VNAM-introducing Holly

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I decided that I wanted to pursue a career in veterinary nursing in my mid-teens when I was encouraged by my school to start thinking about my future. I’ve always had a love for animals so after researching how I could incorporate this into my career, Veterinary Nursing seemed like an obvious choice. I decided to go to university to do my training and graduated from Harper Adams University in 2022 after five years of study. Although I learned all the theory at University, I did my practical training at home in the Northeast, where I worked in a variety of practices to develop my skills.

After becoming an RVN, I started working in a Feline only practice as Feline nursing is a passion of mine. I joined the Hollybank team in February 2023 and have loved my time here so far. Being a newly qualified member of the team can be scary sometimes, as I never want to let anyone down. However, the Hollybank team are always supporting me and cheering me on to work to the best of my ability. You never feel alone here.

My favourite aspects of my role include in-patient care and consults as I like to feel that I am making a difference. Veterinary Nursing is a very rewarding career and there is no better feeling than seeing a sick patient return to full health.

I feel very proud to be a Veterinary Nurse and never hesitate to tell people what I do for a living. I only hope that I have a long and happy career, become more knowledgeable and help as many patients and their families as I possibly can.

VNAM-Introducing Katie

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I studied to become a veterinary nurse and achieved this by apprenticeship; I worked in practice four days a week and had one day release to college.  I studied through lockdown so my college studies were achieved on Zoom. Lockdown was hard for everyone and I found studying online particularly difficult. I feel it’s important to tell you this is how my career started so I can tell you how I’ve progressed as an RVN and gone from strength to strength.

I came to Hollybank newly qualified and full of nerves, some nerves from starting a new job but some from ‘imposter syndrome’. Hollybank has empowered me to become confident, ask questions and has supported me on the beginning of my journey. This career is forever changing and developing which is highly recognised and discussed  between my colleagues -we are always sharing new information and tricks!

As Veterinary nursing goes, we are multidisciplinary and support our vets and our receptionists acting as a team. Some of our roles include answering the phone, booking appointments, dispensing and administering medication (vet prescribed), providing nurse clinics (weight clinics, post operative checks, socialisation), taking blood samples, preparing patients for surgery and monitoring anaesthetics. These are just a few of the things that we do, that I love as a vet nurse.

We also become Veterinary nurses for the love of our patients and to provide gold standard care. Hollybank strives for gold standard care by carrying out rounds with the vets and nurses to discuss each case and encourages continuous professional development (CPD) so we can refresh and further our knowledge.

I love being a veterinary nurse, getting to meet everyone’s pets,  to be there for them in their time of need and provide TLC when they’re feeling scared or sore.

VNAM-Introducing Lucy

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Hi everyone, I’m Lucy! I have been nursing for 10 years. I recently started at Hollybank in April 2023. I used to work sole nights so it’s lovely to have a change, and some sunlight!

It took a while for me to realise what I wanted to do, including a stint at university doing a degree in English Language and linguistics. After working at a rescue centre after graduating, I realised whilst I was there that veterinary nursing was the only job, I could see myself doing. I have an array of animals at home, including two beautiful Labradors, a (no longer feral) cat, two bunnies, two zebra finches and a chicken. My other half is extremely outnumbered with the number of ladies in the household!

My passion is medical nursing and nutrition. I have a merit award in this area. Every single part of it is fascinating to me, from understanding the disease to an animal’s journey to recovery. Spending hours nursing and understanding a patient and seeing your positive effects is hugely rewarding.

As part of our vet nurse training, we need to learn a vast amount about many disease processes. Whilst we are not qualified to make decisions regarding diagnosis and treatment plans, we understand medical conditions and how patients should be nursed. When your animal is here at the practice to stay, we work alongside our vets to ensure their every need is attended to. We ensure they have the correct medication administered, take them outside for fresh air and make sure they’re comfortable with an environment as stress free as possible. We also make sure they have the correct nutrition, calculating their calorie requirements and ensuring their healing process is aided in the form of nutrition.

I am very proud of my journey through my nursing career and the decisions I’ve made advocating for my patients. I’m really enjoying being at Hollybank and the variety of day and night roles. I love looking after inpatients, falling in love with them on a regular basis, snuggling and supporting them – like my own – until they get to be back with their families. After all, we are guardians of the inpatient, and we are privileged to be able to nurse them.

I’m really looking forward to meeting you all and your lovely pets.