Do you have any pets?

Yes, I have 2 cats. Belle, a rescue (I did not name her!) and Eric, a hand rear. I have had many, many hand rears over my nursing career. Eric is my official foster fail 😊

What made you want to be a Registered Veterinary Nurse?

I have always wanted to work with animals from a young age and it just made sense to train to become a Registered Veterinary Nurse.

Do you have any advice for our Student Veterinary Nurses?

Honestly, Get your NPL done! I very much appreciate how overwhelming all those cases can look. The longer you leave it the more work you are going to pile on yourself later through the course. There is no quick fix, you just need to keep at it and remember to keep a little book of every animal you interact with every day. You are doing more than you realise that can be utilised for this!

What led you to this point in your career?

Unfortunately due to becoming unwell I was unable to be on my feet all day and could no longer do the long hours. I was ready to give up on my nursing altogether. Luckily I managed to get a part time job as reception nurse in a mixed practice in Lincolnshire. Here, I was then able to be hands on with a lot of farm animals and it really reminded me how much I loved my career. I am now Supervisor in the central support centre. While I very much miss being hands on with the animals, I am still very much a
nurse and am able further my career through this channel. 

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

Feeling like you have really helped a patient or an owner. It’s not always the major events of ‘saving a life’ that you remember, but often the little things that stay with you.

What was the is hardest part of your job?

Learning to deal with the ones we loose, by illness or euthanasia. Even though euthanasia is more often the kindest option, it I never easy. You are human and being upset is normal. Remember to look after yourself as well and talk openly with your colleagues when you find things are feeling tough.

What skills do you think you need to work in the Contact Centre?

You definitely need to be a people person to some degree. You need to be able to listen and be confident in proving first aid advice over the phone. Often what clients tell you is not actually a very good description of the problem.

What is the best thing to happen to the Veterinary industry during your time?

Remote consulting and telemedicine I believe has really helped the industry. It is a bit of a marmite subject as although it has been around for a long time, it was never really utilised until the Pandemic. We have so many pets all over the country that is it impossible to see them all every time an owner has a simple concern. So I do feel this can really help owners to learn what they can do at home
and when it is necessary to book a physical appointment. The new RCVS guidelines have not really helped this, but hopefully this is a short term issue.

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Do you have any pets?

Yes, I have an enormous black and white cat called Charlie who says ‘Hello’ in the early hours of the morning.

What made you want to be a Registered Veterinary Nurse?

I sort of fell into veterinary nursing when I saw an advert for a student position and was excited about studying again so took the job. It turned out that the practice wasn’t the best environment for training, and I nearly quit nursing, but was encouraged by qualified locum staff to move, and so I found a lovely training practice where I qualified and then stayed for several years.

Do you have any advice for our Student Veterinary Nurses?

Don’t burn your bridges! Work hard, act professionally and be nice to people because the veterinary industry is a small world. If you stay in veterinary nursing for long enough you will frequently bump into the same people, and a good reputation will massively help your future career.

What led you to this point in your career?

I started working in small (independent) private practices and discovered I enjoyed the training and mentoring of student VNs and so undertook the then D32/33 NVQ assessor qualification. After several years I moved to the RSCPA hospital in Putney as a Clinics Supervisor which meant line managing and being an assessor for a group of students and other staff. I also started developing training sessions for qualified nurses in pet diabetes and weight management to improve outcomes for patients, as this can be a challenge in a charity setting where clients may not always have the resources to treat their pets successfully without support. Eventually I decided that I wanted to take things a step further and started working as a lecturer at MYF Training and completed my teaching degree.

A few years later I had a baby and took two years out and returned to the world of VN training working for City and Islington College carrying out apprenticeship reviews and promoting the course with a bit of teaching thrown in. I moved to Dorset a year later as we wanted to be near the beach, so I transferred to Lynwood School of Veterinary Nursing (LSVN) in Dorset and began IQA training to better support clinical coaches and students with their NPL progress. From LSVN I moved to work at the RCVS as a qualifications assessor, quality assuring training providers and awarding organisations across the UK and taking part in VN Education Committee meetings, accreditation events and other activities such as VN Day, VN Futures and the reworking of the VN Standards Framework in 2021. I took a break from the VN world a couple of years later and opened a zero-waste refill store which was lovely, but sadly had to close last year due to the pressures of the cost-of-living crisis. So I’ve come full circle now and currently work with several colleges as an IQA and lecturer with a bit of teaching thrown in! I started working for GVNC in January 2024 and it’s a fantastic team.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

The best part for me is using creativity to achieve understanding and retention of information. This essentially means developing the best way to make sure VN students understand exactly what they need to do to qualify and be fantastic nurses. I like nothing better than seeing that moment when students ‘get’ a subject.

What would you say is the hardest part of your job?

The long hours when I first started teaching and studying for my degree at the same time. There would be moments where my husband would catch me working at 1am because I had to get lectures ready for the next day and I still wasn’t finished.

What skills do you think you need at be an Internal Quality Assurer and Lecturer?

Empathy, an interest in human nature, creativity and good time management.

What is the best thing to happen to the Veterinary industry during your time?

Can I have two?! I would say both the overhaul of the VN Standards Framework to include the importance of wellbeing for students, and the development of the post-registration qualifications which are now available in a wide range of subject areas by several universities across the UK. These give the veterinary nursing profession the chance to develop subject-specialist nurses and offers career progression to keep VNs in the industry.

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