Lead Clinical Nurse - Chiswick
Love hands-on nursing and keeping a busy clinic running smoothly? Join Creature Comforts as Lead Clinical Nurse in a modern clinic built for happier pets and vets.
About Creature Comforts
We are rebuilding the veterinary experience from the ground up, making access to care seamless, joyful, and genuinely personal for every pet and their owner.
With beautifully designed clinics and purpose-built technology, we are transforming how veterinary care is accessed and delivered. Our clinics combine modern design with first-class clinical care, creating spaces that vet teams, clients, and pets genuinely want to be in.
Our purpose is simple: healthier, happier pets and vets. We believe in a model that benefits everyone: our clinical teams, our members, our local communities, and our investors. That means competitive compensation, sensible caseloads, genuine career development, and a culture where people feel supported to do their best work.
We are building the vet group of the future. If you share our passion for doing things differently, we would love to hear from you.
Role Overview
As Lead Clinical Nurse, you will be the go-to nurse for the smooth day-to-day running of your clinic. You will own ordering and stock management, coordinate the daily flow of nursing work, and set the standard for clinical nursing care on the floor. You understand and are passionate about what Creature Comforts is building, and you promote this to your team and clients.
Reporting to the Practice Director, you will work closely with them to keep the clinic running efficiently, raising any people, performance, or operational issues early. This role does not carry line management responsibility or ownership of clinic KPIs; your focus is on clinical standards, organisation, and making sure the team has what it needs to deliver excellent care every day.
Key Responsibilities
Clinical Excellence
Understand and implement all clinical practice protocols, maintaining the highest standards of nursing care
Take an active part in clinical duties for approximately 80% of your working hours
Lead team communications, ensuring all protocols and new guidance are shared and understood
Lead and manage the nurse consult rota and the delivery of nurse consultations
Ensure accurate patient record keeping and that all patient care instructions are followed by the nursing team
Implement and maintain RCVS Practice Standards Scheme and ISFM standards across the practice
Use and promote VetSafe reporting to target training and maintain a no-blame learning culture
Clinical Coaching (if applicable)
Support nursing students by keeping your clinical coaching qualification current (annual standardisation) in clinics where SVNs are employed
Make time for SVN practical skills development, including NPL and e-portfolio tasks on the rota
Ensure SVNs have a clear development plan, with regular opportunities to ask questions and reflect on their progress
Day-to-Day Running and Team Coordination
Lead by example, always promoting the culture and ethos of Creature Comforts
Coordinate the daily running of the nursing team, allocating tasks across consults, theatre, wards, and kennels so the day runs smoothly
Run daily team huddles, making sure everyone knows the plan for the day and any changes to protocols or guidance
Act as the first point of contact for the nursing team on shift, resolving day-to-day issues and escalating to the Practice Director where needed
Support the induction and clinical training of new nursing team members, in line with plans agreed with the Practice Director
Foster a culture of respect, inclusion, and psychological safety that is open, honest, and no-blame
Advocate for team wellbeing, identifying issues early and raising them with the Practice Director
Discuss estimates with clients confidently and support the nursing team to do the same consistently
Promote membership to clients as part of everyday care conversations
Share feedback on team members’ clinical skills and development with the Practice Director to support 1:1s and performance reviews
Ordering and Stock Management
Own ordering of drugs, consumables, and clinical supplies, maintaining appropriate stock levels so the clinic never runs short
Manage stock rotation, expiry dates, and regular stock takes, minimising waste and write-offs
Maintain the controlled drugs register and ensure safe storage and handling of all medicines in line with VMD and RCVS requirements
Build good working relationships with wholesalers and suppliers, resolving delivery and supply issues promptly
Order within the budget set by the Practice Director, flagging any unusual spend or supply issues
Compliance and Governance
Ensure all equipment is appropriately maintained and serviced, keeping service records up to date
Report and summarise critical incidents in line with the Practice Clinical Governance Policy
Ensure GDPR compliance and confidentiality across all clinical and business information
Be fully aware of all Health & Safety requirements and support the nursing team to meet them
Requirements
Essential
Registered Veterinary Nurse (RVN)
Minimum 4 years of clinical nursing experience in veterinary practice
Experience coordinating a clinical team or acting as a senior nurse on shift
Experience of ordering and stock control
RCVS code of conduct
Confident IT user across clinical and practice management platforms
Excellent verbal and written communication
Self-motivated and self-directed
Strong time management and organisation
Confident leading and coordinating a team on shift
High emotional intelligence
Attention to detail
Committed to continuous learning
Integrity and honesty
Ability to multitask effectively
Fair, kind, and inclusive approach
Proactive about improving how the clinic runs
Desirable
Training, coaching, or clinical mentoring experience
Experience with veterinary wholesaler ordering platforms
Mental health first-aid qualification
Certificate in a clinical area (e.g. emergency and critical care, anaesthesia, oncology, feline nursing)
Clinical coaching qualification (relevant for practices with SVNs)
Internal medicine or advanced nursing qualification
Stock management and wholesaler systems
Health & Safety
GDPR
VetSafe
Logical and pragmatic approach to problem solving
What We Offer
200 hours’ annual leave plus bank holidays, and your birthday off after one year’s service
Salary sacrifice pension scheme (5% employee, 3% employer contribution)
£750 CPD budget and 3 days CPD leave per year
Access to our healthcare incentive after one year of employment
Genuine career progression as we grow across London and beyond
A supportive, inclusive culture where your development is taken seriously
Regular team and company social events
Upon successful completion of your probationary period, you may become eligible to participate in the Creature Comforts share options scheme, subject to the scheme rules and eligibility criteria in place at the time
The opportunity to be part of something genuinely different in veterinary care
Employee Assistance Programme and Mental Health First Aiders
Free snacks and lunch in clinic
Monthly peer recognition schemes
Celebrating clinic milestones
Health & Safety
All employees are required to be fully aware of Creature Comforts’ Health & Safety policies and procedures, and to actively contribute to maintaining a safe and compliant working environment for colleagues, clients, and patients.
Equal Opportunities
At Creature Comforts, we believe the best teams are built from diverse perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences. We are committed to creating an environment where everyone feels genuinely welcome, respected, and able to do their best work, and we actively encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds. We do not discriminate on the grounds of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation..
- Department
- Clinic - Nurse
- Role
- Registered Veterinary Nurse
- Location
- Chiswick