Are you an experienced veterinary nurse ready to take the next step into a leadership role while staying hands-on clinically? Waikato After Hours Veterinary Hospital (WAVH) is looking for a passionate and experienced Lead Afterhours Veterinary Nurse to join our growing leadership team.
WAVH provides emergency and afterhours veterinary care to Hamilton and the wider Waikato region, working alongside The Referral Centre (TRC) to deliver advanced emergency, critical care and referral services. This creates a unique environment where you'll work alongside experienced emergency clinicians, referral veterinarians and advanced practitioners, managing a diverse and rewarding caseload.
This is an exciting opportunity for a senior nurse who enjoys emergency nursing, thrives in a fast-paced hospital environment and is passionate about mentoring others, driving clinical excellence and helping shape the future of our nursing team.
About the Role
As lead afterhours veterinary nurse, you'll be a key clinical and leadership presence within the hospital.
Working closely with our Leadership Team, including our Hospital Lead Nurse, Lead Surgical Nurse and Lead Veterinarians, you'll help ensure exceptional patient care while supporting the ongoing development of our nursing team and hospital systems.
This remains a hands-on clinical role, balancing emergency nursing with leadership, coaching and continuous improvement.
Key Responsibilities
- Provide day-to-day leadership and clinical support to the afterhours nursing team.
- Support patient triage, emergency admissions and critical transfers.
- Coordinate nursing workflow and hospital operations during busy shifts.
- Deliver exceptional nursing care to hospitalised and critically ill patients.
- Monitor anaesthesia for emergency and high-risk procedures.
- Perform advanced nursing procedures including fluid therapy, blood transfusion monitoring and intensive patient care.
- Support diagnostic imaging, CT, laboratory testing and emergency procedures.
- Mentor, coach and develop junior nurses, students and new team members.
- Work collaboratively with the leadership team to develop nursing standards, SOPs and quality improvement initiatives.
- Support the leadership team with recruitment, onboarding and development of the nursing team.
- Promote strong communication and collaboration between WAVH, BAVH and The Referral Centre.
- Foster a positive, supportive and accountable team culture.
Our Hospital
You'll be working in an emergency hospital equipped with:
- Full IDEXX in-house laboratory
- Blood gas analysis
- SmartFlow patient management
- Digital radiography
- Ultrasound
- CT
- Doppler and oscillometric blood pressure monitoring
- Capnography and ECG
- Endoscopy
- Advanced anaesthetic monitoring
- Blood transfusion and critical care capabilities
Working alongside The Referral Centre also provides regular opportunities to collaborate with our critical care, surgery, ophthalmology, dentistry, diagnostic imaging, and dermatology, clinician.
About You
We're looking for someone who leads by example, enjoys developing others and is passionate about delivering exceptional patient care.
You will ideally:
- Be a qualified Veterinary Nurse.
- Have at least 3 years' clinical nursing experience, ideally within emergency, referral or hospital practice.
- Be confident managing emergency and critical care patients.
- Have excellent organisational skills and remain calm under pressure.
- Communicate professionally and compassionately with clients and colleagues.
- Enjoy mentoring and supporting the development of other nurses.
- Have strong attention to detail and a commitment to high clinical standards.
- Bring a positive, practical and solutions-focused approach to leadership.
Previous leadership experience is an advantage, but not essential. We welcome applications from experienced senior nurses who are ready to step into their first formal leadership role.
What We Offer
- $36–$40 per hour, depending on experience.
- Permanent full-time employment.
- A roster designed to support genuine work-life balance while working afterhours.
- Protected leadership and coaching time built into your roster.
- Work alongside our hospital lead nurse and lead surgical nurse as part of a collaborative leadership team.
- Leadership responsibilities are shared, ensuring you have the support and mentorship to succeed.
- Dedicated time to coach, mentor and develop junior nurses and future leaders.
- Genuine input into nursing standards, SOPs, hospital workflow and continuous improvement projects.
- Regular leadership team meetings with opportunities to contribute to strategic planning and future service development across AH and TRC.
- Continuing professional development allowance.
- NZVNA membership.
- Cover the cost of APC
- Ongoing in-house education, leadership development and clinical training.
Emergency nursing is challenging, rewarding and no two shifts are ever the same. If you're looking for an opportunity to make a real impact on patient care while helping lead and develop a fantastic nursing team, we'd love to hear from you.
