General News
15 April, 2026
Vet nurses reach new heights
TWO veterinary nurses from Hampden Veterinary Clinic in Cobden recently had the opportunity to attend the Veterinary Nurses Conference in Brisbane.
Matilda Cain and Charlie Poustie were able to learn from veterinary nurses from across the country and even internationally, seeing what other clinics use in their practises and bring back information to use at the clinic in Cobden.
“There were lectures every hour and there were heaps of different topics for each hour so we got to choose what we were most interested in as to what we’d go listen to,” Ms Cain said.
“We went to blood transfusion talks, reproduction emergency talks, lots of anaesthesia talks, which were all interesting to us, but everything’s interesting to us because it’s all new stuff.
“We’ve only ever worked around here so it was pretty cool to get their emergency insights.
“There was a nurse from the UK and a nurse from New Zealand so we got heaps of different perspectives, they talked about their experiences which was good.
“There was lots of information – it was a very full three days but it was really good.”
Mr Poustie said there was a lot to see during the days of the conference, including demonstrations and machines they hadn’t encountered before.
“I thought the reproductive lectures were very helpful for us,” he said.
“We don’t get a lot of that here but it’s handy to know if we ever did.
“Also things at the stalls and stands, all the companies had demos of machines, like the anaesthetic machines, and a lot of that they use in emergency clinics which we don’t have here, so it was very good to go around and have a look at what everyone else uses at their clinics.”
He also said the opportunity to mingle with likeminded industry peers was beneficial.
“I just thought seeing everyone else there, like all the other clinics, was really nice,” Mr Poustie said.
“All the lectures we could choose from, there was about four each hour we could pick, that was really good too.
“There was lots, it was a great week.”
Ms Cain said she thought Hampden Veterinary Clinic could benefit from some of the machines showcased at the conference.
“We’ve seen stuff and we want to talk to one of our bosses about bringing some stuff in that we’ve seen at the conference and thought they were really good,” she said.
“We’re a small-town clinic so we don’t need all the fancy stuff that the big emergency clinics have but some of it still would be handy.
“We definitely got a lot out of it, we also got some free stuff to bring back to the clinic.”
Ms Cain urged any other veterinary nurses thinking about attending a conference to take the leap and give it a go.
“Definitely go, it’s worth it, and if your clinic is generous enough to be able to give you that leave and let you go, then I think definitely take it because you get a lot out of it,” she said.
“You bring a lot back which is handy for the clinic as well.
“There was one nurse from the UK and she spoke a lot about the nursing side of it, which I found really good.
“She spoke about nursing specific patients, like blocked bladder cats and the renal failure cats and stuff like that, they were all really good for specific nursing because probably where we’re more hands on checking our hourly or half-hourly our patients, so that was really good.
“They made sure we all knew our worth because obviously nurses are on a different level to vets – they made sure we knew what we can do and that we’re doing the most that we can.”
Read More: Cobden