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In this episode we meet Emma Ruggles RVN CertVNECC APVN (Wildlife and Zoo Animals) L3CertSAHydro.
Emma has worked in the veterinary industry for 10 years and qualified as a registered veterinary nurse in 2016, and has always had a passion for small ...
In this episode we meet Emma Ruggles RVN CertVNECC APVN (Wildlife and Zoo Animals) L3CertSAHydro.
Emma has worked in the veterinary industry for 10 years and qualified as a registered veterinary nurse in 2016, and has always had a passion for small animal emergency and critical care and wildlife conservation. After 1 year of working as an RVN in practice she started the CertVNECC qualification, and became a Locum RVN as of June 2018. Since then as well as working as a locum across the UK in both referral and general practice, they have travelled/worked and volunteered abroad in South Africa, the Cook Islands, Australia and most recently Thailand with the Wildlife Friends Foundation.
Emma was interested in diversifying their nursing career and so undertook 6 months training and then qualified as a Canine Hydrotherapist in March 2022. Emma loves the consistency of investing in your patients and seeing them back for regular therapy sessions, forming a connection with the animal and the client as well. It is so rewarding to see your patient make positive progress with a rehab plan that you put in place. Emma continues to learn a lot about hydrotherapy and truly believes it is a key step in improving the welfare/wellbeing of the patients we see in practice.
Clients are seeking surgical alternatives and/or they invest in surgery and want to achieve the best possible recovery for their pet and so will seek a programme of aftercare and rehabilitation. Conditions such as osteoarthritis and management of the geriatric patient are being more widely discussed amongst clients and with that the rehab sector can work with the vet and owner to provide the best possible care plan for management of these patients.
Further information*
Canine Arthritis Management – information and resources on caring for your arthritic dog, courses, and products for both pet owners and veterinary professionals.
Canine Arthritis Management – Arthritis in Dogs
Blue Bear Animal Rehabilitation – Copford in Colchester Essex
Home | Colchester | Blue Bear Animal Rehabilitation
Hydrotherapy training
Courses | K9HS Courses | Canine Hydrotherapy Courses
BVNA Article on Running Senior Pet clinics in practice.
Canine Hydrotherapy Association – providing more information on Canine Hydrotherapy and its benefits.
Canine Hydrotherapy Association - Canine Hydrotherapy Association (canine-hydrotherapy.org)
National Association of Registered Canine Hydrotherapists - providing more information on Canine Hydrotherapy and its benefits
NARCH | National Association of Registered Canine Hydrotherapists - About Us
Ruggles, E. (2023) Alongside a career as a veterinary nurse – the road to patient rehabilitation. VNJ 38(5) pp 25-31.
Thanks to Girling & Fraser Ltd for enabling this podcast. If you enjoy the podcast, please follow us and subscribe to our mailing list.
*Links are provided for information purposes only. Animal Welfare Conversation does not endorse any links provided here for information.
Vet, Medical Educator, Company Director
Dr Mary Fraser BVMS MRes PhD CertVD MAcadMEd MIoD PGCHE FHEA FRSPH FRSB FRSM FRCVS
Mary has had a varied career, starting out in mixed practice, then focussing on veterinary dermatology, veterinary nursing, medical education, animal welfare, owner support and clinical decision making. She was awarded Fellowship of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in 2017 for Meritorious Contributions to Practice and is a past Chair of the RCVS Fellowship Science Advisory Panel.
Working both as a clinician and academic, Mary has a PhD in immunological aspects of canine atopic dermatitis and the RCVS Certificate in Veterinary Dermatology, worked in referral practice, and also set up her own first opinion/referral small animal practice in rural Perthshire.
In between this, she had the opportunity to work in veterinary nursing at both FE and HE levels becoming a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and Member of the Academy of Medical Educators, and alongside Simon Girling, setting up the Advanced Programme in Veterinary Nursing of Exotics a postgraduate training programme for veterinary nurses that has now been running for over 20 years and trained over 1000 vet nurses.
She is a accomplished researcher and author, with over 100 published articles, book chapters, books and papers. Areas of work include veterinary dermatology, medical education, preparing students for practice, the challenges of clinical decision making, providing better support in practice for clients with sight loss, and the application of evidence based medicine in practice.
During her ti…
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Emma has worked in the veterinary industry for 10 years and qualified as a registered veterinary nurse in 2016, and has always had a passion for small animal emergency and critical care and wildlife conservation. After 1 year of working as an RVN in practice she started the CertVNECC qualification, and became a Locum RVN as of June 2018. Since then as well as working as a locum across the UK in both referral and general practice, they have travelled/worked and volunteered abroad in South Africa, the Cook Islands, Australia and most recently Thailand with the Wildlife Friends Foundation.
Emma was interested in diversifying their nursing career and so undertook 6 months training and then qualified as a Canine Hydrotherapist in March 2022.