MEET YOUR veterinary internal medicine educator
About Laura Jones
Registered vet nurse, medicine VTS, educator, nursing advocate and all-around medical nursing nerd.
I’m on an unstoppable mission to help more veterinary nurses and technicians give even better care to their patients, advocate proudly for their needs, and get more from their careers - because, after years of thinking I worked FOR my vets, I realised that life gets better for everyone when you work ALONGSIDE them, as equals.
You’ll usually find me feeding snacks to patients, looking at blood smears, performing nurse clinics, hanging out in imaging, or with a scope in hand - and honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I fell in love with medical nursing by complete accident after spending years loving theatre and anaesthesia.
I became a full-time medicine nurse in 2015, and found more options for career progression and job satisfaction than I ever thought were possible for us VNs - so now I’m flying the flag for medical nursing, and helping others find the same!
I took my passion for medicine and combined it with one of my other passions - teaching - and VIMN was born.
Fast forward now and nothing has changed, only grown!
Fast-forward 6 years, and now, I spend my time teaching other veterinary nurses and technicians; whether that be via the Medical Nursing Podcast, social media, the Medical Nursing Academy, or at external events.
Above all else, though, I am still a clinical RVN and still love getting hands-on, using my nursing skills, and giving the best care I can to my patients.
My Values as Your Veterinary Educator
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Empowerment
Veterinary nurses and technicians aren’t just there to follow instructions. It’s time we worked WITH our vets, not beneath them. I’m here to help nurses feel more empowered in their clinics - advocating for themselves and their patients, feeling listened to and truly valued, and using more practical skills.
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Boldness
Veterinary nurses and technicians have historically been seen as ‘less important’ than the vets. We’ve waited quietly for years for our knowledge and skills to be recognised and valued - and the longer we’re quiet, the less our profession advances (and the less care our patients) get. It’s time to be bold, take up space, and show everyone what we can do.
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Compassion
I’m all about nurses providing compassionate patient care, geared towards each individual patient - but I’m also a tireless advocate of self-compassion. At VIMN we take time not just to celebrate compassionate patient care, but being compassionate to ourselves on difficult days or during tough cases, and compassionate to our teammates and clients.
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Fun
CPD doesn’t have to be boring. You learn way more when you’re enjoying it, so if you learn with me, expect to have a few laughs, some ridiculous analogies, and generally whatever else it takes to make things stick and have fun while you’re at it! Medicine doesn’t have to be complicated - and I promise, even the endocrine system can be fun (yes, that makes me a nerd… nope, I’m not sorry about it!)
Want to get to know me a little better?
I took a very raw and real look back at my career in the first-ever episode of the medical nursing podcast - you can listen using the player below.
Where it all began in my medical nursing journey
It was 2007 and I had dropped out of college (yes, this is the bio you won’t hear read out at a lecture - I’m all about keeping it real here).
I thought I wanted to be a vet - until I realised what nurses did (and to be honest, even then, I didn’t know the half of it!) and realised I had wanted to be a vet nurse all along.
So I found a student nurse role, quit my A-Levels, began nursing in 2007 in a small, GP branch clinic, and became an RVN in early 2010.
I always knew I wanted to experience as much as I could within nursing, so that I could learn more, see different cases, and improve my skills - plus, I’m a firm believer in deciding what you want to do by figuring out what you don’t want to do.
So, after qualifying, I moved to a surgical referral centre, working predominantly with orthopaedic patients. I also began studying towards the RCVS Diploma in Advanced Veterinary Nursing, to boost my knowledge and help me in my new role.
After a couple of years, I missed the variety of cases - especially medical cases - that I was learning more about in my studies. So I headed back to general practice, working for a few years as an RVN and then nurse manager in a large hospital.
Fast forward to 2015, and I was feeling stuck - comfortable in a management position in a nearby clinic, but not getting the satisfaction from nursing that I craved. I didn’t know how else to progress, and I wasn’t sure where my career would take me next.
Little did I know then, but my whole career was about to change.
I fell into a medicine role by complete accident at a new referral centre, and the rest is history. I completed my DipAVN and then a top-up degree in Advanced Nursing, and ultimately became a Veterinary Technician Specialist in Internal Medicine. I found new ways to connect with my patients, develop my skills, and fall in love with nursing all over again.
After completing the VTS, Veterinary Internal Medicine Nursing was born - initially as an Instagram page, and then to the website you're reading now!
It's really important to me that every nurse or technician has the opportunity to do more with their patients, use more skills, give better care, and get more job satisfaction. So here, you'll find accessible CPD via the blog and podcast, and inside the Medical Nursing Academy.
Most importantly, I am still a practising RVN and love nothing more than bonding with (and sneaking treats to!) my patients - whilst helping others do the same.