Contemporary technologies have made our world seem smaller and much more accessible. We can communicate with our friends and colleagues abroad instantly and with ease via the telephone, email and social networking sites. We are able to share our thoughts, feelings and learning globally.
Depending on where we work in the world we have different challenges in our work ranging from those requirements defined by our regulatory and professional bodies to issues set by our cultural and environmental situation. However, veterinary nurses around the world have the same professional objective at heart — the health and welfare of our animal patients. The globalization phenomenon is the process of increasing connectivity between world markets and businesses and veterinary nurses can join in too. It's never been so easy for us to create a global community for ourselves where we can share evidence, best practice and learning with our colleagues wherever they may be.
This year the WSAVA congress is being hosted in England. With 80 member associations there are many participating countries and the congress fosters the exchange of scientific information to advance the quality and availability of small animal medicine and surgery. Indeed the WSAVA logo includes the words ‘Global veterinary development’, and it is a worthy aim and one in which veterinary nurses can be very much involved.
Veterinary nursing in the UK is going through an exciting and intense era with the profession-alization of our vocation. We have recently become accountable for our actions, and with this new responsibility should come greater recognition as a profession. The next stage in the development looks to be the protection of the title of ‘veterinary nurse’. A Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) working party has been set up to develop detailed proposals for the statutory regulation of veterinary nurses. The current register, while not statutory, has been embraced by nurses, but a statutory regime, under the umbrella of the RCVS, would aim to protect the title of ‘veterinary nurse’ and ensure that veterinary nurses who are struck of the RCVS Register of Veterinary Nurses are also struck of the list; only registered veterinary nurses would be permitted to use this title.
Statutory regulation is clearly one essential element requisite for a fully professional status, but in addition every profession needs its own sound evidence base on which to base its decisions; veterinary nurses need to start building their own body of knowledge by recording their own observations and making their own analyses. By carrying out research and publishing the findings, we can begin to share information with our global counterparts so that we can all benefit, and start to justify our clinical decisions and make the best choices for our patients.
Research findings can be shared in many ways. Veterinary nurses in practice often start by sharing their thoughts with the nurses they work with, but to reach our global colleagues research needs to be presented at a congress or published in a journal. The Veterinary Nurse is the only international, peer-reviewed journal for veterinary nurses — it is our aim to help forge a global community of veterinary nurses. To date we have published articles from many countries including Australia and the US, and we have even published a research study from China. We urge you to submit articles, whether they are reviews of the literature or full-blown studies. Let's help to create that global community.
Globalization is an important concept for veterinary nurses and can be embraced now more easily than ever before. The Veterinary Nurse is proud to be a part of this. If you have managed to attend the WSAVA congress please come and visit us at stand 502; perhaps you can contribute to the distribution of knowledge that is our aim. We hope you will enjoy this issue of The Veterinary Nurse.