New Zealand Certificate in Animal Technology with strands in Rural Animal Technician, and Veterinary Nursing Assistant

The purpose of this qualification is to prepare individuals as either a veterinary nursing assistant or rural animal technician by providing them with the skills, knowledge and attributes needed to help assist veterinarians and veterinary nurses in a companion animal practice and veterinarians in a rural veterinary practice.

This qualification is targeted at people with previous animal handling experience who wish to work in a veterinary related field or in a veterinary clinic with either companion or rural animals.

The animal industry will benefit by having graduates qualified with skills to allow them to be ready to work in a veterinary clinic or independently as a rural animal technician, under the direction of a veterinarian.

Graduates of the rural animal technician strand will be able to assist a veterinarian in large animal or mixed practice and in the field or work independently as a rural animal technician.

Graduates of the veterinary nursing assistant strand will be able to provide assistance to veterinarians and veterinary nurses in a veterinary clinic and perform some tasks independently.

Vet Nurse Plus is a private training establishment that has one focus - training veterinary nurses. We aim to provide outstanding veterinary nurse graduates to the veterinary industry, who can hit the ground running upon employment. First launched in 2005, programmes are highly practical and graduate outcome-based, incorporating feedback and input from the industry that employs our students. This in turn leads to high demand for our graduates and excellent levels of employment. Well over 70% of our graduates are hired within six months of graduation.

Two full-time programmes are delivered at both North Auckland and South Auckland locations. The Level 5 New Zealand Certificate in Animal Technology (Veterinary Nursing Assistant) and the Level 6 New Zealand Diploma in Veterinary Nursing. All programmes are NZQA accredited and approved, and Vet Nurse Plus is a NZQA Category 1 provider (highly confident in educational performance / highly confident in capability in self-assessment).

Vet Nurse Plus is boutique and maintains small class sizes. Usually no more than 30 people per Certificate class, and fewer in the Diploma class. This allows the opportunity to meet individual student needs and ensures learners don't get lost in the crowd. Tutors are experienced, qualified veterinarians and veterinary nurses, that are passionate about the veterinary industry and teaching. Learners receive one-to-one support from tutors, and a high level of practical experience throughout the course. Alongside this, students attend field trips for interactive learning, and hear from various guest speakers who are experts in their field. Students are also working hands on in veterinary clinics from the start – unbeatable industry exposure that leads to excellent employment rates for graduates.

Vet Nurse Plus also delivers continuing education events to the veterinary nursing community to support their ongoing professional development.