Medical Nursing Team

Medical nursing team

From left to right: Gemma, Gayle and Louise

Gemma Wood started nursing in 1999, qualified in general practice in 2001 and is a qualified A1 assessor. She is currently taking her Dip AVN (Medical) and is waiting to sit her practical exam in April 2008. Working as a medical nurse, Gemma has plenty of opportunity to discuss advanced medical cases with the resident internal medicine specialists and has found this greater level of knowledge both stimulating and motivating in her career. To keep abreast of new developments in small animal medicine, Gemma attended the Voorjaarsdagen Congress (European Veterinary Conference) in Amsterdam in April 2007, with Louise. At home she has two cats, a Great Dane, a Yorkshire Terrier and a Border Terrier puppy called Freddie. Despite confessing to being a fair weather dog walker, most of her spare time and wages are spent on her pets.

Gayle Barrett has been nursing since 2001, qualified since 2004 and graduated with a degree in Zoology from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. Gayle has enjoyed the move from general practice to medical nursing at NKR and recently attended the 2006 American Association of Feline Practitioners Fall Conference on Feline Pain Management and Geriatrics, in Toronto. This provided an excellent opportunity to learn about cutting edge methods and drug protocols used in the U.S where veterinary medicine is currently more advanced than that provided for the most part in the UK. She enjoys her family’s two dogs, Chip and Fudge, who are working gun-dogs masquerading as extremely pampered smoochy pooches, and is devoted to her cats Plum, Saffy, Miss, Popsy Pickles and Belly Button La Squidge. Gayle has no spare time at all as she is completely dedicated to her 25 year old pony who lives in the lap of luxury, attended upon at least five times a day, every day, before and after work, ridden five times a week in all weathers, including flash flood, snow and gale force winds, and is tucked up last thing at night with a cuddle and a carrot.

Louise Read started nursing after completing her A-Levels and has 9 years' experience behind her. Louise qualified from a large general practice hospital in 2001 and began working at NKR in 2002. She is a member of the medical nursing team and has recently completed a six month Advanced Anaesthesia and Critical Care course. In 2005, Louise spent three weeks at the Amakhala Game Reserve in South Africa as a volunteer involved with vaccinating giraffe, moving and tagging buffalo and where she narrowly avoided being eaten by an over confident male lion. During April 2007 she attended the Voorjaarsdagen Congress (European Veterinary Conference) in Amsterdam. At home, Louise enjoys riding and caring for her beautiful Cleveland Bay x TB mare Cassie, and her two children Jasper and Maddison (two Labradors).