Southdown Veterinary Group

Our nurses love receiving gifts and treats! 🎁
Some of our lovely nursing team are pictured with their most recent yummy treat!
Our wholesalers - National Veterinary Services - held an Easter competition which Southdown Vets won!
... https://www.facebook.com/nvsvetservices/< br> The prize - a huge bar of chocolate! 🍫
What a lovely surprise treat for a Friday!
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Some of you may have spotted our ‘just nurses’ poster in our waiting room.
Our nurses are not ‘just nurses’!
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Our amazing veterinary nurses at Southdown Vets carry out a variety of tasks during their day.
They all work really hard to ensure your lovely pets receive the best patient care.
Our nurses attend college for three years before qualifying. Each one of them bring years of experience and passion to our fabulous team.
... #whatvnsdo #vnam19
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Vet Nurse Awareness Month 💫Introducing our fabulous nursing team 💫
Hi I’m Kirsty!
... My role at Southdown Vets is a Pet Care Assistant.
I started off my veterinary career by doing some work experience in a veterinary practice in a local practice to me in East Sussex.
I completed a diploma in animal care which then led me to starting a full time job as a animal nurse assistant.
I have always wanted to work with animals from a young age as I grew up around animals with my two dogs and my cat.
The reason behind why I wanted to work with animals was because I want to help them and look after them. I love how this role allows you to learn each and every day, but most of all I love giving each patient individual care, cuddles and fuss whilst they are in our care.
My role at the vets isn’t just cuddling pets, it involves assisting the qualified nurses, student nurses, the veterinary surgeons and helping with reception duties, along with the cleaning and ensuring the practice looks clean and tidy.
Outside of work I share two horses Mellie - Irish sports horse and Spirit - Thoroughbred ex-race horse. I also have a dog called Maddie who is a husky cross. When I’m not with the horses and taking my dog for walks I enjoy cake baking too.
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This week is #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek.
Did you know that the companionship of a pet is a great way to help reduce anxiety and stress?
... Give your amazing pets a shout out in the comments below for putting a smile on your face even when you're not feeling your best
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Vet Nurse Awareness Month 💫 Introducing our fabulous nursing team 💫
Hi I’m Merryn!
... I have worked with animals for over 10 years, starting out as a bird trainer and show presenter at an animal park in South Africa where I got to work with vultures, hawks, owls, crows and parrots among many others! I moved to England 3.5 years ago and started my training as a Veterinary Care Assistant, aiming to become a Veterinary Nurse one day!
I have a special interest in exotic animals, wildlife and small furry pets like my 5 wonderful pet rats that bring so much joy to my life.
The thing I love most about my job is knowing that I can have an impact on the welfare of animals through educating and giving the best patient care possible to any kind of animal.
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Vet Nurse Awareness Month 💫Introducing our fabulous nursing team💫
Hello! I’m Sarah!
... I began working at Southdown in 1990 – back in the day when it was Anicare.
I am a patient care assistant and have completed many in house courses and CPD over the years to keep me up to date with the ever changing profession.
I have owned many animals over the years. The majority of them being rescues.
In my spare time I enjoy reading, walking and spending time with friends and family.
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Vet Nurse Awareness Month 💫Introducing our fabulous nursing team💫
Hi, I'm Hannah and I am a 1st year Veterinary Nurse Student.
... I started in the Veterinary industry as soon as I left school and worked my way up from work experience to now.
I joined the Southdown team in May 2014 as a newly Qualified Animal Nursing Assistant but have always had my heart set on becoming a Registered Veterinary Nurse.
I live in a small countryside village with my boyfriend and enjoy cooking, baking and I have a particular love for Jack Russell Terriers.
Womble (Jack Russell) and Bonnie (Sprocker Spaniel) are my two lovely dogs who have had many trips to work with me over the years for one reason or another.
My main interests within the role include inpatient and emergency/critical care, triage and laboratory work.
What I love most about my job is seeing the progress of our patients - not every case is easy or straight forward but part of being a nurse is monitoring your patients and being their advocate for the day and there's no greater feeling in this job than knowing you have provided the best care and made someone's pet feel as good as they can when they leave the practice. It helps when they give you a wag of a tail or a small cuddle too!!
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Vet Nurse Awareness Month 💫Introducing our fabulous nursing team💫
Hi! I’m Klaudia! I’m a second year degree student.
... I decided to be a veterinary nurse when I was 15 years old, I went to college for 5 years to gain experience to be able to start my Degree at Plumpton College.
I love working with dogs and cats but my heart is always with my wild patients, especially birds. As a student, I spend most of my time revising and keeping track on my clinical experiences, but in my free time I draw pet portraits, make pancakes and watch Superhero movies.
I own two chinchillas – Fig and Apricot who love cuddles and a run around the house!
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Vet Nurse Awareness Month 💫 Introducing our fabulous nursing team 💫
Hello! I am Lauren, I am a 2nd year Veterinary nurse student.
... I have been with Southdown for 5 years this year working my way up from administration roles to Veterinary nursing.
I started my journey into Veterinary nursing in school when I opted to do my level 1 animal care in year 10 and 11. I went on to do my level 2 and 3 in animal care to qualify with a distinction ⭐️ national extended diploma.
While I was doing my diploma I had a placement at a vets every Friday to start learning about the role as a veterinary nurse and what it entails. I soon fell in love with the profession of making a difference to animals welfare and continued to work on my career at Southdown where I have qualified as an animal nursing assistant and went on to my 1st year as a Veterinary Nursing student.
I am coming to the end of my 2nd year and I am very much looking forward to qualifying as a Registered Veterinary nurse and “Getting my greens”.
Outside of work I enjoy Yoga, watching Rugby and Travelling. I am hoping one day to take my career as a veterinary nurse on my travels with me and gain experience in different types of focused nursing like referral, emergency and night nursing.
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Vet Nurse Awareness Month 💫Introducing our fabulous nursing team💫
Hello, I’m Emma!
... I have been working at Southdown for 15 years.
I started my animal career by volunteering at Fiveways cat shelter (Now city Cat shelter Brighton). During my time there I realised I wanted to work within the animal field, this led me to Veterinary Nursing.
I started at Southdown as a veterinary nurse assistant and then went on to Plumpton college as an apprentice in Veterinary Nursing – gaining my qualification in 2008.
My passion is all things cat, and I have 4 cats at home with different medical conditions including Beans who is pictured – Beans is diabetic and requires daily insulin injections.
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Vet Nurse Awareness Month 💫Introducing our fabulous nursing team💫
Hello, my name is Harriet and I am the Head Nurse here at Southdown Vets.
... I qualified at a small animal practice in East Sussex in 2016 where I started in 2010 as an Animal Nursing Assistant and completed my nurse training.
I joined Southdown Vets in October 2018.
I love every aspect of veterinary nursing; ✨seeing clients and their beloved pets in the variety of nurse clinics we offer ✨monitoring patients anaesthetics for their procedures and ensuring they recover well (and enjoy a delicious meal when ready) ✨providing the best inpatient care to each and every one of our patients ✨discharging patients to their eagerly awaiting owners ✨performing in house laboratory tests as part of diagnostic investigations ✨supporting and leading my lovely team of amazing nurses ✨being able to use and improve my nursing skills with the help of ongoing training, support and guidance from many platforms
When I’m not at work I enjoy walking my very cheeky Labrador Ruben whilst exploring the countryside.
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Vet Nurse Awareness Month 2019
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Vet Nurse Awareness Month 💫Introducing our fabulous nursing team💫
My name is Jade and I am the Practice Director and most importantly an RVN!
... I started wanting to be an RVN from a very young age, growing up surrounded by poorly animals and horses on a horse rescue my mother ran. I spent lots of time building bonds with our welfare cases, and enjoyed nursing them back to health and watching them go to new families for a fresh start. I completed work experience in many local practices and went on to complete my degree in Veterinary Nursing. I went on to become Head nurse, and now Practice Director, and still manage to spend time downstairs nursing our patients.
I feel strongly about developing and supporting Student nurses and RVN’s skills, and have a keen interested in anaesthesia and analgesia. I bring knowledge from working in a variety of different settings from referral to charity hospitals.
Outside of work you will find me riding my lovely horse Darcie, walking my dog Ratty and cuddling my two cats Milo and Mia.
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Veterinary nurses play an important role in the care of your pet and are a vital member of the veterinary team. They carry out technical work and are skilled in undertaking a range of diagnostic tests, medical treatments and minor surgical procedures, under veterinary surgeon direction.
IN-PATIENT CARE Registered Veterinary Nurses are responsible for carrying out nursing care whilst working with the veterinary surgeon in charge of the case. Like nurses in NHS hospitals they u...ndertake a wide range of tasks such as administering medication, wound management and monitoring intravenous fluids as well as looking after the needs of the patient.
SURGICAL NURSING & ANAESTHESIA Registered Veterinary Nurses are trained to assist the veterinary surgeon both as part of the surgical team and by monitoring the levels of patient anaesthesia throughout the operation. They are trained to recognise different stages of anaesthesia and potential problems. RVNs can also legally undertake minor surgical procedures such as the suturing of wounds as well as dental scaling and polishing following assessment and removal of any damaged teeth by the vet.
NURSE CLINICS Just like the Doctor’s surgery, the majority of veterinary practices now run nurse-led clinics at least two or three times a week if not on a daily basis. These will vary between practices, but common areas include weight management, dressing changes, post-operative checks and suture removal, puppy training and socialisation classes, microchipping and diabetic clinics.
DIAGNOSTIC PROCEDURES Many laboratory tests are performed in-house by Registered Veterinary Nurses. Once the test is complete, the findings will be relayed to the veterinary surgeon in charge of the case, who will interpret them and discuss the results with you. Radiographs (x-rays) can be a crucial aid to the diagnosis of illness or injury and RVNs are trained to take and process x-rays as requested by the veterinary surgeon.
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Fun Fact Friday! 🤗
We asked our vet Anita for three interesting facts about herself.
Here’s what she said;
... 💫 Anita enjoys playing table tennis and used to play professionally when she was younger. 🏓
💫 Anita enjoys cooking and making meals at home for friends and family. 👩🏽‍🍳
💫 She also loves travelling, exploring new places and practicing new languages. ✈️
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CAREER DEVELOPMENT
Once qualified, veterinary nurses will find a rewarding career ahead of them. They may choose to develop an interest in different aspects of animal health, such as behaviour or alternative therapy. They may also choose to further develop their skills by studying one of a number of post qualification courses such as an Advanced Diploma, a BSc Degree or an MSc in Veterinary Nursing.
Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is mandatory for RVNs with 45 hour...s CPD being required by the RCVS over a 3 year period, an average of 15 hours per year. RVNs may choose to embark on a career in nursing and work in large veterinary hospitals, universities or specialist referral centres.
They may also take on a veterinary practice management role or become a pharmaceutical company representative. Many RVNs also elect to follow a career in education and become college tutors and lecturers teaching the next generation of veterinary nurses.
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