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Veterinary Nurses
 There are currently 13 qualified veterinary nurses (V.N.s) employed by The Veterinary Hospital Group, some of whom work part-time and some full-time. Three of the qualified V.N.s are employed at the branch surgeries, 2 of them work as part of the night duty team and the remainder as senior nurses within The Veterinary Hospital itself.
The qualified Veterinary Nurses are an invaluable component of the team having trained as highly skilled and knowledgeable para-professionals of the Veterinary Profession. They assist the Veterinary Surgeons at the hospital in many ways, for example, performing blood sampling, monitoring anaesthesia, applying dressings, surgical assistance during operations, dispensing and administering treatments as prescribed by the veterinary surgeons, and undertaking medical, surgical and critical care nursing procedures of the inpatients at the hospital.
There are a number of qualified nurses at the hospital who have undertaken additional training in nutrition and are able to counsel clients accordingly. Nicola Ackerman and Louise Moon run nurse clinics for puppies and kittens as well as for advice on a whole range of problems. One of our nurses (Sharon Harley) has achieved her Diploma in Companion Animal Bereavement Counselling which enables her to offer support to bereaved owners who are finding it difficult to cope without the companionship of their pet. Some of the qualified veterinary nurses also undertake training of the student veterinary nurses and the Animal nursing assistants which is important to ensure that they too develop into capable and efficient members of the team.
Staff training and continuing professional development is seen as a priority at all levels and is undertaken by everyone at the hospital. Three of the veterinary nurses have undertaken further training and are now fully qualified NVQ assessors. This has been necessary since the introduction of S/NVQs into the Veterinary Nursing qualification.
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