Our Nursing Staff

Jess has experience in the care of a wide variety of species ranging from pelicans to turtles having spent 6 years working as a birds and exotics veterinary nurse. She brings a wealth of practical experience in medical nursing of wildlife, whether feathered, furred or scaled.

Jess’s practical experience is exceptional, having acquired amazing animal handling skills, with over 18 years hands-on veterinary nursing as well as studying for her TAFE Certificates III and IV in Veterinary Nursing.

Aside from her practical experience, Jess has an interest in animal behaviour of multiple species, with extra knowledge in the field of environmental enrichment and maximising the human-animal bond with pet ownership. Jess works alongside our vets in the area of behaviour, offering owner education in the areas such as separation anxiety and noise phobia in dogs and feather picking in birds. She has experience working with dogs with these serious behavioural problems and can certainly empathise with owners, striving to help them whenever she can.

Her years of nursing experience make her a brilliant surgical nurse and her attention to detail enable her to monitor patients undergoing anaesthesia with the highest level of care. Jess is a reassuring presence for pet owners and really loves being part of such a well-trained team at Daisy Hill Vet.

Jess has a menagerie at home, including ‘Harriet’, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, guinea pigs, birds including budgies, finches and canaries as keeping and breeding freshwater tropical fish. A true animal lover, Jess is in her dream job as a veterinary nurse, promoting responsible pet ownership whenever she can.

Jess is a weekend market goer, purchasing fresh produce direct from farmers and lives very much the outdoor lifestyle. Her residence backs onto a wildlife corridor where she regularly enjoys the Daisy Hill Forest walking tracks.

Brittany is an experienced veterinary nurse with over 11 years working in busy small animal clinics. Since joining Daisy Hill Vet in early 2023 she has become a valued member of the nursing team, known for her calm efficiency, quick thinking and genuine care for the animals she looks after.

Brittany enjoys the wide range of cases seen in general practice and particularly likes caring for and monitoring hospital patients. She takes great pride in supporting pets through illness or injury and seeing them return home feeling comfortable and well again.

Originally from Sydney, Brittany spent time moving between Queensland and New South Wales before settling permanently in the local area. Before beginning her veterinary nursing career she worked at a petting zoo, where she quickly discovered that working with animals was exactly where she wanted to be.

Animals are a big part of Brittany’s life outside of work as well. She volunteers her time assisting foster dogs and rescue groups, something she finds incredibly rewarding. At home she shares her life with her husband and their pets, including two domestic shorthair cats, Lana and Calvin, Toby the Husky cross American Staffy, and Frank, a cheeky Chihuahua who recently joined the family. When she is not at the clinic, Brittany can often be found playing soccer for her local club.

Nikola joined the Daisy Hill Vet team in 2020 and is a highly valued and experienced veterinary nurse with a strong interest in surgical and emergency care. She is confident in fast-paced environments and enjoys the variety and clinical challenge that veterinary nursing brings.

Her love of animals began early, with regular visits to a family friend’s farm and later volunteering on a range of rural properties. These experiences helped shape her calm, capable approach and reinforced her desire to build a career working closely with animals.

Some of Nikola’s most memorable moments as a nurse include assisting in the successful treatment of a pygmy goat following a dog attack, and supporting complex abdominal surgery for a dog with an intestinal obstruction. She values the teamwork, problem-solving and attention to detail required in challenging cases.

Outside of the clinic, Nikola enjoys staying active and has always had a strong interest in sport. Maintaining balance and wellbeing is important to her and reflects the steady, reliable presence she brings to her work.

Nikola loves spending time at the beach with her husband, their young son and their German Shepherd, Kaiser. Known for her positive attitude and willingness to support others, Nikola plays an important role in maintaining a strong team culture and is greatly appreciated by both colleagues and clients.

Maddie has been a breath of fresh air since joining Daisy Hill Vet at the end of 2022. Her enthusiasm and drive as a young veterinary nurse are backed by her Certificate IV qualification, and her friendly nature and natural aptitude for the role have quickly made her a valued member of the team.

Maddie works alongside our veterinarians in all aspects of the practice but particularly enjoys caring for our hospital patients during their treatment and recovery. In her short career so far she has already been exposed to a wide variety of cases, approaching each with skill, care and composure. Her empathetic nature and lifelong experience with animals also help her offer reassurance and practical support to pet owners.

Working with animals was always part of Maddie’s future. Growing up caring for and riding her family’s horses, she quickly realised that horses often have a talent for finding trouble and need plenty of veterinary attention. After watching many vet visits to care for the horses, Maddie completed work experience at a veterinary clinic in Grade 10, which confirmed her decision to pursue veterinary nursing.

Maddie has quite the collection of animals at home, including five horses — former racehorse Jake, competition horse Ella, sassy pony Molly, older statesman Buddy and Shetland pony Friday. They are joined by two cats, Harley and Milo, and the newest addition to the family, a German Shepherd puppy named Winnie.

Outside of work Maddie spends much of her time riding Jake and Ella, competing in show jumping and eventing competitions, or enjoying time with her family.

Rhiannon joined Daisy Hill Vet as a locum nurse and very quickly became a permanent member of the team. From the outset, she felt like a natural fit within the clinic and with our clients, and we were delighted to have her stay on in a full-time role.

Rhiannon began her veterinary career at the RSPCA, where she worked as a kennel hand for 2½ years while completing her veterinary nursing studies. After graduating in 2024, she moved into a small animal clinic where she further developed her nursing skills and ran puppy preschool classes. Rhiannon particularly enjoys helping new pet owners, taking the time to explain veterinary advice in a clear, reassuring and practical way.

Rhiannon enjoys the variety that comes with veterinary nursing, with no two days in the clinic ever quite the same. Her calm communication style and thoughtful approach help both patients and their owners feel at ease, even on busy days.

Outside the clinic, she keeps active playing touch football and netball and loves spending time with her 10-year-old German shepherd, Harper. With a lifelong family love of the breed, it’s little surprise that Harper has followed suit.

Rhiannon’s genuine care for animals and people alike makes her a trusted and valued member of our nursing team.

Darci joined our practice back in 2022 as a student veterinary nurse and now after graduating with a Bachelor of Veterinary Technology from the University of Queensland has joined our team as a fully-fledged veterinary nurse.

We keep Darci very busy as part of our nurse rotation, moving between surgery tasks, hospital tasks and working as a float nurse. Darci’s typical day is jam-packed as she seamlessly transitions from assisting our veterinarians to caring for our patients.

You’ll find Darci busily admitting patients for surgery, preparing instruments, dispensing medication, caring for our hospital patients and discharging patients when they are ready to go home.  Darci also conducts nurse consultations such as providing dental health checks, pre-surgery checks, and every now and again turns her many skills to our reception desk too.

With all that variety, it’s difficult to choose a favourite area of work, but for Darci it’s the autonomy and trust given to her by our veterinarians on the days she works on surgery rotation.

Darci also can’t choose between cats and dogs as her favourite and finds it a bit like comparing apples to oranges. She does find that cats are a little misunderstood sometimes. They can’t fool her though as she can see through their tough personas to the sweetness underneath.

No doubt that’s in part due to her own two cats at home Poe and Tato, a rag doll X and domestic shorthair.

When not in our clinic you’ll find Darci with her nose in a book, with mysteries being her novel of choice. She’s also a Swifty and travelled all the way to Sydney to see her favourite artist perform live (and yes, it lived up to the hype).

Maree joined Daisy Hill as a senior nurse on a maternity cover contract, and we loved her so much we created a position for her so she could stay!

Maree brings as wealth of experience to the team, including experience working in the UK in both Oxford and London, and in specialist, emergency and university settings.

While she tends to favour cats, she doesn’t let this on to the dogs, with all our patients enjoying the same high level of care when they come in to see her. In fact, it’s the wide variety of interesting cases that keeps Maree excited about coming to work each day.

Maree also invests a lot of time keeping up to date on emerging treatments for diseases, ensuring she can provide the best possible care to her patients.
At home, Maree has a menagerie of animals including a Norwegian Forest rescue cat called Fraulein Treacle and three chickens – Meghan (a Sussex breed – we see what you did there Maree!), Ozzie (an Australoup), and Henrietta, a Hamburg/Ameraucana who is supposed to lay green eggs…but does not.

Rhea is often one of the first people our clients speak to or see when they contact or visit Daisy Hill Vet. As part of our reception team, she plays an important role in keeping the clinic running smoothly while making sure clients feel welcomed and supported from the moment they arrive.

Currently studying veterinary nursing, Rhea brings a calm, organised and caring approach to even the busiest clinic days. She is known for her friendly manner and strong communication skills, helping to coordinate appointments, support the veterinary team and ensure clients feel informed and reassured.

Rhea’s background in customer service has given her a natural ability to juggle the many moving parts of a busy practice, and she takes pride in helping both clients and staff throughout the day.

Outside the clinic, Rhea and her partner shares their home with five cats and a very patient dog, giving her a genuine understanding of pet ownership and the strong bond people share with their animals.

The Daisy Hill Vet team are excited to welcome Sheryl to our team as our resident puppy preschool trainer. Sheryl joins the team with a wealth of training experience having been the Head Puppy Instructor at a Logan dog obedience club for the past 2 years.

Sheryl loves to teach puppy parents how to use positive training techniques to encourage their puppy to become a confident, happy and stable companion, as well as an important member of their family.

Sheryl was born in New Zealand, but grew up in the local Logan area and has owned pets all her life, including horses, dogs, cats and budgies. In addition to her knowledge with puppies, Sheryl is skilled in being a strong leader for large breed boisterous dogs and assisting their development, through her own fostering experience. She also creates environmental enrichment strategies for dogs because, in Sheryl’s words, “Give your dog a job or they become self-employed leading to all sorts of trouble!”

Sheryl has completed a lot of additional study in dog training, having completed a Certificate in Dog Psychology and training and is looking forward to attending the annual Aggression in Dogs Conference.

Sheryl is thrilled to have joined the a dynamic team at Daisy Hill Vet and is delighted to be taking the Puppy Preschool Classes, which will enable her to share her knowledge with the local community to give puppies the best start in life.

Described by her peers as patient yet energetic, in her spare time, Sheryl loves mountain-biking, trail-running and indoor rock climbing and has recently started learning to play the cello. Sheryl has two dogs acquired from Big Paws Dog Rescue, Cruz, a Mastiff cross who weighs over 60kg, and Penny, a Bull Arab cross.