Nice to meet you, I’m Laura (and that’s Dexter…)

I’m a registered veterinary nurse who has a special passion for medical nursing. I’m at my happiest in the practice lab or the consulting room, or with an endoscope in hand.

I fell in love with medicine by 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!

I want to help other nurses find this, too - so I took my passion for medicine and combined it with one of my other passions… teaching.

I now spend my time teaching other veterinary nurses, whether that be via my blog or podcast, my social media pages, workshops, guides and CPD courses, 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.

So, here’s a little bit about me…

I 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 generally become the best nurse I could for my patients.

So, after qualifying, I moved to a surgical referral centre, working predominantly with orthopaedic patients. Here, I began studying for my Diploma in Advanced Veterinary Nursing, inspired to continue learning by the people around me doing the same.

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 missing referral practice - I loved my practice, but wanted to continue learning and nurse more complex cases. When I saw that a new referral centre was opening not far from home, I jumped at the chance to join them, as the Deputy Head Medicine RVN.

Here, I fell in love with medical nursing. I continued my studies, graduating from Harper Adams University with a BSc(Hons) in Advanced Veterinary Nursing in 2017, and completing the ISFM Diploma in Feline Nursing in 2018.

That same year, I submitted my application to become a Veterinary Technician Specialist (VTS) in Small Animal Medicine. It was successful, and I passed the entrance examination in 2019, becoming a VTS and member of the AIMVT.

In January 2019 I moved to join The Ralph Referral Centre, where I still work as the Senior Medicine RVN, leading and supporting the team of medicine nurses whilst working as a nurse on the clinical floor full-time.

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, as well as my course library and the Medical Nursing Academy.

Most importantly, I am still a practising RVN and love nothing more than giving great care to my patients - whilst helping others do the same.

Want to get to know me a little better?

I took a very real (warts and all!) look back at my career in the first-ever episode of the medical nursing podcast - you can listen using the player below.

Here’s my commitment to you.

These 4 principles are the core beliefs I founded VIMN on - and they are vital to my work. If we work together, this is what you can expect from me.

Learning

Veterinary nursing is a journey and ongoing learning is an enormous part of this.

Creating a safe, learning culture is a huge passion and as well as helping others learn, I am committed to continually learn more myself.

Empowerment

One of my biggest passions is showing veterinary nurses it is possible to do more in our careers.

It can be easy for nurses to feel we do not 'have a voice' compared to vets, and I want every nurse to be able to use theirs.

Love

I am committed to doing anything I can do to help nurses have more love for their careers, and to help them give the best care they can to their patients.

Compassion

Creating a compassionate and kind community where people can learn and share their experiences in a safe and non-judgmental way is something I truly believe in.

Every person who works with me will have the opportunity to learn in a safe and compassionate environment.

Anything goes concerning discussion, no question is too silly to ask, and it is a completely safe space to share.