Hollybank Vets is a Training Practice for Nurses.  This means that we have been assessed and our facilities deemed an appropriate environment in which to teach student veterinary nurses (SVN).  Each practice needs to have a clinical coach. Ours is Registered Veterinary Nurse, Cat Burdett.  She is responsible for students’ day to day work load and logging a record of their training on the Nursing Progress Log (NPL) which is a national record of standards expected for all students.

Student nurses can train in one of two ways – either ‘on the job’ training where they are employed by a Training Practice and spend one day a week on ‘day release’ to a training college, or by studying at University and spending time on ‘block placement’ (several weeks at a time) in a Training Practice.

Regardless of the route taken, qualified veterinary nurses are admitted to the Royal College register.  They are then known as Registered Veterinary Nurses (or RVN’s) and are accountable to the Royal College in the same way that Veterinary Surgeons are.

Our RVN’s – Cat Burdett and Liz O’Neill – are responsible for monitoring anaesthetics, caring for both our day patients and inpatients, running nurse clinics (including weight clubs, puppy and kitten clubs, dental checks and other routine appointments such as nail trims) and keeping the vets in check!