Veterinary nurses

Alice graduated from the Royal Veterinary College in June 2008 after completing a four year degree in veterinary nursing. During her training she spent time in several different veterinary practices including referral practices and here at Farthings. Alice started work at Farthings in June 2008, becoming an assessor for student nurses in 2009. Since November 2010 Alice has been the practice’s head nurse and head of training. She has an interest in anaesthesia and critical care and she completed a certificate in this in 2012. Alice has been learning British sign language since 2008 and is able to assist with veterinary consultations in sign language if required. Alice currently has two much loved guinea pigs, Cyril and Malcolm.

Claire started as a student vet nurse at Farthings Veterinary Group in 2016. Since then she has qualified as a nurse and we are glad that she chose to stay within our team! Claire enjoys all aspects of animal care and lives in Haywards Heath with her two cats, Milo and Pebbles.

Louisa qualified as a registered veterinary nurse in 2013 and before working here she worked at Pet’s Corner in Horsham. Her favourite part of her role at Farthings is helping to run the puppy parties. She has a lovely Cavalier called Sasha and a young Cavalier X Jack Russell called Ruby. They like nothing more than going for a walk with the other nurses and their dogs.

Sarah has worked at Farthings since 2006, both full-time and now part-time. She is a deputy head nurse. She has three children (Marco, Luca and Mia), two guinea pigs (Buttercup and Daisy) and a naughty tortie cat called Rosie.

Caron has been nursing since 2006, qualified in 2010 and joined Farthings Veterinary Group in April 2011. She has a strong interest in feline behaviour and nursing, and in 2013 completed the ISFM certificate in feline nursing. As our practice 'Cat Advocate’, Caron is working on making our surgeries more cat friendly. Away from work, Caron runs her own pet sitting service, CK Pet Care Service.

Frances qualified in 1998 while practising at the RSPCA Hospital in North London. She has worked at the Royal Veterinary College in clinical research as well as outpatient diagnostics for ophthalmology and dermatology. In 2002, Frances received her diploma in dermatology for veterinary nurses, achieving the highest marks over all. She has published a book on veterinary dermatology and has written several articles for the Veterinary Nursing Journal. Frances has also trained in the Galen massage method for animals and completed the BSAVA physiotherapy merit award. She runs our outpatient rehabilitation clinics and helps the vets set up physiotherapy programmes for patients receiving orthopaedic surgery. Currently Frances also teaches veterinary nursing at Brinsbury College.

Leannda qualified as a veterinary nurse in 2013. She has a special interest in diabetes, and runs diabetic clinics at our Horsham surgery. Leannda has two cats of her own, Oakley and Juno, who you will often see at our Billingshurst surgery.

Nicky originally joined Farthings in 1988, qualified as a veterinary nurse in 1995 and went on to become the head nurse for nine years until leaving to have her son in 2007. Nicky returned to Farthings in 2011. At home she has a cat called Slinky, a rabbit, a guinea pig and some fish. In her spare time she loves gardening.

Lily undertook her nurse training with Farthings and Plumpton College and became a fully-fledged veterinary nurse in August 2014. In her spare time she competes in show jumping competitions with her two horses, Milly and Liberty, and enjoys walking her three dogs, Dotti, Bella and Archie.

Amy started at Farthings at the end of November 2013 and is now a qualified veterinary nurse. She is particularly interested in animal behaviour and is working towards a diploma in this subject. Amy previously completed a two year course in animal welfare at Brinsbury and then worked for a year as a kennel assistant within a veterinary practice. She lives with her three dogs, all of which are Jack Russell crosses, Dora, Bella and Bobby.

Hayley came back to Farthings in 2017, having worked here for four years previously before taking some time off. She has a special interest in anaesthesia.

Arabella started working at Farthings as a kennel assistant in 2015, before beginning her student veterinary nurse training in January 2016. She qualified as an RVN in 2019. At home she has two cats, Boo-Boo and Spencer (who is very naughty). She also has a lovely rescue dog from Greece called Millie. In her spare time she likes to socialise with her family and friends, and is hoping to get back into horse riding in the near future.

Holly joined Farthings Veterinary Group in the summer of 2017 and is currently in training to become a veterinary nurse. She owns a Border Collie and a handsome little hamster called George.

Sam worked at a veterinary referral centre for a year before starting at Farthings Veterinary Group in the autumn of 2018 to develop her career. She began as a Patient Care Assistant and has now progressed to Student Veterinary Nurse. Sam owns four dogs, four cats and six reptiles. She especially enjoys doing agility with her Border Collies and has an interest in canine behaviour.

Gertruda joined Farthings in February 2020, she is studying to be a veterinary nurse. She has always dreamed of being a nurse as has loved animals since a young age. Outside of work she likes to meet up with friends and enjoys hiking. One day she hopes to own her own dog, to be a companion on all her adventures.

Naomi joined Farthings in May 2019 after previously working at a different vets in Burgess Hill. She has two dogs called Dougal and Marnie and two cats called Bailey and Pepper. They always follow her around because they know she’s the one who will give in and feed them treats! She loves all things nerdy and all things animal. Naomi has plans to start training as a veterinary nurse in the future.

Shanice is our longest standing patient care assistant, who loves working with animals. She is very passionate about animal welfare and the environment and shares her passion on an online blog. She has been vegan for over three years and teaches others about veganism and animal rights.

Becca is a new addition to the team, having started in October 2020. She has always loved animals, having hamsters as a child and her family are now in the process of getting a puppy! In her spare time, Becca likes horse riding and spending time with friends and family.

Georgia started working as a receptionist in 2020 and then went on to become a Patient Care Assistant. At home she has two hamsters and a fish but one day dreams of having a dog.