Our Nursing Staff

With over 20 years’ experience as a veterinary nurse, Tammy’s knowledge and expertise as well as her ability to successfully mentor her veterinary nursing team make her the ideal head nurse for our practice.

Tammy grew up on a dairy farm in country Queensland and has always had a love for animal care. Her initial experience in a customer care position and her veterinary nursing qualifications have enabled her to excel in managing her nursing team in an effective manner to maximise animal welfare. She has a mentoring role for the younger veterinary nurses and is a particularly organised person, which is essential in ensuring all patients hospitalised receive optimal care.

We are very lucky to have such an incredible nurse leading our team as she is constantly teaching the gold standards of care of animals in the veterinary setting. This has led to a follow-on effect of talent in our wonderful team of nurses who support the vets in their role.

Tammy’s areas of interest include orthopaedic surgical nursing, alongside head vet Dr Julian Nalliah, rehabilitation and recovery nursing as well as canine behaviour. Tammy currently runs our Daisy Hill Puppy School, which teaches owners how to get their pups socialised and settled in within a safe environment.

Tammy has a calming presence, even when faced with animal emergencies, as well as being an active problem solver within the practice. She is always happy to go out of her way to help our clients and their pets even with the trickiest of queries.

Outside of the vet practice, Tammy enjoys Pilates, dog-walking, jet-skiing and bushwalking. Tammy shares her life with her husband, two children and her beloved dogs “Ollie”, a miniature Schnauzer and “Tucker”, a miniature long-haired Dachshund.

Nikola joined the Daisy Hill Veterinary Clinic team in September 2020 after pursuing her veterinary nursing training through the Animal Industry Resource Centre (AIRC). Since then, she has completed 18 months clinical experience in veterinary practice and has a passion for surgical and emergency veterinary nursing.

Nikola’s affinity with animals developed as a 6-year-old when she regularly enjoyed visits to a family friend’s farm. Nikola’s love for animals continued to grow as she was drawn to the country-side, volunteering on various farms while growing up. She followed her dream to pursue a career working with animals and is thrilled to be now working at Daisy Hill Vet, a team she describes as genuinely kind, where the patients and clients always come first.

Particular veterinary nursing memories in her career so far that stand out include; saving a pygmy goat that was attacked by a dog, as well as assisting with surgery on a dog who had eaten a bone covered in gladwrap which had lodged in the small intestine. Nikola loves the exciting nature of the veterinary work.

Nikola’s outside interests include training at least 3 times per week for the Women’s Premier League Soccer team, as well as competing in mixed basketball and rugby tournaments. No doubt her endurance training for the sports she excels in will compliment the fast-paced nature of veterinary practice.

Nikola absolutely loves the beach and this is where you will find her, often with her 3 dogs ‘Buddy’, the Tibetan Mastiff cross German Shepherd, ‘Jager’ a long-haired German Shepherd and ‘Kaiser’, a short-haired German Shepherd. As you can see, Nikola has a particular love for German Shepherds! In addition to her dogs, Nikola also keeps her two pet Belted Galloway steers that she hand-reared called ‘Angus’ and ‘Wilbur’ on the 30-acre property in Mount Cotton where she lives, as well as chickens and geese.

Nikola’s ability to keep a positive morale in the clinic and aiming to assist other staff members wherever she can make her an extremely valued member of the team and we welcome her whole-heartedly.

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 10 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 hit the ground running when she joined our practice in early 2023. Qualified as a Certificate IV Vet Nurse, she brings with her eight years’ experience working in busy vet clinics. A quick thinker, who likes to go above and beyond, Brittany is thriving in our clinic, offering exceptional care and expertise to our patients and their owners.

Brittany particularly enjoys the wide range of cases we see at Daisy Hill Vet and is able to easily manage our busy days with patience, efficiency and care. She enjoys caring for and monitoring our hospital patients, taking great pleasure and pride in seeing them back to full health after illness or injury.

Originally hailing from Sydney, Brittany moved back and forth between Queensland and New South Wales a couple of times before finally settling in the local area. Now firmly entrenched in the local community, Brittany is pleased to call Queensland home. Prior to becoming a vet nurse, Brittany’s first role was working at a petting zoo, proving her mettle by working with both children and animals, a challenging combination we’re sure! Thankfully, Brittany’s love for animals won out, and a successful career as a vet nurse has followed.

Animals dominate Brittany’s life outside of work too, as she volunteers her time to work with foster dogs and private rescues. Brittany immensely enjoys her volunteer work and the difference she can make to the animals she helps to rehome. In her own home she has two domestic shorthair cats Lana and Calvin, and one dog, Toby, a Huskie X American Staffie. Brittany can also be found chasing the round ball on the weekends, playing soccer for her local club.

Maddie has been a breath of fresh air since her arrival at Daisy Hill Vet at the end of 2022. Maddie’s enthusiasm and drive as a young vet nurse is backed up by her Certificate IV qualification. Her affable nature and an aptitude for her work have already made her a valuable addition to the team.

Maddie works alongside our vets in all aspects of our practice, but particularly enjoys working with our hospital patients, caring for them during their treatment and recovery. In her short career so far, Maddie has already been exposed to a wide variety of cases, treating patients with skill, care and composure. Her empathetic nature and extensive experience with animals at home helps her offer advice, reassurance and support to owners.

Working with animals was in Maddie’s future from a very young age. Caring for and riding her family’s horses as a child, Maddie quickly realised that horses often hurt themselves, requiring significant care and attention. After observing many vet visits to tend to her family’s horses, Maddie undertook work experience at a vet clinic in grade 10, sealing her fate as a future vet nurse.

Maddie has a formidable line-up of animals at home including five horses, former racehorse Jake, competition horse Ella, sassy pony Molly, older statesman Buddy and Shetland pony Friday. The horses are joined by two cats, Harley and Milo and the latest addition, a six month old German Shepherd puppy called Winnie.

In her spare time, Maddie can be found with Jake and Ella, competing in show jumping and venting competitions, or spending time with her family.

Lauren was originally employed as a locum veterinary nurse but after realising her incredible talent in the field of intensive care nursing, was offered a permanent position with the Daisy Hill Vet team.

Lauren’s beautiful childhood dog, a Border Collie called ‘Angel’, was her soul-mate growing up and her motivation for pursuing her veterinary nursing career.

After completing her Certificate IV in Veterinary Nursing studies, Lauren worked in private practice and then was offered a prestigious position in emergency medicine with the Queensland Veterinary Specialists (QVS) in an ICU role. Managing critical patients is second nature to Lauren and in particular, her caseload included managing animals undergoing emergency splenectomy, blood transfusions and complex medical cases.

As a team player, the experience that Lauren has had in specialty intensive care nursing has enabled these skills to be continued in her nursing role at Daisy Hill Vet, where the vets place tremendous trust in her ability to love and care for sick pets on a daily basis.

Lauren is studying pathology and phlebotomy part-time, which adds to her medical nursing knowledge, as well as her ability to accurately locate tiny veins even on the smallest kittens and puppies.

Lauren’s areas of interest include imaging (both radiography and ultrasound) as well as the pathophysiology of disease. Problem solving is in her nature and this skill is vital when taking care of in-patients as a veterinary nurse. Her goal is to achieve the best outcome for the animals she looks after and being part of the team at Daisy Hill Vet has been a rewarding experience.

Being a keen traveller, Lauren has spent 12 months exploring the globe, including Canada, Cuba, Panama and Columbia. She enjoys learning about different cultures and attending live music concerts in her spare time.

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.