Vet nurses up for awards

THEY say it’s a dog eat dog world but not so for veterinary nurses Bev Truss and Nicola Kildea. The colleagues and good friends, who work at Charles Kenny’s on Carmody Street, have both been nominated in the same category for the Irish Veterinary Nurses Association’s annual Veterinary Nurse of the Year award. However, while they are both up for the award, the pair insist there is no rivalry between them.
Bev explained that each month, nominations are made in three categories, veterinary nurse of the year, student veterinary nurse of the year and support staff. Each month, a nomination in each category is then chosen to go onto the finals, with the winners announced at a gala dinner at the IVNA congress in May.
“We don’t know who nominated us. The IVNA just send you an email to say you’ve been nominated and there’s definitely no rivalry between us.
“This is huge, we’re absolutely thrilled folk would go out of their way to nominate us, especially when there are so many other veterinary nurses out there who do a fantastic job,” said Bev.
Bev has been a veterinary nurse for 25 years, while Nicola has been doing the job for five years and their love of animals extends outside of work. Bev is a qualified companion animal behaviourist, founder member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers Ireland, runs canine first aid and works a lot with wildlife.
Nicola meanwhile, does pet sitting and helps Bev with her charitable work and with the first aid classes, the only classes of their kind accredited by the Veterinary Council in Ireland.
When asked what it is about the job that is so special, Nicola said, “It’s great to be taking care of animals and to know that we’re doing all we can for them.”
While they don’t know why they were nominated, Bev said she believes the vet’s clients appreciate all they do for the animals.
“People that are coming in here, they know that we’re here for their animals. We even wear treat pouches so the minute they come in they are all getting treats and cuddles. I think that it just helps people to be able to see the animals are all part of the family here. For instance, we can get puppies that are nervous when they come in and we invite owners to bring them in for maybe five minutes to just sit down in the waiting room. We make it a happy time for the puppies and we don’t charge for that.”
Nicola added, “We want the animals to be happy coming in the door, we want their tails to be wagging and we don’t want them afraid.”
Bev went on, “Folk know that they can come in and talk to me or Nicola any time. We give a lot of support, we do bereavement counselling and people know if something bad happens, they can come in and cry their eyes out and we don’t judge.
“I think you’ve got to be a people person to be able to do this job, you can’t just love animals. I just love seeing folks smiling and happy, for instance, if somebody brings in an animal that might have been knocked down and all bloody but a week later they go home fine.”
This year at the IVNA Annual Veterinary Nurses Congress will be the third annual Veterinary Nurse Awards and nominations can still be made for the awards by logging into www.ivna.ie. According to the IVNA, “All veterinary nurses and support staff deal with many difficult and challenging tasks while in practice. This in itself deserves an award.
“However, there are occasions where nurses go above and beyond the call of duty to ensure their patients and clients receive the utmost of special care and attention. Should you know someone who has made a contribution, which you think deserves recognition, nominate them for an award. The contribution can be an outstanding one or a simple gesture, which you feel made a big difference to their patients, clients or practice team.”
The closing date for entries is April 30, with the winners in each category announced at the IVNA Congress in May.