My Aunt was a practice manager at a vet practice; I used to love going in to visit her at work and it really solidified my passion for helping animals. When I was 15, I assisted my local vets by looking after the boarding cats every Sunday so they could all have a day off. It meant getting on to their pay role at a young age. When it was time to do my training, they then took me on as a student.

What is it that's made you choose Lynton Vets as the place to grow and develop your career?

I was very drawn to the outlook Lynton seemed to have from what I could tell on the job advertisement. It was very supportive and people focused and I am happy that this has stayed true since joining. They are very keen for their staff to improve and learn in whatever capacity that means for the individual. Having worked in high stress environment for a long time, it was so nice to experience a fresh and supportive team with a better work life balance.

What does a typical day look like for you? What aspects of your role do you enjoy most?

A typical day for me means morning nurse consults, followed by a break in consults where we will either have operations or I can use it as time to catch up on my admin jobs and make sure the practice is kept nice and clean to help infection control. Then in the afternoon I will do more nurse consults to finish off my shift. I am really enjoying the consulting side of nursing, it is not something I had done before. I love getting to know the patients well and the clients, building up a good relationship is so important to building trust.

Tell us a bit about your practice – the culture, the cases you see etc.

I love my team here at Spinney, we are a small team, but we all get on so well, it makes work such a lovely place to be. Even on the stressful days, which is inevitable at a vet, we all work together so well. We mainly see routine surgeries at our branch like neutering, lump removals etc but occasionally will do more emergency surgeries like splenectomies. We do get a lot of interesting medical cases that we sometimes refer on to referral hospitals, but I really enjoy the problem solving aspect of figuring out what is wrong when they first arrive.

Looking back on your time at Lynton Vets, what moment/achievement are you most proud of, and why?

Honestly, getting the role of head nurse was such a big moment for me. And I am most proud of how well the team is gelling with the new management. They are all incredible and I am proud to be their head nurse.

Are there any memorable patients/cases that have stayed with you throughout your career?

I have had a lot of memorable cases over my time, usually the ones that stick with you are the hard ones. I have been involved in many cases where the patients don't make it and it's tough. But the difficult cases that do make it and end up recovering well is such an incredible feeling. On one of my first weeks at Lynton, I had a spaniel come just as we opened before the vet was in yet. It had collapsed that morning and was very unwell. I triaged it and informed the vet of my findings as soon as she was in. We did emergency surgery for a pyometra. A couple of days later she comes bounding into my consult room looking amazing and I was so proud to be a part of saving her.

Outside of work, what do you do to unwind?

I tend to have a lot of hobbies to keep me occupied. I love being active and outdoors, running, hiking and climbing mainly. But I also love reading and being creative. It is so important to have things outside of work to help you destress and keep a level head.