Ms Kerry Melville

Veterinary Nurse

Biography

Background

I started my veterinary nursing career in 1996, spending 6 years in private practice progressing from trainee to head nurse, qualifying in 1999. In 2002 I spent a year in Australia where I was a nanny for 4 months in Brisbane and as a treatment room nurse for 6 months at Sydney University Veterinary Hospital. On my return to Scotland I worked at Glasgow University Veterinary School working as a medicine nurse.

In 2005 and 2007 I volunteered for a Cheetah conservation charity in South Africa, hand rearing cubs to become ambassador cats and working with the adult cats and the public to raise awareness.

I continued to work in private practice part time whilst undertaking the top up veterinary nursing degree at Edinburgh Napier University in 2005. After gaining my BSc (Hons) I studied for a masters in Wildlife biology and conservation spending 6 weeks in the summer of 2009 in South Africa working with a translocation team collecting data for my dissertation. Title: Springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis) physiological reaction to capture, handling and chemical sedation for translocation.

I started working at the Dick vet hospital for small animals in 2009 first as a locum then as 13 hour nurse working predominantly in the ICU. In 2015 I become a part time lecturer on the Level 3 Diploma veterinary nursing course at Edinburgh College, transferring to the SRUC in 2016. I continue to work 2 days a week in the medicine department covering nights and weekends when needed. I enjoy the balance of my two roles. I feel my nursing role makes me a better lecturer and my lecturing role makes me a better nurse.

I rescued a big ginger cat in January 2017, I named him Angus, and he thinks he’s a dog but is scared of the window cleaner. He’s a very chatty cat and gives great snuggles.

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