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.

VNAM – Becky’s Experience as a New Graduate RVN

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I completed my veterinary nursing degree at Harper Adams University and completed my sandwich year placement here at Hollybank! I qualified in the summer of 2022 which was when I returned to Hollybank as an RVN. Since qualifying I have really enjoyed getting stuck into the RVN role and putting all that I have learned at university into practice. I have particularly enjoyed meeting and getting to know lots of our lovely clients and their pets during nurse consultations as well as spending quality time with our inpatients during both day and night shifts and nursing them back to health. I also have interests in canine behaviour and am looking forward to utilising the behaviour referrals advice service to offer support to our clients whose pets may be experiencing behavioural issues.

I have also been keen to learn more and improve my nursing skills through carrying out CPD. I have so far completed a course in anaesthesia to increase my knowledge and better enable me to provide our patients with the best anaesthetic experience possible. I am currently undertaking an Oral Care Nurse certificate which will allow me to perform dental scale and polishes on our patients. As RVNs we are required, by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, to carry out 15 hours of CPD each year. This enables us to keep our knowledge and skills up to date as well as giving us the opportunity to explore areas of interest further.

I am really enjoying my first year as an RVN although, as with every new role, there are challenges to be faced!

Completing my training during covid meant that life as a newly qualified nurse in more ‘normal times’ was very different. Clients are now actually allowed in the building and in appointments with their animals, which meant having to adjust to not having another member of the team holding patients and having an audience whilst carrying out nursing consultations – something that I did not experience during my training. However, I have really enjoyed being able to communicate more easily with clients (without all the PPE!) and really getting to know them and their pets. Communication is a hugely important role of the veterinary nurse and being able to build up a rapport with clients enables them to feel comfortable with us so that they can ask any questions they may have and makes them more likely to trust and implement the information/advice that we give.

Another challenge that comes with being a new grad veterinary nurse is no longer being under the direct supervision of your student mentor, it can be a bit daunting initially  but becomes less so as your confidence improves and we always work under the guidance of  a veterinary surgeon.

Lone working e.g., night shifts can also be a little daunting at first but being able to spend quality time getting to know your inpatients; their likes and dislikes; and how they perk up once they start feeling better can be a valuable and rewarding experience! It is also reassuring that one of our vets are always on-call should we have any concerns.

VNAM Empowerment From Teaching

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As the theme for this year’s Veterinary Nursing Awareness Month is empowerment, I sat and
thought about what part of every day is empowering, for me it’s teaching. As Head Nurse and a
Clinical Coach, I spend a lot of my time teaching and mentoring various members of the team
but particularly our Student Veterinary Nurses (SVNs).


Every SVN undergoes a combination of theory and practical teaching and assessment and
during their work placements they are assigned a Clinical Coach or Clinical Supervisor. These
can be vets or nurses but at Hollybank we feel a Registered Veterinary Nurse (RVN) is best
placed to carry out this role as we have been in their shoes and understand the system a little
more clearly.

When I did a search for the meaning of empowerment, I got this definition “the process of
becoming stronger and more confident”, it fits perfectly with how Clinical Coaches work alongside SVNs. Oddly teaching also helps the teacher, I’ve seen several RVNs who have become Clinical Coaches learn so much from the teaching process. Each time you teach a SVN a new skill it cements how far you have come since you learnt that skill, you now not only know how to do it at a day one level but you have learnt small adaptations to make it more fluid, it’s a bit like driving -suddenly you realise you are doing it without even thinking about the process. It also helps stop you from shying away from areas or skills you felt less confident in as a student, a bit of healthy pressure can bring out a confidence you weren’t aware you had.

The most rewarding part of being a Clinical Coach is seeing your SVN complete their placement and pass their exams. Don’t get me wrong, it’s their hard work and effort that gets them there, but we facilitate and empower them to want to reach that point.

All our RVNs, whether a trained Clinical Coach or not, are involved in the teaching of SVNs and less experienced vets, we also try to help our reception team understand the processes that happen during an appointment or a patient’s stay with us so they can better help you, our clients, as the first point of contact.