s or nurse’s eye. But it’s their own due diligence that determines whether they apply—or keep in touch.

Culture Story Centres turn real experiences from inside your team into credible, discoverable recruitment evidence, giving vets and nurses meaningful reasons to choose your clinic.

Explore Culture Story Centres for veterinary clinics

VETERINARY CLINIC SALARY DATA

Dr Mark Hosking, CEO of Franklin Vets, is a member of the NZVAs Veterinary Business Branch – the VBB.   

At the recent NZVA Conference he introduced BBVet, an Australian company which runs a series of surveys tailored to the New Zealand veterinary profession. 

Clinics that contribute to the data, will have access to high quality benchmarking information to be able to make meaningful decisions in their businesses.     

Having quality, reliable data enables business owners to drive better business decisions.    For example, 

• When it comes to wages and salaries – are you in the race or totally off the pace?
• Fees survey – make sure you don’t get left behind! And 
• Profit and expenses survey – can you do better?

If your clinic contributes to this data, you’ll be able to participate in, and receive benchmarking information from, a series of professional and independently run surveys tailored to the New Zealand veterinary profession and you can have all of this info for the very reasonable monthly subscription of just $69pm.   

The only way you can access the info is by contributing to the surveys and you'll be able to:

• Have the option to participate in any survey that the NZVA and BBVet offers
• Get access to interactive graphics and scenario planning, and if you want it,
• Get access to a hard copy PDF report

 The Veterinary Business Branch of the NZVA has worked with BBVet to ensure the survey structure and questions are suitable for the New Zealand veterinary market.   

You can “cut and dice” the data - for example by species or region.   Obviously, the more participants there are, the more valid and useful the information will be.

And just in case you’re wondering, the NZVA has been in touch with the Commerce Commission.   The Association has received general advice that it’s acceptable to run this survey, providing the information is not promoted or used as a way to organise price fixing or collusion.   

The NZVA may use the information gathered to foster conversations in the advocacy space.
The only people who will be able to see your individual data will be BBVet, who need to do so for administration purposes. 

The NZVA will be able to access macro information only (no site-specific information) which will be important for its advocacy work.   

No-one will be able to view any scenario planning you do at a site level.

To find out more about BBVet and the man behind everything, you can visit the main website at http://www.mpvconsulting.com.au/.

To register your clinic’s contribution to the salary data, visit portal.bbvet.net/nz/

Dr Jane Ough - pt 2 of 3
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Could Your Kind of People recognise Their Kind of Clinic?

A job ad may catch a vet’s or nurse’s eye. But it’s their own due diligence that determines whether they apply—or keep in touch.

Culture Story Centres turn real experiences from inside your team into credible, discoverable recruitment evidence, giving vets and nurses meaningful reasons to choose your clinic.

Explore Culture Story Centres for veterinary clinics

Dr Jane Ough is a Senior Companion Animal Veterinarian at South Wairarapa Veterinary Services.   

Dr Jane’s time and pathway to the veterinarian she is today is quite different from the usual career path of veterinarians.  

She’s from the BVSc Massey class of 1982.   

Today, Dr Jane enjoys orthopaedic surgery especially mending broken farm dogs. 

Dr Ough became concerned about climate change when her two daughters were children.   She gained a diploma in Environment and Sustainability when her children were little, through the Open Polytech in 2010. 

Dr Jane is a passionate conservationist.   And I mean passionate!  She and her partner Jeremy have retired two thirds of their small farm in the Wairarapa and covenanted it with the Queen Elizabeth II Trust. 

Working one day a week for QE2 for 2 years Dr Jane said improved her understanding of native forest regeneration.   She now spends this day a week on her own covenant, and, working with the local catchment group, helped set up and is helping South Wairarapa Veterinary Services take Climate Crisis Action to run a more sustainable business.   

Could Your Kind of People recognise Their Kind of Clinic?

A job ad may catch a vet’s or nurse’s eye. But it’s their own due diligence that determines whether they apply—or keep in touch.

Culture Story Centres turn real experiences from inside your team into credible, discoverable recruitment evidence, giving vets and nurses meaningful reasons to choose your clinic.

Explore Culture Story Centres for veterinary clinics

The third and final episode with Iain McLachlan – CEO of the New Zealand Veterinary Council.

We talk about:

• the veterinary shortage, 
• the nursing shortage, 
• why the NZ VC doesn’t include two of the world’s top 10 veterinary science universities in its List of Recognised Institutions, 
• when it's going to update that list of Recognised Institutions, 
• what clinics can do if they absolutely cannot manage their after-hours obligations, and 
• what “limited registration” means.

Today Iain and I talk about:

• How VCNZ is helping kiwi vet clinics employ vets whose overseas qualifications aren’t recognised here.
• How VCNZ is supporting NZ clinics get more vets working under what’s known here as Limited Scope Registration.
• What needs to happen for allied veterinary professionals and VNs to be able to do more in-clinic that helps free up Registered Veterinarians so they can do more of the work that legally, they’re the only ones who can do whatever it is.  
• He explains what VNs and Techs can legally do in NZ now.
• We talk about consumer education and who can do what to help with that – especially around the expectation / perception of fees.  
• He talks about what VCNZ does and what its “job” is.
• And then we wrap up with what Iain’s been doing as a way to manage his mental health and stress levels.   

Tune in to hear about the last development and changes taking place at VetStaff.   And just in case you didn't know:  

there are two basic beliefs everyone at VetStaff has and which underpin everything we do – and that is 

1. we believe that all veterinary professionals deserve to work in a job of their dreams where they’re valued and respected and
2. we also believe that all veterinary employers of choice deserve to have the best staff – ones who’re engaged, committed and are excited about going to work each day.

Could Your Kind of People recognise Their Kind of Clinic?

A job ad may catch a vet’s or nurse’s eye. But it’s their own due diligence that determines whether they apply—or keep in touch.

Culture Story Centres turn real experiences from inside your team into credible, discoverable recruitment evidence, giving vets and nurses meaningful reasons to choose your clinic.

Explore Culture Story Centres for veterinary clinics

The second of three episodes with Iain McLachlan – CEO of the New Zealand Veterinary Council.

We talk about:

• the veterinary shortage, 
• the nursing shortage, 
• why the NZ VC doesn’t include two of the world’s top 10 veterinary science universities in its List of Recognised Institutions, 
• when it's going to update that list of Recognised Institutions, 
• what clinics can do if they absolutely cannot manage their after-hours obligations, and 
• what “limited registration” means.

Today Iain answers the questions about:

• why the Council won’t allow an overseas qualified vet with considerable years of expertise in their chosen field – for example as a dairy vet or equine vet – work in NZ without requiring them to sit additional exams covering species they have no intention of working as a veterinarian in.  
• What Iain would say to overseas qualified veterinarians who have to sit the AVE exams and answer questions about species they have no future intention of working in. 
• How and why the Australians are involved. 
• Why can’t the AVE exams be held in NZ to help allay the Covid-induced backlog of overseas qualified vets waiting to sit those exams in Brisbane. 
• What Iain would say to overseas qualified vets who’re seeing reports in the NZ media about the shortage we have here of veterinarians but they’re unable to help alleviate the situation because they cannot legally practise as a Veterinarian. 
• What the smaller vet clinics can do when they’re absolutely overloaded and cannot handle another night of being on call. 
• And we talked a bit about the business opportunity for a telehealth after hours service or overload service to be started and/or expanded in NZ.

Could Your Kind of People recognise Their Kind of Clinic?

A job ad may catch a vet’s or nurse’s eye. But it’s their own due diligence that determines whether they apply—or keep in touch.

Culture Story Centres turn real experiences from inside your team into credible, discoverable recruitment evidence, giving vets and nurses meaningful reasons to choose your clinic.

Explore Culture Story Centres for veterinary clinics