Nicola started her Dental Nursing career as a Trainee Dental Nurse at Manchester Dental Hospital in 1999, gaining her NEBDN Certificate in Dental Nursing in 2001 when she took up a permanent role in the hospital’s Restorative Department. In 2002 Nicola gained the Certificate in Dental Sedation Nursing.

In 2003, Nicola took a hiatus from Dental Nursing to work as a Technician and Supervisor in a busy Sterile Services Unit for BMI Healthcare, which at the time provided a Decontamination service for the theatre departments, endoscopy clinics, wards and suites of three BMI hospitals within the region. Here, Nicola completed the Sterile Service Technician Standards TVQ Level 1 & Level 2 and the ILM Certificate in First Line Management Level 3.

In October 2006, Nicola returned to Dental Nursing with Manchester Community Dental Service and progressed to Dental Nurse Team Leader, working predominantly with Special Care patients.

Nicola completed the Certificate in Special Care Dental Nursing in 2012 and the

Certificate in ‘Making Prevention Work in Practice’ in 2016.

During her career, Nicola has reviewed papers and written opinion pieces for the British Dental Journal; she has also been part of BDJ Team Magazine’s reader panel for which she has written various book reviews and articles.

More recently, Nicola has completed the Certificate in Understanding Autism, Asperger’s & ADHD with the University of Derby in 2019, an ‘Introduction to British Sign Language’ Course with British Sign in 2021 and has become a member of MFT’s Learning Disability and Autism Forum.

Nicola is parent to an autistic child and regularly advocates in local autism groups and social media.