Veterinary nurses

Marie joined Ambivet in 1983 while still at school, working Saturdays and occasional evenings. Marie then joined the practice full-time in 1985 and qualified in 1989 from Hutton Agricultural College in Preston. Marie left the practice in 1991, but decided to return ten years later. Marie is interested in all surgical nursing, theatre and anaesthesia. She loves any babies, especially a hand rear.

Outside of work Marie enjoys spending time with her three daughters and socialising with friends. She also enjoys walking her two dogs Poppy and Maisy.

Laura started working at the Heanor branch of Ambivet in 2011 before moving to the Ripley branch in 2012 and qualifying as an RVN in 2016 at Bottle Green College. Laura is now our Head Nurse at Ripley and is continually expanding her experience and knowledge of small animal anaesthesia; her particular area of interest.

Outside of work Laura can usually be found with her three horses, Finn, Tyger Lily and Star or her cats Vinnie and violet – both rescued as stray kittens through Ambivet.

Laura joined Ambivet in 2008 at our Heanor surgery and is now head nurse at our Ilkeston surgery. She started her veterinary nurse training at Rodbaston College in 2009 and gained her qualification in 2011.

Laura has a cat called Dexter and a Labrador called Ruby.

As one of the longest standing members of staff, Sarah studied Veterinary Nursing at Bottle Green Training College and qualified as an RVN in 2004. Sarah has a keen interest in surgical nursing, theatre & anaesthetics but also enjoys all aspects of nursing.

Outside of work Sarah enjoys spending time with her husband and two boys, watching basketball, running and generally seeing friends and socialising. Also not to mention spending time with the crazy black cat called Inky who was hand reared by our nurse Marie. She also enjoys walking her latest addition to the family Ziggy.

Alison completed her training in South Wales where she worked in practice for 10 years, then she came to Ambivet in 2008.

Outside of work Alison loves spending time with her two dogs; Pomeranian cross Chihuahua Nancy and Jake the Border terrier. She also owns three chickens Jo Mama, Naomi, Penny.

Georgia started with us at Ambivet in 2012 and started her veterinary nurse training in 2013 at Bottle Green Training. She qualified in 2016 and finds her work very rewarding. Georgia enjoys all aspects of nursing, in particular a strong focus on exceptional patient care, theatre and pharmaceuticals, with Georgia being head of dispensary at our Ripley surgery.

At home she has two rescue cats and a Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

Alice joined Ambivet back in 2014 and commenced her training at Bottle Green Training College. After qualifying, Alice worked as part of our out of hours team for three and a half years, before joining the Heanor day team.

She enjoys all aspects of nursing and likes spending time looking after both of her horses, Bella and Lizzy. Alice has an interest in hand rearing and emergency and critical care nursing. Alice is hoping further her studies in the near future.

Samantha is one of our qualified nurses and works at our Ilkeston surgery. Samantha joined Ambivet in 2005 and started her training at Myerscough College in 2007 and gained her veterinary nursing qualification in 2009. Samantha has also undertaken a certificate in exotic veterinary nursing in 2015 and passed the final exams in 2016. Samantha has many pets, including two dogs, a cat, a ferret and three lizards.

Amy is one of our four night nurses. She joined Ambivet back in 2005 and commenced her training at Myerscough College in 2007. She has worked at our Ripley and Ilkeston branches prior to joining the out of hour’s team. Amy completed a certificate in exotic veterinary nursing in 2015 and passed the final exams in 2016.

Amy has three dogs at home, two Cavaliers, Bree and Crumble and a Cocker cross Poodle called Mable. She also shares her home with Magnus the cat and three rabbits – Clover, Dandelion and Burdock. Amy has an interest in exotic nursing and emergency and critical care and is aiming to further her studies in the near future.

Chloe studied veterinary nursing at Bottle Green Training College and qualified in December 2020, she has worked at our hospital branch in Heanor since starting at Ambivet Veterinary Practice in January 2016. Chloe enjoys all aspects of veterinary nursing but has a particular interest in surgical nursing and emergency and critical care nursing. In the future Chloe hopes to complete a certificate in emergency and critical care.

Outside of work Chloe enjoys going to the gym, exploring new places on dog walks with friends, baking and travelling.

Sarah started at Ambivet in June 2008 as a Student Veterinary Nurse and qualified in May 2012, having studied at Rodbaston College. She works at the hospital branch in Heanor and has a strong interest in inpatient care and medicine. Sarah loves all things feline and completed the ISFM (international feline society of medicine) Certificate in Feline Nursing.

She has a cat called Milo who she adores. In her spare time, Sarah loves to run and is a member of her local running club having completed eleven half marathons and two marathons to date.

Alexandra has worked at Ambivet Heanor since 2021. Alexandra has worked in both referral and first opinion practices. She studied at Bottle Green Training College and qualified as a registered veterinary nurse in August 2019. She enjoys all aspects of nursing, but has a strong interest in anaesthesia, inpatient care and nutrition. She has also completed the BVNA dental nursing course.

Outside of work, Alexandra enjoy being creative, making things, playing the piano and the flute. Alexandra has a Collie called Toby as well as three black cats called Billy, Guppy and Sansa.

Claire originally joined the Ambivet nursing team in 2008. In 2017 she left to pursue a different career path however in 2021 she decided this was not for her and became part of the Ambivet furniture again! Claire has a strong interest in anaesthesia and surgical nursing and likes to spend her time in theatre.

Outside of work Claire enjoys socialising with her friends and taking her dogs away to explore the countryside and beaches. Claire has two Rottweiler's Letti and Reggie, two cats Squiggle and Bili and a tortoise called Piggy.

Chloe graduated from Nottingham Trent University in summer 2021 and completed all of her practical training at Ambivet. She has since worked at our Heanor branch and enjoys all aspects of nursing but particularly caring for small exotics like rats, mice and hamsters and surgery. She’s become a regular scrubbing in for orthopaedic procedures with vet Paul. She hopes to complete surgical nursing (Schedule 3) CPD in the future as well as that relating to neonate/paediatric care.

Chloe's British Bulldog Arlo - who she hand reared due to a cleft palate was a rescue from the practice. Outside of work Chloe enjoys spending time with family, snuggling up with Arlo, coming up with fun new layouts for her pet mice’s enclosure and baking treats for both humans and dogs.

Hayley enjoys all aspects of veterinary nursing but particularly likes nursing the inpatients and has an interest in medicine.

Outside of work Hayley enjoys spending time with her husband and two daughters, riding, walking, socialising and spending time with family and friends. Hayley has two guinea pigs called Jim and Paphos (named by her 4 year old daughter) and an elderly pony Monty.

Amanda joined Ambivet in 2003 as a trainee veterinary nurse, and qualified in 2007. Amanda particular interests are theatre and post-operative recovery, as well as a spot of laboratory work thrown in for good measure.

Outside of work Amanda enjoys reading, walking, and various crafts. She is the proud owner of Bertie the Labrador and Pumpkin the cat.

Isobel studied veterinary nursing at Bottle Green Training College and qualified in November 2020. She has worked at our Ripley branch since starting at Ambivet Veterinary Practice in October 2016. Isobel enjoys all aspects of nursing but has a particular interest in surgical nursing and theatre.

Isobel has two rescue guinea pigs, a Border Terrier called Pip and a cat called Peach who was hand reared by our own nurses. Outside of work Isobel enjoys spending time with family and friends and long walks with Pip.

Tracy joined our Ilkeston team in May 2018 after graduating from Nottingham Trent University. She has a keen interest in exotic and avian nursing and would like to do further studying in the future. At home she has two horses called Pop-pop and Skye, two French Bulldogs called Fifi and Louie, four cats that go by the names of Kippers, Creamy-dude, Cookie-monster and Leo, two rabbits called Billy and Joey, a parrot called Jazz and a royal python.

Amy studied nursing at Bottle Green. Prior to starting at Ambivet in 2012, Amy had already worked for two years as a veterinary nurse elsewhere. She enjoys all aspects of nursing but enjoys inpatient care, as well as a keen interest in rabbit welfare, wildlife rehabilitation and animal charity work.

Our nursing team have nicknamed her as Florence Nightingale, because of her ability to rehome any animal in need. Amy has one dog Lulu, a cat Holly and two bunnies, Wendy and Buttercup.

Molly is one of our four night nurses. She joined Ambivet back in 2014 and commenced her training at Bottle Green College. She worked at our Ripley prior to joining the out of hours team. She enjoys all aspects of nursing and likes spending time looking after all her animals at home. Molly has an interest in hand rearing and emergency and critical care and is aiming to further her studies in the near future.

Molly has three dogs at home, crossbreeds Chuck and Charlie and a Labrador called Daisy. She also shares her home with cats, Flora, Franklin and Henry and with two Continental Giant rabbits – Paula and Sassy pants and Terry the tortoise.

Rhiannon is one of our registered veterinary nurses and has been qualified since 2016 and at Ambivet since 2018. She has a keen interest in medicine and hospital nursing and has previously worked as a night nurse at our hospital branch at Heanor. These days Rhiannon works at the Aspley surgery on Tuesdays and otherwise works in the admin department.

Outside of work Rhiannon is studying a degree in Biology, she enjoys playing video games, and runs a Dungeons and Dragons campaign. She has six cats at home named Hektor, Rufus, Apollo, Rupert, Markus and Merlin.

Cathryn joined Ambivet in 2003 as a Sunday girl on reception, whilst studying at Brookfield College for her diploma. She started full time employment as a Student nurse in 2004 and qualified in 2010. Cathryn has worked at all of Ambivet’s five branches, in 2013 she became Head Nurse at our Wollaton branch.

In 2019 Cathryn left Ambivet to explore new adventures at Dovecote Veterinary Referral Hospital as their emergency night team. Cathryn missed her Ambivet family so much she retuned back to us in 2021 to join our night team.

Cathryn has always had a soft spot for horses and currently helps to look after three ponies with a colleague. She has started riding lessons in her spare time which she really enjoys. Cathryn has a fur baby, her name is Milla, she is a Staffordshire bull terrier.

Cian qualified in March 2022 after attending Bottle Green Training, she started with us at Ambivet in late 2019 and works mainly at our Ilkeston branch. Cian has a particular interest in animal behaviour and inpatient nursing and enjoys spending time with inpatients. Cian has a degree in Animal Behaviour and Welfare and hopes to one day carry out her own behaviour clinics.

Outside of work Cian likes to attend gigs, festivals and go walking with her dog. Cian has a whippet named Flora, two FIV+ cats named Bruce and Binx and a crested gecko named Echo.

Hannah started at the Ilkeston branch of Ambivet in March 2016, studied veterinary nursing at Bottle Green Training and qualified in December 2020. Hannah enjoys all aspects of veterinary nursing but has a special interest in anaesthesia, wound management and guinea pigs.

Outside of work Hannah enjoys baking, gardening and trips to the pub with her whippet Olive.

Erin studied veterinary nursing at Bottle Green Training College and qualified in summer 2016. She enjoys all aspects of nursing but has a particular interest in surgical nursing, inpatient care and all things feline. In 2019 Erin completed her ISFM (international feline society of medicine) certificate in feline nursing, she now has her sights set on the feline nursing advanced diploma.

Erin has a Giant African land snail called Garlic and three cats a Bengal cross Eva, as well as Enid and Ezra the British shorthairs. Eva was adopted from our surgery as a stray. Whereas both of Erin's British shorthairs were adopted as they have life threatening cleft palate deformities. Outside of work, she enjoys going to gigs, festivals (especially Glastonbury) and travelling.

Sarah qualified as an RVN in December 2020, she works at our Ilkeston branch and has been at Ambivet since 2014. Sarah enjoys all aspects of nursing but has a particular interest in theatre duties and emergency care.

Outside of work Sarah enjoys spending time with her husband and son, going on holidays and finding new routes for dog walking. At home Sarah has two Miniature Dachshunds, Ruby and Max.

Charlotte studied veterinary nursing at Bottle Green Training College and qualified in August 2019, she has worked at our Ripley branch since starting at Ambivet Veterinary Practice in July 2015. Charlotte enjoys all aspects of veterinary nursing but has a particular interest in surgical nursing. Charlotte has completed CPD and has achieved role as Mental Health First Aider.

Charlotte loves dogs, in particular shih Tzu’s and Yorkshire terriers and also loves rabbits. Charlotte owns two rabbits Myrtle and Fleur and also owns Chloe a Lhasa Apso. In Charlotte’s spare time she enjoys going to her caravan in the peak district, dog walking and spending time with friends and family.

Sophie joined Ambivet in 2011 at our Aspley surgery and is now head nurse at this surgery. She started her veterinary nurse training at Bottle Green Training in 2012 and gained her qualification in 2015.

Danielle (Danz) joined the team at our Ripley ranch as a second year student at the end of 2020 after their previous student nurse placement was effected by the pandemic. Danz is in their third and final year of their training and will hopefully qualify in 2023.

They have previously worked in a wildlife hospital, and have an interest in birds, exotics and emergency cases, they also enjoy socialisation and behaviour consults. They have three rescue dogs; Loki, Freyja and Quinn. As well as five skinks and two snakes.

Sarah started her veterinary nurse training in September 2021 after previously working as a receptionist in a busy veterinary referral practice. She works at the Aspley surgery but does work at the other branches covering weekends and does a rotation on-call week at the busy Heanor hospital. Sarah enjoys all aspects of nursing but especially enjoys nurse consultations as she likes building a strong rapport with our clients and their pets.

Sarah loves cats, dogs and small furries, and grew up with all of them. She is now mummy to a West Highland Terrier called Daisy, who she got when she lived in Spain. In her spare time she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, walking with Daisy, studying and swimming.

Lorena is currently a third year student at our Ripley branch. She goes to Bottle Green Training for her college course and is hoping to qualify this year (2022). Lorena enjoys multiple aspects of her work, she is in charge of the laboratory, keeping the machines in working order. She takes pride in supplying the best care to her patients and has an interest in small animal/exotics, which she wishes to pursue further training in this sector in the future.

Outside of work Lorena enjoys going out for food, travelling and keeping in touch with friends. Lorena owns a cat called Chase, a gerbil called Reggie, a leopard gecko called Ecko and various fish.

Emma is our Heanor teams' newest student nurses and she will be going to college in Autumn. She enjoys all aspects of nursing but has gained a keen interest in inpatient care and theatre.

Outside of work Emma enjoys spending time with her horse Scarlett & exploring on walks out with her two dogs, Ghillie & Silas.

Katie joined the Wollaton branch as a Patient Care Assistant at the start of 2019. She graduated in 2017 with a degree in Genetics and Molecular Biology, and has recently started her Veterinary Nurse training.

She has two cats, Anubis and Miso, both of which were rescued from shelters. Outside of work, her time is occupied with keeping the cats out of mischief, as well as embroidery and video games.

Claire is studying Veterinary Nursing at Bottle Green Training. Claire enjoys all aspects of nursing but has a keen interest in physiotherapy, she hopes to further this interest once qualified.

In her spare time she likes to socialise with her friends and you will always find her making the most of the weather! She has two dogs, Border Collie Blu and Springer Spaniel Milo. Claire is always keen to give animals a second chance and will always be willing to foster those in need.

Deanna started working at Ambivet in May 2019 and is based at our Ripley branch. She is currently a Student Veterinary Nurse at Bottle Green College and is hoping to qualify in 2023. She is passionate about all things rabbits, she loves to research about rabbit behaviour in her spare time and has a very keen interest in rabbit nursing.

Outside of work she enjoys spending time with family, dog walks and updating her bunny Instagram page. She has five of her own rabbits, Luna, Polaris, Apollo, Aries and Astrophel. Alongside two Guinea Pigs, Bramble & Chip and two Shih-Tzu X Toy Poodle dogs, Teddy & Jasper.

Natasha is studying veterinary nursing at Bottle Green Training. She has been working at our Aspley surgery since August 2015. Natasha enjoys all aspects of veterinary nursing but especially enjoys inpatient care.

She has a French Mastiff called Sam and a cat called Oscar.

Lydia started at Ambivet Aspley in October 2017 and has started training at Bottle Green College. Lydia enjoys seeing all the different animals that come in to practice and is starting to learn the roles she will be partaking to become a veterinary nurse.

In her spare time she loves to play with her Boxer dog called Hallie and play with her Domestic Short Haired black and white cat Panda.

Terri joined our Ambivet Ilkeston team in May 2021 after working at another CVS practice for 6 years. She is currently studying towards becoming a Registered Veterinary Nurse at Bottle Green Training College. Terri enjoys all aspects of nursing but mainly consulting and surgical nursing.

Outside of work Terri enjoys exploring, working with cars and going on long dog walks with her partner and friends. She has a blue Staffordshire Bull terrier called Rusko.