Nursing Staff at Penmellyn Veterinary Group

Claire qualified as a veterinary nurse in 1992 after going straight into veterinary nursing from school. During her career Claire has also worked as an internal verifier for Duchy College. In this role Claire was responsible for making sure that assessors of student nurses were assessing to the required standards and would deal with problems that arose with veterinary nurse assessments. At Penmellyn, Claire is our head nurse. She heads up a large team and is responsible for both the day to day nursing matters and extraordinary items which crop up from time to time. Her clinical interests are medical nursing and exotics. Claire is a fosterer for the RSPCA. Outside of work her interests are animals and camping. Claire has many animals. She has (here goes) 1 dog, 5 cats, 3 ponies, 5 sheep, 2 pigs, 2 ducks, 8 chickens, 2 ferrets and 1 giant tortoise!

Becky has been working in practice as a nurse since she left school in 1993 and continued her education in small animal care and human biology before starting her nursing course. She qualified in 1999 up country from the college of animal welfare. She have been involved with the sandiego leopard project in herfordshire and helped with a lion caesarean the hand rearing of lion and tigers cubs at a local park. She have also helped hand rear two meerkats. She moved to cornwall in 2004 She fosters for RSPCA. She has a diploma in aromatherapy which she gained in 2008 and a diploma in reflexology in 2009 and a diploma in human anatomy gained in 2008. She have two dogs, a labrador and a three legged border collie, six cats and three ex-battery chickens. She enjoys surfing and walking the dogs and travelling. She is also a clinical coach for student veterinary nurses.

Fiona qualified as a veterinary nurse in October 2008. She comes from a Cornish farming background. Fiona is one of our deputy head nurses. Her interests at work include orthopaedic and surgical nursing as well as rehabilitation of surgical patients. Outside of work Fiona is a member of St Columb Young Farmer’s Club. She has two dogs and a number of chickens. Fiona aims to further her knowledge within animal rehabilitation in the future.

Sarah is one of our two nurses who work solely in our equine department. She started training as a veterinary nurse when she left school, initially as a student nurse for a year in a practice in Bodmin followed by two years in Wakefield. Upon qualification in 1987 Sarah came to Penmellyn. Outside of work Sarah also has an equine interest and has passed the British Horse Society Horse Owners qualifications levels 1-4. Sarah has many animals. These currently include dogs, horses, bullocks, ducks, chickens and a cornsnake.

Lucy moved to Cornwall with her family over 30 years ago and has worked for the practice for 20 years. This makes Lucy one of our longest serving members of staff. Lucy is responsible for the majority of dental nursing within the practice and can be found carrying out this role at both our St Columb and Newquay surgeries. Lucy lives with her 15 year old son and a number of animals; a dog called Izzy (who was hand reared by one of our nurses) and a cat called Spitfire (who was a ferrel kitten who had to have a leg amputated) and another cat called Shilo (another ferrel kitten who came into the practice at 4 weeks of age and unhandled who has now turned into the most loving of cats). Her outside interests include walking her dog, swimming, going to the beach, horse riding, cinema and eating out.

Kathy says she can’t remember how long ago she qualified because it was too long ago. Nevertheless if is safe to say that Kathy has been in veterinary nursing for a long time and she is one of our most experienced nurses. Kathy comes from Camborne and lives with a crazy Weimaraner. Her interests at work are within surgical nursing, radiography work and lab work. Kathy also has a role to play in the training and assessment of our student nurses.

Louise comes from a farming background and qualified as a veterinary nurse in 1998. She has worked as a student nurse in Plymouth and at a Newquay practice. She joined us at Penmellyn in 1999. Louise is one of our nurses who works within the equine department. She particulary enjoys working in the equine theatre and assisting with cattle caesarians and surgical procedures. Outside of work she has three children to keep her busy while also enjoying riding (pleasure and endurance rides). She is currently teaching her daughter to ride on her Welsh section A pony. She enjoys walking her Labradors and has had a litter of puppies from one of them. Louise also helps out on the family farm when needed including the milking.

Cilla qualified as a veterinary nurse in 2001. Her worked is based within the small animal department where she takes responsibility for completion of small animal insurance claim forms. Cilla shares her home with many animals. She has both a Mainecoon and a Ragdoll cat, a tortie kitten, a papillon and a Cornsnake. She plans to gain more knowledge in pet behaviour, training and grooming at some point in the future.

Debbie moved to Cornwall in 2003 to find a practice in which to train as a veterinary nurse. Her interests at work are in orthopaedic and soft tissue surgical nursing, physiotherapy and wound management. Outside of work Debbie is interested in swimming, yoga and motorbikes. Debbie holds the Clinical Veterinary Nursing Diploma (surgical).

Vicki qualified as a Registered Veterinary Nurse in June 2008 after training in another mixed practice in Cornwall and joined the team at Penmellyn in September 2009. She mainly works in the small animal department but is involved with large animal and equine work out of hours and if extra help is needed in normal hours. She particularly enjoys working with inpatients and tending to their needs. Outside of work she enjoys hacking out on her pony with her friends- because she enjoys riding, seeing the countryside and having a good chat with her friends. Vicki has three cats (all of whom have arrived due to working in a veterinary practice). Vicki has recently become a clinical coach for a student nurse within our practice. This means that she is playing an active part in veterinary nurse training and assessment.

Stephanie moved to Cornwall in order to work with horses and to see farm animal work. She has worked at Newquay Zoo and the Blue Reef Aquarium. Her specific interests at work include diagnostic imaging and anaesthetics. Outside of work Steph is interested in horse riding and schooling and breaking in youngsters. She has a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, a Jack Russell terrier, a chihuahua, a leopard gecko and anoles, ferrets, a tortoise and chickens and ducks. Her aims for the future are to obtain further qualifications in more specialised areas and maybe to undertake an equine veterinary nursing qualification.

Becky qualified as a veterinary nurse in October 2009. She also has a BTEC national diploma in Animal management. She has previously worked at the Blue Reef Aquarium and Newquay Zoo. Her interests at work include emergency care and nursing clinics (especially weight control clinics). She lives on a small holding and has one cat, three dogs and six horses. She has recently bought a pony with whom she hopes to compete at showjumping and cross country.

Jenny obtained her Foundation Degree in Veterinary Nursing in July 2009 and became an RVN in January 2010. She has previously worked in practices in St Ives, Helston and Redruth prior to joining Penmellyn in November 2009.

Kate qualified as a veterinary nurse in 2005. She has three dogs, a cat and four horses. Her particular interests at work are surgical nursing and anaesthesia. Outside of work she is interested in horses and shooting. Three of horses are county show horses and one is an affiliated show jumper. Her aims for the future are to maintain high standards within the practice and to continue to contribute fully to our strong nursing team.

Sarah joined Penmellyn in July 2011. She qualified as a Veterinary Nurse in May 2010. She is originally from Kent and has lived in Cornwall for 8 years. She has worked at practices in Helston and Truro before joining our team. At work, she has special interests in radiography. Outside of work she enjoys spending time with her friends and family and exploring Cornwall. She has a collie x spaniel called Toby.

Jenny started her training in Liverpool but is a 'Cornish Girl'. She returned home to complete her studies. Jenny is now at our Newquay branch after having her first child, who is invariably involved in her spare time. She enjoys the beach, gardening and cooking when she gets the chance. Jenny only has her practical exam to take before she qualifies as a veterinary nurse. She lives at home with her partner, her son Daniel and Jack Russel, Maisy. She hopes to soon get some chickens, guinea pigs and maybe a cat.

Ali joined Penmellyn in 2009. She is ex cabin crew and fancied a complete career change. She is now one of our student nurses but initially started as our of our receptionists at our Newquay surgery. Outside of work Ali is interested in horse riding, skiing, dog training and music. She has four horses, three dogs (including two Doberman’s called Lola and Dexter with whom Ali does obedience) and nine chickens. Ali’s aims for the future are to complete her training and qualify as a veterinary nurse.

Patricia is a veterinary nursing student. She is based at our St Columb Major surgery. The majority of her time is spent within the small animal department. She has a National Diploma in Animal Management after studying at Newquay Duchy College. She started at Penmellyn in March 2009. She will hopefully qualify as a veterinary nurse in 2012. She has a tiny Springer Spaniel called Beau, aged 4.

Rachel is a first year foundation degree Veterinary Nursing student at Duchy college and hopes to qualify in 2013. Whilst living in Canada for 4 years Rachel spent some time as a volunteer at the SPCA as a shelter assistant caring for hundreds of dogs, cats and other abandoned animals confirming her interests in becoming a veterinary nurse. She has a keen interest in horses and is currently on the look out for a German Shorthaired Pointer as a buddy!

Terri-Ann is in the 1st year of her foundation degree in Veterinary Nursing at Duchy College. She started at Penmellyn in September 2011, it is her 1st mixed animal practice after doing work experience in a small animal practice. However she has always had an interest in larger animals especially equine. She has always has always wanted to do veterinary nursing. She has a cat called Patch and a Springer Spaniel called Dash, who she enjoys walking on the moors with.

Jade is currently doing a veterinary nurse assistant course which will hopefully take her onto a veterinary nurse apprenticeship. She has already achieved an level 2 diploma in animal care. In her spare time she spends time with her friends and takes her two dogs, Puppy and Rio, to the beach for a run and a swim in the sea.