Laura joined Derwent valley Vets in 2024. She had started in the veterinary profession as an animal care assistant (ACA), having dreamt of being a Veterinary Nurse from a young girl. She has worked her way diligently through Veterinary Nurse training at Bottle Green Training, has added to her experiences with many years as a qualified Veterinary Nurse and her hard work was rewarded with a position of Head Nurse at a previous practice before starting her family.

Laura lives locally in Matlock with her husband Oliver and her three children Arthur, Elsie and Ralph. Her busy household is made complete with George, her cockerpoo, who the children have nicknamed ‘Top G’ and her two cats Elliot and Boris, whom she hand reared from 2 weeks of age.  Elliot is named after our very own Ellie Whitehead as she was the vet to examine them at a previous practice 12 years ago!

Laura loves all aspects of nursing and is passionate about her role. She is a great team player and works incredibly hard. Like the rest of the team, her experiences does not mean that her learning has stopped, as she is currently working towards a level 5 Canine Behaviour Diploma.

When she is not at work Laura loves nothing more than a lovely dog walk or camping in the great outdoors with her family.

Emma joined Derwent Valley Vets in 2022 when she accepted the position of Head Veterinary Nurse at the practice. Being put in the position of leading a team of very experienced and confident nurses could of been very daunting; Emma not only rose to the challenge but soon settled in, and with hard work and a listening ear, quickly earnt the respect of the other member of her team.

Emma initially studied for a degree in education at Sheffield Hallam University before moving into the veterinary world in 2014. She trained with Bottle Green Veterinary Nurse Training on day release from practice to obtain her VN qualification in 2018 and she has worked exclusively for independent practices since. Her degree has helped her with the rewarding role of clinical coach which involves teaching our trainee veterinary nurses during their time in practice.

Emma’s clinical interests include emergency, critical and intensive care as well as anaesthesia and pain management.

In her leisure time, Emma and her working cocker spaniel Brynn, enjoy exploring the countryside together. Emma is a very talented photographer and loves finding picturesque place to take photos of Brynn. As “Field and Flock Photography” she photographs dogs, horses and field sports taking some beautiful pictures. She also enjoys horse riding when she get the chance.

Laura joined the practice in November 2019 as a student veterinary nurse after completing a level 3 in animal management. She studied at Bottle Green training, and although her training was disrupted by the Covid pandemic, she qualified in 2023 with a Distinction in her final exams.

Her favourite part of the Veterinary Nurse role is looking after the patients who are staying with her for the day and making sure they feel at ease during their visit. Laura is also in charge of all our laboratory supplies and find the various tests we can run in house, either by hand or by using our modern and efficient lab machines, really interesting.

Laura lives in Crich with her fiancé and her beautiful lurcher cross labrador “Enid”. When she’s not working, Laura spends time socialising with friends, going on walks with her dog and visiting the cinema.

Meg initially came to us as a receptionist in 2020. Her aim was to become a Veterinary Nurse and very quickly we could see her potential so when a vacancy arose, we shifted her sideways into a trainee nurse position. Meg studied hard putting in loads of effort to study and perfect her chosen profession. We were so proud when she completed her training in June 2024 becoming a fully qualified Veterinary Nurse.

Meg grew up on a family farm and has a lot of experience with all sorts of animals. She has numerous qualifications including a BSc in Equine Science with a Level 3 in Stable Management, Level 2 in Horse Care and BHS stages 1&2. All of these she puts to good use looking after ‘Mischief’ her Welsh pony and she spends a lot of her spare time out riding. When Meg is not at work or playing with horses, she enjoys spending time walking her Jack Russel ‘Lottie’ and her Labrador cross Pointer ‘Crumpet’.

Meg is a great part of the DVV team. She always has a smile on her face and nothing is too much trouble for her. She is a fabulous Veterinary Nurse and a credit to the profession.

We are very proud of Amber. She started with us as a trainee veterinary nurse, enrolled at Hartpury college in 2018 and in 2021 she registered as a qualified Veterinary Nurse (VN) after obtaining her degree. Knowing what a fabulous nurse she has become, through her continued hard work and effort, we have quickly snapped her up before she could get chance to make it out onto the job market and she has now joined our team of qualified VNs.

Amber has enjoyed all of her training but she is particularly interested in patient care and anaesthesia, two areas of nursing that are SO important. Now she has joined the team full time she is also taking on the role of Hill’s Nutritional Ambassador within the practice and as such is continuing her learning, this time specifically and in more depth about nutrition. It is really important to us at Derwent Valley that we all continue to learn – even those members of the team who are going a little grey around the edges do additional training each year.
As one of her graduation presents, Amber has just taken on her own puppy “Goose” who is a working cocker spaniel. Goose joins Amber’s other pets, “Merry” and “Pippin”, her guinea pigs, and we hope the whole family settles well in Matlock and enjoy the beautiful Peak District as much as we do.