Radio Vet Nurse

Hello and welcome to the second episode of “The Cat Walker Hour.” I recorded this live interview in April 2024 at the VNCA Conference with very special guests Harold Davis, Amy Newfield and Leslie Wereszczak - a powerhouse trio of experience and international fame! The Cat Walker Hour is a light-hearted but serious session that I hope will empower and inspire listeners to navigate the challenges a...

Hi and welcome to the 4th and final episode of the “Registered” mini-series. I’m Cat Walker. If this is your first time tuning into the “Registered” series you might want to go back and listen from the start.  Over the past 3 episodes we’ve taken a deep dive into the topic of registration for veterinary nurses and technicians in Australia and the road to professionalisation. The reason I’ve made a...

Hi and welcome to episode 3 of “Registered”, I’m Cat Walker. If you missed episodes 1 and 2 of “Registered” you might want to go back and listen from the start. We’re at the halfway point of this 4 episode mini-series. In this episode we’ll be unpacking 2 concepts that have come up a lot over the last episodes. And those are - autonomy and utilisation. So, what is autonomy and why is it important?...

Hi and welcome to episode 2 of the “Registered” mini series, I’m Cat Walker. If you missed episode 1 of “Registered” you might want to take 30 minutes to go back and listen to episode 1.   Last episode we looked at the legal and regulatory framework for veterinary medicine in Australia. We unpacked definitions and theory on the key issues surrounding registration, and became familiar with the VNCA...

Hi and welcome to Radio Vet Nurse Registered, I’m Cat Walker. For those of you that have listened to my podcast in the past, welcome back! It’s so good to be here with you again. If you missed my last podcast mini series, you might want to take 30 minutes to listen to episode 1 of Radio Vet Nurse “Interrupted”. It will explain why this episode sounds different to the original Radio Vet Nurse show...

Welcome to the first ever episode of “The Cat Walker Hour.” I recorded this interview in July 2023 in front of a live audience at the University of Queensland’s Veterinary Nurses and Technicians Conference . My VERY special guests were Megan Brashear and Elle Haskey. The Cat Walker Hour is a light-hearted but serious session that I hope will empower and inspire listeners to navigate the challenges...

Can you believe it's been 15 months since I released “Radio Vet Nurse Interrupted” ?! I’m happy to announce that I’ve got some new episodes to share with you and lots of news. So much has happened since Interrupted so I decided to release this bonus "Prelude" episode to bring you up to speed. I’m going to let you know what I’ve been doing, where I’m at, and what to expect next! Find...

Hi and welcome to Radio Vet Nurse Interrupted, I'm Cat Walker. Over the past three episodes I've taken a deep dive into the vet industry to look at the factors that are contributing to the current crisis. It's been uncomfortable at times and all of the guests I've interviewed have been vulnerable and very honest. But what now? We know the cause, we know the challenges ahead, and we know what some...

CW: This episode of Radio Vet Nurse discusses suicide and substance use disorder. If anything in this episode raises any issues you can contact Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 www.beyondblue.org.au and Lifeline 13 11 14 www.lifeline.org.au Hi and welcome to Radio Vet Nurse Interrupted, I'm Cat Walker. On the previous episodes of Radio Vet Nurse Interrupted, I shared the way the vet industry crisis has...

CW: This episode of Radio Vet Nurse discusses suicide. If anything in this episode raises any issues you can contact Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 www.beyondblue.org.au and Lifeline 13 11 14 www.lifeline.org.au Hi and welcome to Radio Vet Nurse Interrupted, I'm Cat Walker. On the previous episode of Radio Vet Nurse Interrupted I shared the story of how my world was turned upside down when my now ex...

CW: This episode of Radio Vet Nurse discusses substance use disorder and briefly mentions suicide. If these topics raise any issues you can contact Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 www.beyondblue.org.au and Lifeline 13 11 14 www.lifeline.org.au Hi and welcome to Radio Vet Nurse Interrupted, I'm Cat Walker. For those of you that have listened to my podcast in the past - you may have realised that this e...

In this episode I caught up with fellow podcaster Yvonne Brandenburg RVT, VTS (SAIM) from Internal Medicine for Vet Techs. Yvonne is the creator of an online community of like-minded nurses and techs with an interest in the medicine side of vet med. Yvonne is a self-confessed type A person, always expanding her brain, always reaching towards the infinite possibilities. We spoke about the need to l...

In this episode I caught up with someone who always leaves me feeling sparkly and motivated - Vic. Where do we start? Vic is Australia's first VTS Nutrition and she exudes intelligence and self-awareness. She was almost literally born and raised in a vet clinic. Vic has a rare combination of clinical skills teamed with an intimate understanding of the veterinary business. If you're working in a le...

You're listening to Radio Vet Nurse but not as you know it. In this bonus podcast mash up episode I had the pleasure of catching up with my veterinary podcast buddies. We decided to come together to say happy vet nurse day, happy vet tech week, and to check in with each other on vet life in the global pandemic. And - spoiler alert - vet life during covid19 has been crazy busy everywhere. If you li...

Ever since I started this podcast, people have been asking me to interview today's guest. I wanted to wait until we could meet and record in person, but since we're all grounded by covid19 for who knows how long, I decided that online would have to do for now. You might have heard of my guest, Jane Bindloss. Jane qualified as a veterinary nurse in the UK and eventually owned and managed a practice...

In this episode I caught up with Jeff Backus, veterinary technician and fellow podcaster. Jeff and his mate Dave host one of my favourite podcasts, the Vet Tech Café, so it was super fun to put him on the on the other side of the mic for a change. We talked about his career path from being a veterinary assistant in a GP practice to VTS in Emergency and Critical Care. He's been quite involved with...

In this episode I caught up with Michelle, who has been recommended for the show many times. Michelle coordinates the blood bank at the Animal Hospital at Murdock. This is just one of many interesting phases of Michelle's career including working as a zoo vet nurse and qualified zoo keeper, and volunteering on a bear rescue sanctuary in remote Vietnam. Michelle has some great advice on how to be a...

In this episode I had the pleasure of meeting Hannah, Physio RVN. One of Hannah's colleagues reached out to me and recommended her as a guest. I jumped straight onto Hannah's Instagram account @physio.rvn and found myself scrolling through her content with a huge smile on my face. It's this exquisite combination of didactic physio and rehabilitation posts with beautiful photos, and these funny sel...

In this episode I was joined by the 2019 VNCA Vet Nurse of the Year, Kate. She's a senior nurse at the Perth Zoo, nominated by her entire team for her work ethic and dedication to our profession. Kate has been a vet nurse for 20 years, working in zoos for 18. We recorded this episode at the beginning of March, just before COVID-19 turned the world on its head. Ever the conservationist, Kate wanted...

I'm officially back from maternity leave, and this was my first time hitting record in 6 months. Anyone following me on social media will know that coming back to the mic with a 5 month old baby was harder than I thought. But this guest gave me just the boost I needed. Unless you have been living under a rock with no wifi you've probably heard of Veterinary Anursethesia. Court is the vet nurse beh...

I recorded this interview with Jazz in August 2019 just before starting maternity leave. At the time we discussed how a lot could happen in 7 months, but we couldn't have imagined the state the world would be in. Life as we know it has been turned on its head as we try to navigate the COVID-19 global pandemic. In this episode Jazz and I discuss the 26th VNCA conference to be held in Melbourne this...

You're listening to Radio Vet Nurse, but not as you know it. This is a bonus COVID-19 episode in which I caught up with some fellow veterinary podcasters to talk about how we are navigating the global pandemic. As COVID-19 closes national and state borders and brings global flows of trade and people to a grinding halt, it is crucial now more than ever to stay connected. By maintaining the global f...

In this episode I caught up with Jess who was once described to me as "human extraordinaire"! Jess is a registered human nurse, a registered veterinary nurse, and works both in general practice and as a vet nurse educator. She has her Cert IV in Veterinary Nursing and Diploma in ECC, a double degree in biomedical science, and a bachelor of registered (human) nursing. Jess lives on a farm with her...

In this episode I caught up with Trish Farry, clinical academic at the University of Queensland. Trish was on my radar from when this podcast started forming in my brain in early 2018. At the time she was the 2017 Hills Vet Nurse of the Year. Since then I've had the pleasure of meeting Trish through VNCA circles and seeing her speak at conference. Trish has a varied role at the university with som...

In this episode I caught up with Sophie to talk about her experience working in shelter medicine. Sophie worked as head nurse at the RSPCA and was kind enough to share some eloquent and considered thoughts on the shelter environment, behaviour, and enrichment. The shelter environment is a crazy one and really different to general practice. Nurses and technicians working in this area have an extrem...