18/05/2026
Mental health in veterinary nursing doesn’t suddenly disappear because you’re a locum.
Behind the flexibility can be constant adapting, being the “new person” again, learning unfamiliar clinics, and carrying the pressure of wanting to do a good job every single shift.
Locum RVNs are often expected to walk in and make it look easy. But making it look easy doesn’t always mean it feels easy.
Message from our Founder, Molly;
I became a locum RVN nearly 10 years ago (say that quietly please 👀), and despite always being a confident person, locuming was very daunting and even more isolating. Learning quickly how to make an invoice, what to charge, walking into toxic team cultures where people thought giving the locum the crap jobs was just what you did, and constantly being told, “that’s just how it is.” With no community to turn to, I created my own, and since 2017 we have educated teams on how to treat temporary staff and taught locums how to be business owners and make a real difference. So often people think only locum vets are needed, or that only locum vets can generate revenue for a practice. Yet locum RVNs are the ones ensuring your vets are free and on time for their next consult, making sure your meds are booked out correctly, noticing you did 3 x-rays and not 2, or letting you know a patient is feeling sick and to consider adding in Prevomax that may have been missed.
Locum RVNs are secondary revenue generators through time-saving, efficiency and acting as your vet’s second brain. Don’t underestimate them.
I walk into my night shifts and my night vet breathes a sigh of relief they are working with me. That is something I will ALWAYS be proud of.
This Veterinary Nursing Awareness Month, a reminder that resilience and adaptability are strengths but nurses deserve support too.