Radio Vet Nurse Cat Walker

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 and opportunities we encounter in our careers. In a time where it feels like we’re exposed to a lot of negativity in the world, this is a feel-good celebration of who we are and what we do. 

The VNCA conference is one of my favourite events of the year and it’s always a great crew of people. I should explain that what you’re hearing at the start of this episode is me, dancing my way down the stairs in the main hall, getting the delegates clapping and grooving for some pre-show, end of conference fun. You’ll also hear the superstar trio literally running onto the stage, high tenning everyone in the front row on the way. Once the superstar guests are settled in with a glass of Prosecco and a question from me, I hand the interview over to the audience for an interactive Q&A session. The interview that unfolded was pure magic and such a beautiful high note upon which to end an amazing conference. 

Thank you as always to Trish Farry for envisioning this concept, to the superstar guests for being so candid and generous, and to the amazing VNCA Conference 2024 delegates for driving the interview. I hope you enjoy listening. 


If you want to see The Cat Walker Hour live, make sure you’re following me on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn where I’ll share the details of any upcoming events. If you’re planning a conference or event and are thinking about having The Cat Walker Hour on the program then head over to my website catwalkermediation.com. You can download my speaker kit there and reach out to me directly. 


This episode was brought to you by ⁠⁠Vetoquinol⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Vet Complaints Support⁠⁠. 

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 an entire mini-series on this topic is because there is no doubt in my mind that a national and mandatory registration framework for vet nurses and technicians in Australia is key to tackling multiple industry challenges. I really think this is the issue that underpins so many.

Thank you to Vetoquinol and Vet Complaints Support for their sponsorship of the “Registered” mini series. Make sure you hit the subscribe button on your podcast app so you don’t miss the next drop on Radio Vet Nurse.

Links:


Ackerman, L., 2024. The future of small animal veterinary practice. Veterinary Clinics: Small Animal Practice, 54(2), pp.223-234.
AVBC Survey

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? What is utilisation and what does it mean for veterinary nurses and technicians working in clinics? And what are some of the knock on effects of better utilisation for our patients, colleagues, and the veterinary businesses? 



But, before we consider those concepts, I mentioned in the first episode that not everyone is onboard with registration. I don’t want to push a one-sided view that registration will only be good, so we need to look at some of the boundaries to getting on board with registration.


Thanks for joining me on Radio Vet Nurse Registered. This series may be uncomfortable at times, but I believe that the time to get registered is here and I thank you for joining me on the journey. I would like to thank Vetoquinol and Vet Complaints Support for their sponsorship of the “Registered” mini series.

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, AVNAT and the AVBC. We considered how the registration of veterinary nurses and technicians is linked to the other big industry issues and I shared my personal belief that it is only in coming together that we have the power to make a change for good.

In this episode I’ll be introducing you to more people who can inspire change in rethinking the regulatory frameworks and the need for nationally recognised mandatory registration. We’re going to talk about professional status and protection of title. What are they, and why are they so important? We’re in the land down under here and sometimes it’s useful to know what’s going on in the rest of the world. We’ll head overseas for a minute and see what’s happening with our vet nurse and technician brothers and sisters in the States and the UK.

Thanks for joining me on Radio Vet Nurse Registered. This series may be uncomfortable at times, but I believe that the time to get registered is here and I thank you for joining me on the journey. I would like to thank Vetoquinol and Vet Complaints Support for their sponsorship of the “Registered” mini series. Coming up in the next episode I’ll be looking at how registration will improve autonomy and utilisation, unpacking those concepts, and explaining why they’re important. We’ll also talk about some of the boundaries to getting on board with registration and what we can do about them. See you in a week.  

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 and, for first time listeners, it will bring you up to speed on my story.  



It’s been nearly 2 years since the launch of “Interrupted” and that series has clocked almost 8,000 downloads. There are so many other topics that I think are worth peeling open in an “Interrupted” style podcast series, which is how this “Registered” mini series came about. I’m going to take a deep dive into the topic of registration for vet nurses and technicians in Australia and the road to professionalisation. I decided to focus on this topic first because there is no doubt in my mind that a national and mandatory registration framework for vet nurses and technicians is key to tackling multiple industry challenges. I really think this is the issue that underpins so many. I’m aware that it’s an issue that causes anxiety for some people, so we’re going to look at why people are for it, why some might be against it, and hopefully provide some reassurance that it’s going to be set up in such a way that the people with anxieties don’t have to be worried.


Thanks for joining me on Radio Vet Nurse Registered. This series may be uncomfortable at times, but I believe that the time to get registered is here and I thank you for joining me on the journey. I would like to thank Vetoquinol and Vet Complaints Support for their sponsorship of the “Registered” mini series. Coming up in the next episode I’ll be zooming out and taking a look at WHY we might want to be registered professionals under a mandatory registration scheme. Thank you for joining me.

Inquiry into Veterinary workforce shortage in New South Wales, Submission from the Australasian Veterinary Boards Council Inc. (AVBC)

If anything in this episode raises any issues you can contact Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36 and Lifeline 13 11 14.

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 and opportunities we encounter in our careers. In a time where it feels like we’re exposed to a lot of industry negativity, this is a feel-good celebration of who we are and what we do.



Links below to:

Cat Walker Mediation & Consulting Services

University of Queensland School of Veterinary Science