Head Nurse - Lead, Grow & Care with Roundwood Vets, London.

Applications are invited to join an independent, team-focused practice in North West London as the Head Vet Nurse and continue the important work of delivering outstanding care sustainably.

 

About Us
Roundwood Vets is a place where pets live well, and people thrive. We exist to support and enrich the lives of the pets and the families we serve. In doing so, we provide a workplace where our teammates do work they enjoy in a practice they feel proud to be a part of.

 

We’ve been on quite a journey since taking over nine years ago when there was just one vet and a trainee nurse! Since then, we’ve grown to become a team of more than fourteen people and are on course to accomplish our future objectives. Top of this list is our drive to improve efficiency and integration within the team. To that end, we will be reviewing and remodelling our workflows to ensure that our vet nurses are working on high-value actions and not wasting their time on low-value
tasks that the support team can handle.
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Over the coming 12-24 months, we anticipate completely evolving the way we work so that we move away from the old and inefficient vet-centric model that has held nurses back for decades. But to accomplish this we are going to need a head nurse
who is also excited about doing things differently.

 

Roundwood is culturally different to many other clinics. As a smaller independent practice, we have the freedom to live and breathe our values. Unlike corporately owned practices where values are set by distant people who may never have worked clinically, our vision and values were co-created by the team who work here. Those values are conscientiousness, honesty, teamwork, fun, kindness & growth. We used these values to guide our decisions and interactions with each other, our clients and everyone associated with our practice each day.

 

We have a tight knit team who are all pulling in the same direction to accomplish our mission. Here are some things teammates, past and present, have said about us:

 

“I've really loved my time at Roundwood Vets. The team here are fantastic. I've learned so much. I came here as a new grad, and I feel like my skills have just evolved ten times. But my favourite aspect of working here is definitely the team. I feel like I've really made friends here.”. El, RVN

 

“I loved being a receptionist at RV because no day was the same, but each day you go home satisfied that you really helped someone. The team at RV are like family, and they treat their patients and clients as such.” Ola CC

 

“I love working in a team who are passionate about everything they do and management that appreciates their staff, are supportive and help me to grow” Kenzie, RVN

 

You can also find independent reviews on our Indeed company page :)

 

In terms of what we are like as a clinical practice, we think of ourselves as being a bit like a family doctor. We are definitely here to help the local community and their pets. We believe in giving clients the time and attention they need to make good decisions for their pets and in building strong relationships with clients and each other. We also believe in the spectrum of care, not just gold standard care, and we work collaboratively with our families to help them arrive at the best choices for their pets.

 

And most importantly for the future, we are now moving into a new phase of our learning how to do vet med where all of the roles are going evolve, and we’re going to be working in a far more efficient and integrated way. We’ve not figured all of this out yet, so we’re going to need the help of our Head Nurse to make this a reality. But it is going to be a lot of fun doing it. And it’s going to change the way vet med is done here forever and for the better.

 

Before we talk about you, we wanted to highlight one more thing that helps to demonstrate our commitment to our team. We operate a team EMI share option scheme, which means in return for your hard work, you will receive share options in the practice. While others sold out to corporate medicine, we believed this model was a better and fairer way forward. One that helps preserve our culture and ensure everyone benefits in the long run.

 

But more on that when we meet. Let’s talk about you and the role.

 

About You
You’ll be a qualified veterinary nurse who has also gained leadership experience. This might be a first year under your belt, or it might be you’ve worked for several years in a similar role.

 

You are comfortable with the clinical aspects of care; however, you have a keen sense of wanting to keep progressing and are the type of person who likes to keep learning.

 

One of the things that you will have discovered about yourself is how much you enjoy helping others to develop skills and you take joy in seeing your colleagues flourish, growth like this isn’t threatening to you because you have learned that as a leader, one of the best things you can accomplish is helping others to become the best version of themselves. You get that this is the way great teams are formed. To that end, mentoring others is a joy, whether it’s coaching people through their coursework and OSCEs, or helping them to take on their next challenge.

 

You’re an organised person who loves a good process or system to help keep things running smoothly, in fact, checklists are something you swear by. Process, protocol and a smooth running day are things that fit together for you, like tea and biscuits. We’re faced with an incredible pace of technological advancement in practice today, and for some, that’s too much, but not you. You are curious and fascinated by things like artificial intelligence and the way they might transform work. In fact, those two words are words that describe your approach to many challenges - curious and fascinated. Things tend not to get you down, or seem like insurmountable hurdles, instead they are obstacles to overcome. You have tenacity, perseverance and willingness to try new things.

 

You have what some would describe as a growth mindset - one that wants to keep learning and push yourself further. People tend to trust you as a friend and colleague because you are genuine in your dealing with others, someone who doesn't have a hidden agenda. You’re a great listener and someone who tends not to go off ‘half-cocked’. You are able to manage your emotions and help others to do the same. You can give feedback, even though it might not be your favourite thing, and crucially, you are able to receive it too. The same goes for praise.

You’re also a fun person to spend time around. Not because you endlessly crack jokes, but because people understand that you care about them and you make them feel good about themselves. All in all, you’re a pretty amazing person.

 

The Role & Responsibilities
As the Head Nurse you’ll have some important areas of responsibility which will contribute hugely to the practice performance each year. Some of those are:

● Leadership and day-to-day management of the nursing team
● Working as part of the senior leadership team to envisage and integrate nursing roles into our new workflow processes
● Training, mentoring and coaching of the nursing team so their skills and knowledge are top-notch and used each day.
● Delivery of patient care as part of the team

● Care and maintenance of clinical and laboratory equipment
● Working alongside the practice manager to ensure medicines and consumables are ready for use.
● Contributing to the annual practice budget
● Contributing to the strategic planning meetings each quarter
● Upholding and advancing our standards of clinical operations and care.
● Efficiently managing resources so the work goes ahead safely and on time.
● Creating and maintaining a stress-free, comfortable environment for our patients.
● Ensuring our clinic's environment upholds the highest hygiene standards.
● Helping develop and implement our ‘Whole team’ level of care rather than vet vet-centric style which means only vets get to do the interesting stuff.

 

But perhaps more important than the role specifics, we look for three big things in
our teammates above all else:

1. Do you get what we’re trying to accomplish, and are you excited to help us make it
happen? (We are excited about our vision, and we know that we can only realise it if
everyone on the team buys in.)

2. Are you enthusiastic about your job and the challenges that lie in wait? (We want
to spend time with positive people who are fun to spend time with.)

3. Do you have the skills or at least the desire and ability to learn how to do this role?
(Talent shines and we need your skills to make this plan happen - we have lots to
both learn and teach each other.)

Qualifications & Experience Needed
You will ideally bring:

● Minimum of 4 years of clinical experience in small animal practice. 12 months of which will have been in a leadership role.
● RVN - legally able to work in the UK.
● A passion for teaching/mentoring.
● An openness to new ideas and ways of doing things.
● A growth mindset.

If you don’t feel like you are the finished article, please do not be put off. None of us are! We will teach you anything you don’t already know.

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Your working hours are between 8am - 8pm Monday to Friday and 8am -12.30pm on a Saturday Rota, you can choose between a 4 or 5 day working week.

 

In return, we offer you a competitive salary of £34,000.00 - £38,000 pro rata (to command the upper end of this salary, you will need to demonstrate strong past leadership skills and experience), 5 weeks holiday (plus all bank holidays and your
birthday off). In addition, you can choose from our flexible perks package - whatever suits you. That will be either medical insurance, an extra week of holiday or a chunky increase in your CPD budget.

All of the team are eligible to receive both share options in the practice and a profit share bonus.

So what are you waiting for? Step into a role where you can truly lead, make a difference and be part of something special.

Apply now by sending your CV and a cover letter to nikki@roundwoodvets.co.uk explaining why you are excited about this role – let’s write the next chapter of your story together.

Reference ID: HVNRV