veterinary nurse
Veterinary nurses support animals undergoing veterinary treatment and give advice to veterinary clients in the promotion of animal health and disease prevention in accordance with national legislation.
veterinary nurse veterinary nurses support animals undergoing veterinary treatment and give advice to veterinary clients in the promotion of animal health and disease prevention in accordance with national legislation. The role shows moderate AI exposure (0.43 on a 0-1 scale) — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. The most in-demand skills for the role include first aid for animals, biosecurity related to animals, signs of animal illness, animal recovery procedures, hospitalised animal nursing care.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £25,067 a year for Animal care services occupations n.e.c. (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
Middle half of full-time jobs: £22,826 to £27,865 a year
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 6129). ONS rates this estimate precise. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Technicians and associate professionals” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only veterinary nurse, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 3. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
Top skills
Knowledge you'll build
- Customer and Personal Service
- English Language
- Biology
- Administrative
- Medicine and Dentistry
- Computers and Electronics
- Mathematics
- Communications and Media
What you'd actually do
- Hold or restrain animals during veterinary procedures.
- Monitor animals recovering from surgery and notify veterinarians of any unusual changes or symptoms.
- Fill medication prescriptions.
- Clean and maintain kennels, animal holding areas, examination or operating rooms, or animal loading or unloading facilities to control the spread of disease.
- Examine animals to detect behavioral changes or clinical symptoms that could indicate illness or injury.
- Perform routine laboratory tests or diagnostic tests, such as taking or developing x-rays.
Tools & technology you'd use
Frequently asked questions
What does veterinary nurse do?
Veterinary nurses support animals undergoing veterinary treatment and give advice to veterinary clients in the promotion of animal health and disease prevention in accordance with national legislation.
What skills does veterinary nurse need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include first aid for animals, biosecurity related to animals, signs of animal illness, animal recovery procedures, hospitalised animal nursing care, animal welfare legislation. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace veterinary nurse?
Our AI-durability model gives veterinary nurse a score of 0.43 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at moderate AI exposure — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. Learning to work with AI tools rather than against them is the path forward.