In January 2017 Cat, our head nurse,  began studying towards the Diploma in Advanced Veterinary Nursing (DipAVN) at Harper Adams University.

The course is for Registered Veterinary Nurses (RVN’s) who want to develop their nursing knowledge and skills.  It is made up of four core modules and upon completion of these each candidate choses three out of six specialist modules. The final stage of the course is to complete an advanced veterinary nursing review project.

The core modules, which provide a base to be built on with each specialist module, were applied physiology, evidence-based nursing, systematic delivery of veterinary nursing and law, ethics and professional practice.  Cat then chose anaesthetic nursing, small animal medical nursing and small animal surgical nursing as her specialist modules.

The course is delivered as a blended learning programme with content delivered online via a virtual learning environment and through teaching days at Harper Adams University. Each module was assessed by a combination of assignments, literature reviews, case studies, oral presentations, practical examinations and unseen written examinations.

Cat passed all assessments on the first attempt and so was eligible to select an area of special interest for her final review project. She chose the use of surgical safety checklists and researched and reviewed relevant literature within both human and veterinary healthcare before completing her own research for comparison. This assignment was submitted for assessment and the final hurdle to complete was a VIVA Voce examination; a professional discussion about Cat’s area of special interest. This method of assessment allows further discussion beyond the 5000-word assignment, an opportunity for candidates to go into more detail and discuss the research they carried out, as well as a chance for the examiners to confirm all work presented was the candidate’s own.

After a nerve-wracking wait Cat got the good news!  She had passed the final assessments and therefore the course! She attended graduation at Harper Adams University and was awarded with a Diploma of Higher Education in Advanced Veterinary Nursing.  The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons will also award her the  ‘Blue badge’ (infamous with RVN’s).  This will recognise her advanced nursing qualification alongside the post-nominal DipAVN.

Cat says:

“I found the course hugely challenging at times and motivating myself to study alongside full-time work wasn’t always easy. After the challenges came the rewarding moments and I have already implemented changes to the way we are able to provide nursing care to our patients at Hollybank – which was, after all, the purpose of embarking upon the qualification.”

We are immensely proud of Cat here at Hollybank and want to congratulate her on such a significant achievement.  Fantastic!

Natalie, one of our nurses, runs our desensitisation clinics.  Here she explains why three of her patients are our brave pets this month.

Sox, Bonnie and Lucy have all been very brave in the last month as they have enjoyed a stress free visit for their yearly vaccinations. Previously each dog has been described as nervous when they have come in for their yearly vaccination, sometimes needing to wear a muzzle or be taken away from their owner for the examination and vaccination to be performed. Whilst we see boosters as a relatively harmless trip to the vets some dogs can become anxious about it. I refer to it as like going to the dentist. If every time you went to the dentist, you had a filling or an injection you would soon start to become anxious about it too. So with the dedication of their owners these dogs have been coming to desensitisation clinics since their last vaccinations. This year it has meant that everyone has had a more relaxed visit. Vaccinations have been performed with minimal stress and without the need to wear a muzzle or be taken away from their owner.

Different dogs can be scared of different parts of the examination and vaccination, so every clinic is tailor made to suit the individuals need and every dog is allowed to work at their own pace.  Bonnie for instance, needed to work outside (in our secure enclosed area) to get her used to the stethoscope as this was part of the exam that worried her the most.

Desensitisation clinics can also be used to help muzzle train dogs. Lucy was muzzle trained as she can use what we call repelling behaviours when she is painful.  These ‘repelling’ behaviours are used by nervous patients in an effort to move us away from them and can include barking, growling and snapping.  Sox was also muzzle trained as when he becomes anxious he can also use repelling behaviours. A correctly fitted muzzle means that the dog can still show all the natural behaviours they feel the need to (licking lips, panting, snapping) but means the veterinary staff are able to perform their job safely.  

Sox, Bonnie and Lucy are all different breeds, ages and gender and are owned by different families. This goes to show that any dog can become nervous.  A common time for this to start is at around two years of age.  At this age dogs are becoming socially mature and previous passive behaviours such as licking and sniffing, where they obtain more information about a worrying situation (also known as appeasement behaviours), may change into the repelling behaviours such as growling barking and biting. It is therefore important that both owners and veterinary staff recognise the signs of a negative emotional response in puppies and dogs and try to make there experience more positive. This can be done by using appropriate social contact – a hand to sniff, or a high value food reward given by the owner or thrown to the dog by the veterinary surgeon to where they feel safe (usually next to their owner).

Canine body language can often be missed or misinterpreted.  Common behaviours such as licking, turning their head away from you, lifting a paw and freezing can be indicative of worry or indicate they are in an inhibitory state where they can gather more information about the situation before deciding how to react.  We often think that our dogs love us as they are licking us (kissing us!), giving us a paw to shake, and being very good, when actually they may have frozen due to anxiety. Being aware of these subtle body language changes can make all the difference and prevent escalation of their fear and anxiety to repelling behaviours.  

Sox, Bonnie and Lucy are going to continue with their desensitisation classes to ensure they remain happy and confident when coming to see us – and that their visit will be stress free next year too!