Practice Standards Scheme — the veterinary nurse's perspective

When the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons' voluntary practice accreditation system, the Practice Standards Scheme (PSS), was relaunched in 2015, it came back with a new approach which focuses on those aspects that impact on the care of animals and provides a clear pathway to improvement for all types of practices.

This culture shift would not have been possible without an increased emphasis on the role of veterinary nurses and the input of veterinary nurses into the development of the new standards. We know that veterinary nurses play an increasingly important role in veterinary practice. Consequently, when revising the Scheme the Practice Standards Group (PSG), which is responsible for coordinating the PSS and its ongoing development, and in response to consultations on the future direction of the Scheme, wanted to ensure the veterinary nurses' critical role was adequately reflected in the standards.

It helped that the PSG already had veterinary nurses playing an active role. When the PSS was relaunched the PSG had Liz Cox, Chair of VN Council, and the past BVNA president, Kirstie Shield, providing their input and experience as well as the Veterinary Practice Management Association's (VPMA) Renay Rickard, a veterinary nurse herself.