VNAM….Continuing Professional Development for Nurses

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There are two ways to train to become a veterinary nurse. One route is to gain a diploma for which you need to be employed by a practice and go to college on day release. The second route is to go to university to obtain a degree. As part of the degree you have block placements in practice where you receive your practical training.

Everyone receives the same initial training but once you are qualified you can follow areas that you are interested in. As a registered veterinary nurse you are required to undertake 45 hours of continuing professional development (CPD) over a 3 year period.

The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) govern veterinary nursing and describes CPD as ‘the process of continually maintaining, improving and broadening your skills and knowledge to help ensure you remain professionally competent. By progressing your professional learning in whichever way is most relevant to you, will help you develop and improve the professional service you provide’. This means that you can use your CPD to gain knowledge in areas you are interested in and even become specialised. Our current nursing staff have diverse interest covering a range of topics including medicine, behaviour, complementary therapies, critical care, wound healing and education.

 

Cat Burdett

Our head nurse Cat been qualified for 7 years and has an interest in feline and emergency care. Cat has develop her skills further by gaining a COAPE award in feline nursing, a Vets Now certificate in emergency and critical care and she is currently studying towards a diploma in advanced nursing. She is also one of our clinical coaches and has a keen interest in educating our student nurses.

 

 

 

 

Leonie Handford

Leonie has been qualified for 4 years and has an interest in physiotherapy, medicine and oncology. She has recently gained the BSAVA Vet Nursing Merit Award in Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation.

 

 

 

 

Aimee Richardson

Aimee has been qualified for 3 years and has an interest in endocrinology and will soon be doing a course on hyperadrenocorticism (Cushing’s disease).

 

 

Alicia Steele

Alicia has been qualified for 3 years and has an interest in educating clients in the form of her displays throughout the practice, as well as educating our students in her role as a clinical coach. Alicia also has an interest in nutrition and is currently looking for courses to further develop her existing knowledge and skills in this area.

 

 

 

 

Natalie Mcall

Natalie has been qualified for 7 years and has a keen interest in canine behaviour, wound management and rabbits. Natalie has followed her interests completing a City and Gulids Certificate in exotic nursing (along with numerous other rabbit cpd in dentistry, health and husbandry), BVNA Certificate Delving deeper into wounds and she has also complete CPD with a registered behaviourist leading to her running desensitising clinics for dogs that don’t enjoy coming to the vets.

 

Jessica Crump

Jessica has been qualified for 19 years and uses her City and Gulids Certificate in exotic nursing to educate clients on guinea pig and rabbit husbandry. She also has an interest in medicine and is currently looking to start a course on diabetes management.

 

Veterinary Nursing Awareness Month 2018

Brave Pet of the Month…Bert!!

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Bert is a beautiful bouncy springer spaniel who presented to Hollybank one morning much more subdued than normal. Over the last few days, his owners had noticed him becoming quieter, less keen to eat and looking more uncomfortable, so they brought him down to Hollybank to be checked over. 

When we examined Bert he was far from his usual lively self. He had a temperature and was breathing abnormally. When listening to his lungs with a stethoscope they sounded muffled in the lower half of his chest. This can indicate something occupying the normal space of the lung or due to the location of this sound we were suspicious of fluid around the lungs  as fluid will fall to the lowest part of the chest cavity. After scanning his chest with the ultrasound machine it was clear there was a build up of fluid around the lungs which, when samples were taken, we identified as pus. 

Pus in the chest cavity is a condition know as a pyothorax. It is often caused by a foreign body, which can be inhaled or penetrate the body wall. However, sometimes it can be difficult to identify the original cause at all. A CT scan is important to help identify if a foreign body is present, and the extent of the pus within the chest cavity. For this Bert needed to be referred to a specialist.

However, Bert was very poorly with his condition and needed to be stabilised. We placed sterile drains into his chest to help remove as much pus as possible. These drains have to be placed surgically and images are taken to ensure they are in the right place; Bert had drains placed on both sides of his chest to facilitate maximum drainage. The condition and presence of the chest drains can be very uncomfortable so Bert would need plenty of pain relief too. Bert stayed at Hollybank over night to allow recurrent emptying of his chest (the pus was likely to re-fill until the underlying problem was addressed) and ongoing pain relief.  

In the morning Bert went for his CT scan. This showed Bert had an abscess at the base of his lungs. The specialists could not see a foreign body, but this is not unusual as not all foreign material types will show up on the images.

Bert would require surgery with the specialists to address the abscess near his lung and to rule out a potential foreign body. Thoracic surgery is by no means a benign or small surgery but Bert had been otherwsie fit and well and he was in very good hands! The abscess was removed and his chest was cleaned thoroughly. They were unable to find a cause for the pyothorax but sometimes, if foreign bodies are broken down by the body effectively, only pus and inflammation is left behind, and this is our suspicion with Bert.  

Bert recovered after surgery very well! He had to continue antibiotics to aid complete resolution of any residual infection and prevent recurrence of the abscess. He of course had lots more pain relief too.

After plenty of rest at home we are so pleased to see Bert back to his usual bouncy self and we are sure you will agree he looks ever so cute in his post op suits!

Veterinary Nursing Awareness Month 2018 (VNAM)

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Each May we celebrate Veterinary Nursing Awareness Month (VNAM). This was originally started by The British Veterinary Nursing Association (BVNA) in 2005 in order to raise awareness of how important veterinary nurses are to the veterinary profession. It has become increasingly popular over the years and has now spread to one whole month of appreciation and promotion of the veterinary nursing industry.

Each year our nurses at Hollybank get involved and this will be our fourth year of educating the public about a nurse’s daily roles and responsibilities. We try to include useful, interesting and informative information with, of course, some cute and cuddly pictures thrown in! We feel it is really important to do this as your pets spend lots of time with our nurses and their hard work, time, commitment and love can often go missed behind the scenes. 

We have six registered veterinary nurses (RVN’s) at Hollybank, Cat, Leonie, Aimee, Alicia, Jess and Natalie. We also have two Student Veterinary Nurses’s (SVN’s) carrying out their placement with us. First off are in fact our SVN’s detailing how to become a veterinary nurse.

 

How to become a Registered Veterinary Nurse (RVN)

Veterinary nursing is a profession where attention to detail matters. Whichever route you take, there is hands-on training and requires a lot of dedication and different skills. However, veterinary nursing is rewarding and can open a lots of career avenues in the animal sector!

To become a Registered Veterinary Nurse (RVN) with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS), work experience prior to getting on any course is essential and the amount of experience needed varies between institutions. Experience could include being in practice, wildlife sanctuaries, kennels/catteries, animals shelters, farms or zoos. Time spent at these places is invaluable and will really boost your personal statement. Qualifications needed to get onto a veterinary nursing course includes, but is not limited to, A-levels (Biology) and BTEC Level 3 Extended Diplomas (science or animal related).

Full-time university courses such as the Bachelor (BSc) (honours) or Foundation (FdSc) degrees at Harper Adams University offer two-three years of theory and one year of a practice work placement at an RCVS approved training practice. Some institutions offer both degree courses and diplomas. Level 3 diplomas or apprenticeships (BTEC, City of Guilds or NVQ) are known as vocational courses where you will be employed within a veterinary practice and attend college one day (or more) a week to learn the theory behind veterinary nursing. The length of all courses varies, have a look around and see what best suits you!

 For more information on veterinary nursing apprenticeships please visit the UK Government website: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/agriculture-environmental-and-animal-care-apprenticeships.

For more information on university veterinary nursing courses please visit The University and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) website: https://www.ucas.com/ or the list of RCVS Accredited Further Education Qualifications in Veterinary Nursing: https://www.rcvs.org.uk/document-library/list-of-rcvs-accredited-further-education-qualifications-in/.

All veterinary nursing courses have a range of assessments including examinations, reports, Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs), and completion of your Nursing Progress Log (NPL). Some task areas of the NPL include: handling and restraint, radiography, communication, laboratory techniques and theatre practice which can be practiced on a wide range of species (from dogs and cats to exotics). These tasks will be complete once you feel confident in those areas and your practice clinical coach approves this. Once qualified as a RVN, a minimum of 15 hours of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) should be completed to keep your knowledge up to date. This can be done by attending organised CPD events.

Most veterinary nursing courses focus on small companion animals, but there is the option to do other courses too such as equine nursing. You can also further your knowledge in areas of your interest such as nutrition, pharmaceuticals, behaviour, rehabilitation, exotics and complementary therapies by doing additional qualifications. There is also the possibility of working in different clinical environments such as a first opinion practice or referral hospital once qualified.

 

Hollybank’s Student Veterinary Nurses (SVN)

Katie

I am studying a foundation veterinary nursing degree at Harper Adams University and I was able to get onto this course by completing an access year post A-levels. This totals 4 years including my placement year in practice. I have always wanted to be a veterinary nurse from a young age and from work experience completed in the school holidays. I wanted to experience university life away from home and do the theory groundwork before going into practice. It takes commitment, perseverance and time to achieve the final goal. Once qualified, I would like to do an accompanying qualification in nutrition and equine nursing.

 

Leah

I am studying BSc veterinary nursing and practice management at Harper Adams University and I am on my third year work placement at Hollybank. After completing my A-levels at sixth form, I believe I chose the university route over the vocational route as I am more academically minded. I have been able to gain the theory based knowledge before heading into practice and I feel this gave me a foundation of understanding to work from and apply. It also gives you the chance to split the theory work from the practical work. It is good that there are other routes into veterinary nursing to cater for everyone but I personally wanted to be away from home and seek independence.

 I chose to go to Harper Adams University because it is a rural university with lots of opportunity to work with livestock. I have always wanted to work with animals both big and small and I particularly strive to incorporate farm animal nursing into the agricultural-veterinary sector more. I have also thought about the possibilities of working or volunteering abroad with a wider range of species. What is great about veterinary nursing is that you are not restricted on the types of animals you can nurse!