Rebecca Thompson
BSc (Hons) VNPA GradDip VN A1 RVN
Head of Nursing Services
Becca’s career profile so far…
From a very young age I knew I wanted to work with animals, I grew up on a farm and remember watching our local vet operate on a cow with a left displaced abomasum and being absolutely enthralled by it, especially the details of the suturing, materials and techniques.
I qualified as a Registered Veterinary Nurse (RVN) from Bristol University with a BSc (Hons) in Veterinary Nursing and Practice Administration in 2005 and started my career in a local primary care practice. I loved my first job as an RVN but after 2 years I was looking to progress my career and took the leap into referral nursing by joining the team at AMVS.
The standard of nursing was incredible, and I learnt so much, gaining my GradDip VN qualification and felt lucky to be part of such an amazing team, I was the eighth RVN to join, and there are over 60 in our team now!
I remember scrubbing up for my first thoracotomy and holding a lung lobe in between my fingers, and from that moment I was hooked on all things surgical, even more so in my first TPLO, developing a passion for orthopaedics. After that moment I didn’t stop reading up on all things orthopaedic! My experience and knowledge expanded, and I was deputy head of orthopaedics within 5 years of being at AMVS.
In 2012, I felt ready for another direction in my career and with a heavy heart took the brave decision to leave the team I loved at AMVS. I moved into a management role in a primary care practice as their Head Nurse and gained the valuable management experience I wanted.
In 2014 I re-joined AMVS as Nurse Manager (now Head of Nursing Services), a wonderful combination of the things I love with referral nursing and management. I love being at AMVS and have the absolute pleasure of managing the truly amazing and inspiring teams of RVNs, SVNs, (Student Veterinary Nurses), PCAs (Patient Care Assistants) and Technicians.
My career has been an incredible journey so far and while it has had some ups and downs, I have learnt and continue to learn so much along the way.