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Veterinary Nurse of the Year

NZVNA, in conjunction with Hill's Pet Nutrition, realise the importance of veterinary nurses. The Hill's Veterinary Nurse of the Year Award has been launched to recognise veterinary nurses who advocate and significantly contribute to the care of their patients and who are an integral part of the veterinary health care team

Congratulations to the 2018 NZVNA/HILLS VETERINARY NURSE OF THE YEAR - ELLIE CLARK

Eleanor Clark

Ellie has an infectious, bubbly personality that can fill the room, making the environment as stress free as possible for everyone around her.

Ellie creates a sense of whanau and is relentless in her ability to create that sense of belonging by knowing each pets special requirements off the top of her head and always speaking specifically to you, sometimes about little things that you randomly mentioned in past conversations.

Owners feel they can ask Ellie any question relating to their pet and she will give a caring and comprehensive answer and helping them to develop their own skills to understand and cope with their pets medical needs, breaking it down to a level that someone without medical knowledge can understand. She also goes the extra mile by checking in regularly via email with clients on top of routine follow up phone calls and checks.

One client said (para-phrasing) “Ellie does not know this but my elderly mother had an episode the same day as my consultation at The Skin Vets so I struggled to take everything in. It was because of Ellie’s follow up and care afterwards that I was able to discuss a couple of things, she never made me feel rushed or uncomfortable”.

Ellie works alongside Debbie, a solo vet at a specialist referral clinic, and she is as dedicated to the business as Debbie, working long hours while being a multi-tasking super hero.

Debbie feels that she can get through 50% more consults with Ellie there as she uses her knowledge to explain diet trials, medications etc while Debbie is busy doing cytology and writing up client plans. Ellie allows Debbie to provide a level of service that she is proud of.

Ellie is always professional and extremely friendly making the referral process as friction free as possible for the referring vets, never being condescending when she knows more than them. In fact, some vets have actually approached Ellie for advise!

Ellie continues to keep up to date with new innovative ways to improve the profession, always interested and excited about new research that is coming out as she increases her knowledge of dermatology which she then uses to help junior vet nurses and vet nursing students by being proactive in teaching, mentoring and guiding them to a high standard of vet nursing.

Having great technical knowledge and skill, Ellie has presented on-line webinars in a clear concise, logical manners which were relevant to both vets and vet nurses. Feedback includes; ‘One of the best speakers I have listened to’, ‘Interesting and entertaining’, ‘very interesting talk, learnt a lot and refreshed my knowledge in certain areas’, ‘great to have CPD from a vet nurses point of view’.

On top of all of her work, Ellie has raised money for Breast Cancer Research, incorporating some of this into CPD events. Over the last year she has raised $13,000!

Ellie has a genuine passion and love of animals which always shows in her vet nursing care and she can often be seen going the extra mile for both patients and vets.