A year on... with Emma Onyejekwe
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As my fellow 30 Under Thirty classmate Samantha Lympany said "Celebrate the journey". A year ago, I was named one of the Class of 2023. Knowing that I had decided to nominate myself made me feel like an imposter, and I have recently been thinking about what I have achieved and why I felt deserving to be nominated. To help inspire others and, to be honest, help me reflect on just how far I have come, I wanted to share what I have been up to over the last year.
To give you some background, I qualified as a veterinary nurse in February 2019 and currently work part-time in a small animal charity hospital. I always knew I wanted to work with animals, in particular wildlife. I have volunteered with numerous projects around the world, working with a variety of animals including monkeys, rhinos, and pangolins. Working with British Wildlife was something I had never really considered, but that all changed after I started volunteering at my local wildlife hospital. The dedication and passion of the veterinary team sparked a newfound love for nursing British Wildlife. To expand my knowledge, I completed the Girling and Fraser Advanced Programme Vet Nursing in Wildlife. Whilst studying this course, I set up my Instagram account (@TheWildlifeVetNurse) dedicated to sharing my love and knowledge for wildlife, with the hope that it will inspire others to do the same. This page led to an invitation to speak at the British Wildlife Nursing Association (BVNA Congress) in 2021 and I have been advocating for wildlife in veterinary practices ever since.
Education and awareness are key and sharing what I have learnt about wildlife is very important to me. I've been fortunate to do this in several ways this year, including appearing on the Animal Welfare Conversations podcast, being a guest panellist for the Goddard Veterinary Nursing College Nursing Team Forum (alongside this year's Class of 2024, Jesle Varu), creating a webinar for Veterinary Thought Exchange (VTX) and speaking again at the BVNA Congress last month. I also wrote a guest blog for the Songbird Survival Get EduCATed campaign on cats and wildlife. In this guest blog, I spoke as both a veterinary nurse and a cat owner, reaching a new audience outside of the veterinary industry. I share all this to show that your nursing career can be adapted and diversified.
After attending the Vets Stay Go Diversify (VSGD) Live 2.0 in 2022, I was so inspired to continue on the path of doing what I had dreamed of – working part-time as a vet nurse and part-time in wildlife conservation. I was reminded that charity and conservation work were where my passions lie and really discovered the transferable skills I may have. Feeling inspired by the event, I took a leap of faith and applied for a non-vet nursing role. I was excited to hear I got an interview, but unfortunately, I didn't get the job. Still keen to diversify my career, I decided it would be good to get experience in this role, even if it was unpaid, and asked if there were any volunteer opportunities. And there was. This year I have been able to assist the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) Disease Risk Analysis and Health Surveillance (DRAHS) team with two reintroduction projects – one with corncrakes and the other with hazel dormice. Assisting the team with these projects has led me to work alongside wildlife veterinarians, research associates and zoo veterinary nurses, further expanding my knowledge. Wildlife health and conservation is something I am incredibly passionate about and I have learnt just how critical veterinary work is to the success of reintroduction and translocation projects that aim to prevent the spread of disease.
My passion for wildlife welfare and care has also extended this year by becoming a trustee for the British Wildlife Rehabilitation Council (BWRC) and I am looking forward to doing more with this role next year. My wildlife nursing journey is now steering more towards conservation work, but my goal is still to help improve the care and knowledge of wildlife casualties in veterinary practices.
My advice for those who want to start working with wildlife would be to look for volunteer opportunities and get experience through a variety of projects. Undertaking additional qualifications can be helpful, but don't forget about self-learning which is more accessible and really beneficial too. Being passionate and willing to put yourself out there is what will open doors. I am not the most confident person, but I have stepped out of my comfort zone to achieve things I never thought I would.
And lastly and perhaps most importantly, try not to compare yourself to others. As Joseph Campbell said - “If you can see your path laid out in front of you step by step, you know it's not your path. Your own path you make with every step you take. That's why it's your path".
Emma Onyejekwe RVN APVN (Wildlife) , Class of 2023 30 Under Thirty
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