Jess Davies

I’m particularly keen on helping them recognise anxiety and fear based behaviours and how to handle these patients in an informed, safe and low stress manner to avoid any escalation of potential aggressive behaviours which not only ensures their own safety but also improves the psychological welfare of these patients who are often highly stressed for long periods of time.

A typical day begins by assessing the case load for the day and making sure any students rotating through anaesthesia understand what their responsibilities for the day are. The nurses are responsible for the core rotation induction to the department every Monday morning during term time and we go through the basics of what they need to know and where everything is. It is also a great opportunity to let them have a chance to ask any questions or discuss anything worrying them before they are allocated cases and an anaesthetist.

The anaesthesia nurses have a varied role and depending on our rota and, aside from liaising with students, I may be responsible for working up a case, helping colleagues with inductions and recovery of their patients or trying to catch up with the never-ending admin required to keep the department running. Sometimes, we do everything all day – if it’s busy you just must try and fit it in somehow.

How did you get to where you are today and how did you land your current role? (obligatory question)

My career almost started by accident. I’m originally from Cambridge and went to school and college there. I was 22 and didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life and, whilst I was figuring it out, I was doing cash in hand work at a racing stud in Newmarket. It was here that a freak accident involving a spooked horse and my face meant I had some time whilst recovering to really think things through. Two months later I saw a post advertised as a surgical theatre assistant at the University of Cambridge Veterinary School, decided to go for it and got the job despite the fact I had no front teeth! I worked closely with the theatre and anaesthesia nurses here and the first time I had really been exposed to the Veterinary world other than GP and I decided nursing was what I wanted to do.

Cambridge University had never trained nurses before, so I lobbied the hospital manager for over a year to get the Cambridge Vet School accredited as a tier 3 hospital – something required to be considered as a nurse training practice. I thought it was important that nurses could train using the same facilities as the vet students and eventually we were awarded hospital status which meant I could apply to do NVQ Veterinary Nursing through the College of Animal Welfare whilst still working at the University to build my experience portfolio.

Once I qualified as the first Veterinary Nurse from Cambridge Vet School in 2011, I took the position of Specialist Medicine and ECC Nurse at Dick White Referrals and it was here I really learned my craft. The case load was heavy, and the nurses were given a huge amount of responsibility when it came to be helping with case management and inpatient care. I also worked with a fantastic team of vets, residents and nurses within the medicine department and really learnt what empathy, compassion and the importance of balancing ethics and welfare when it came to deciding treatment (or not) and patient care, something which has stayed with me throughout my career and really focus on when talking to students in the hospital about ethically challenging cases.

In 2015, I decided to follow my dream of travelling and working/volunteering. I ended up in Australia for over a year working in a large inner city charity hospital, Lort Smith in Melbourne which was an experience and met so many amazing people, including my buddy Brid who know also works at R(D)SVS! After Australia and more travelling, I landed on the tiny Rarotonga in the Cook Islands to volunteer for 3 months at a ramshackle charity clinic – the only one serving all 15 islands. Despite the idyllic setting and never-ending snorkelling, it was a long three months with being on call almost 24/7 – sometimes without a vet on the island which was challenging. It was here I really learnt the value of cohesive teamwork, mutual respect and to be aware of one’s limitations – something I feel wasn’t always recognised by the people running the charity. Through some very challenging times I made some amazing memories and made some lifelong friends that share them.

Upon my return to the UK, I applied for and got the job as Welfare and Anaesthesia Nurse working with the animal welfare and ethics department (JMICAWE) and my career took a different path. I was now responsible for teaching undergraduate vet students and helping to develop and deliver lectures and workshops about behaviour, ethics and welfare and handling both here in the UK and overseas with my colleagues Heather Bacon and Cathy Dwyer. A large portion of the teaching was based in Indian, Sri Lankan and Chinese vet schools to try and raise the profile of animal welfare and appropriate patient management to students and faculty which was extremely rewarding. I was also fortunate to travel and work in the Philippines, Bosnia and Vietnam with various projects.

Whilst I was most comfortable with practical teaching, the more formal classroom-based teaching aspect of this job was steep learning curve but one I thoroughly enjoyed learning about and progressing in. It wasn’t always plain sailing and I sometimes struggled with my anxiety about public speaking but with good advice and support from my colleagues I made lots of progress and received great feedback from the students. Some of my most memorable times with this job were working training vet assistants in Kerala and working with pangolins, rehabilitating baby otters and binturongs (Asian Bear Cat) rescued from the wildlife trade in Vietnam – species I never thought I would see let alone anaesthetise and nurse. After two and a half fantastic years with JMICAWE, I decided I wanted a change and focussed on anaesthesia within the HfSA and to embark on an Advanced Diploma in Applied Animal Behaviour and since January 2020 that is what I have been doing up until this point.

Tell me about a recent career setback. How did you recover?

About a year and a half ago, I lost a few people very close to me over a six-month period. The cumulative effect meant I needed to take some time out from work and, as life events have a habit of doing, it really made me assess where I was and what I was doing and if I was as happy as I could be. I realised that I needed to make some very firm changes to achieve happiness and this included a better work life balance. Lots of people talk about a good work life balance but how you achieve it is different for everybody. For me it was to reduce my hours, pick up locum shift work as an when I needed or wanted to and have some more free time to focus on my studies and allow me to settle in to my flat and get a dog. These are simple things, but I had to make a conscious effort and make some changes for me to be able to achieve them. The effect on my career wasn’t a setback as such, but I did have to make some difficult decisions and accept the change in direction that would result, something which I don’t regret.

It wasn’t only me making decisions about my career that helped me recover. The support and kindness of my close work colleagues got me through some very difficult times. I always felt I could lean on them if I wasn’t having a good day and it is only this which enabled me to carry on and progress my career in the way I have over the last 18 months. Having colleagues around you like that can make all the difference and their understanding and patience is something I will never forget.

What do you wish you had known before taking your first clinical/ academic/ teaching /management or support role?

Whilst I was starting my position within JMICAWE, I had a lot of support from people who gave great advice about tackling anxiety before giving a lecture and I wish I’d known that they were right! The mind is a tricky thing and it’s important to recognise when you need to take a step back, breath and get things in perspective.

 How did you develop the skill of speaking so engagingly in front of groups students when teaching?

I really feel that working with students in smaller groups means it is easy for me to engage and develop a conversation about eh topic rather than just speaking at them in a lecture hall. I always ask if they have any questions regularly throughout the session and try and encourage them to demonstrate skills (such as leak testing a breathing circuit) but with their fellow students directing them as to what to do next rather than putting them on the spot. I agree there is a time and place when students must be challenged and it is essential to be able to work under pressure but taking the time to build a relationship with them and make them feel supported helps significantly and I find they are often more willing to step up without feeling embarrassed or scared. Once there is a rapport with the students, it is so much easier to engage and get the best outcome from the session.