About
Heidi began her career as a PCA (Patient Care Assistant) back in 2008 in a primary care practice and started her training as a SVN (Student Veterinary Nurse) a year later, qualifying as a RVN (Registered Veterinary Nurse) in 2012. Two years later she wanted to get more hands-on experience with pets that were long-term inpatients. Due to her lack of experience, she did struggle to get her next role but persevered and eventually secured a nursing role in a 24-hour first opinion practice.
Heidi aspired to work in a hospital and came across DWR in her research, so in 2015 applied for a ward nurse role which she was delighted she was successful in! She absolutely loved the role focusing on patients, being part of a large team, seeing new and interesting cases and the fast-paced environment.
Initially the team was solely ward based covering the surgery ward, medicine ward, cat ward and the ICU (intensive Care Unit). During this time, she also got the opportunity to become a clinical coach for an SVN. A year later she applied for a ward supervisor position unsurprisingly due to her lack of experience she was unsuccessful, but it showed her ambition.
In 2016 the team was split to have a dedicated focus, giving Heidi the opportunity to focus on surgical patients. On this occasion she was successful in applying for the Surgery Ward Nurse Supervisor shortly followed by a shared Nurse Ward Manager position as the team were growing. Heidi and her colleague, Harriet Bolton worked successfully together leading the team for four years.
After a further two years of studying Heidi achieved the Diploma of Higher Education in Clinical Veterinary Nursing, this involved studying alongside working and three to four study weekends a year at Myerscough College in Lancashire. A year later she completed the RCVS Diploma in Advanced Veterinary Nursing. This was a fantastic achievement, and she was supported by DWR throughout.
At the end of 2020 DWR created a new role of Student and Senior Nurse Support Co-ordinator, having been in her current role for a few years Heidi felt ready for a change and although it was more of an administrative job Heidi could still work on her nursing skills at the weekends. It was a great role, supporting the Student Nurses at DWR with their training and being on hand to assist the senior nursing team so there was a lot of variety.
At the start of 2021 the role of Head of Nursing Services was created when DWR were bought by Linnaeus, and although this was a huge step up for Heidi, she was delighted she was successful in her application, so glad she made the move to DWR six years earlier as it opened so many doors. Heidi is really enjoying the challenges of her current role and learning and growing all the time, still continuing to develop her career having recently completed the L5 award in Leadership and Management with the Veterinary Management group and she is now studying for the certificate.