A STAMFORD BRIDGE veterinary practice has received a major boost with news that one of its nurses has gained a top qualification.

Dawn Shipley, of Battle Flatts Veterinary Clinic, in Main Street, Stamford Bridge, is one of only 15 veterinary nurses in the country to hold the diploma in advanced veterinary nursing (medical).

Dawn, who lives at Great Habton, first qualified as a veterinary nurse in 1999 and after achieving a City and Guilds qualification in small animal nutrition the following year, she decided she needed another challenge.

So Dawn embarked on the two-year diploma course, which involves writing case books covering topics from anaesthetics and radiography to pharmacology and medical nursing, as well as sitting a written examination and taking a practical examination.

Vet Michael Brash said Dawn's colleagues had not been surprised by her achievement.

He said: "She is a conscientious and diligent nurse, and we knew that all her hard work would pay off."

Dawn's success is a double boost for Battle Flatts, as the clinic's head nurse, Diana Stanton, who holds a surgical diploma, was recently voted Petplan's Veterinary Nurse of the Year.

Updated: 10:58 Monday, April 21, 2003