The Veterinary Nurse

An introduction to effective leadership of teams

December 2018

Within a healthcare setting, effective team work is achieved when team members understand, believe in and work towards the shared purpose of caring and working for improving outcomes for patients. This sense of common purpose should however never be assumed. Team leaders should talk about it at every opportunity and ensure all team members are striving towards it within their daily work. Team leaders should develop a ‘teaming strategy’ to plan how their staff will act and work together....

An introduction to veterinary nursing leadership part one: getting to know yourself

November 2018

Veterinary nursing is a dynamic and challenging profession requiring engaging and inspiring role models and leaders. It is widely accepted that the most valuable asset in any organisation is its people, however in today's ever changing and demanding healthcare environment, identifying and developing such leaders can be problematic. Avoiding the fostering of people who are not well suited to a leadership role is just as important as identifying and nurturing those with more appropriate qualities....

A preliminary study investigating the use of rabbit-related Facebook groups in relation to rabbit health information

September 2018

Background:There has been a dramatic increase in the use of social networking sites such as Facebook over the last decade. However, limited research has been conducted focusing on pet owners' use of these sites for pet health information.Aim:The aim of this study was to gather, via an online anonymous survey, information from rabbit owners about their use of rabbit-related Facebook groups and determine if and how these group pages are used for rabbit health information.Methods:Responses from 304...

The role of reflective practice in professional development

September 2018

Reflective practice (RP) is a process of critical evaluation and self-assessment whereby one deeply explores an event in order to learn from experiences, and consequently undertakes a change in perception or behaviour. RP can benefit practice through enhancing professionalism and encouraging self-directed learning (SDL). SDL is an important part of the lifelong learning undertaken by registered veterinary nurses (RVNs) who participate in ongoing continuing professional development (CPD). CPD is...

Setting up a cat friendly clinic

July 2018

Despite the increase in popularity of cats as pets, there has not been a similar increase in the amount spent on feline veterinary healthcare. The stress experienced, both by the cat owner and cat, has an impact on the willingness of owners to bring their cat to a veterinary clinic. There are many ways veterinary clinics can minimise stressors, and even small changes can make a big difference for the cat and their owners, which strengthens the bond with the owner and increases the welfare of the...

Preparing students for practice

April 2018

Traditionally education has prepared veterinary nursing students well to have the knowlege and practical skills to care for patients to the best of their ability. However, in recent years, more emphasis has been placed on the emotional aspects of nursing, and education has had to adapt to prepare students to look after their own wellbeing as well as that of the animals or owners. This paper summarises recent work on this topic and brings together a variety of different ideas put forward by both...

Portrayal of professions and occupations on veterinary practice websites and the potential for influencing public perceptions

December 2017

Aim:Veterinary practice websites have the ability to attract and retain clients. They also have the potential to influence clients' perceptions of the veterinary team. This paper investigated ‘Meet the Team’ pages on UK practice websites to identify the current portrayal of veterinary professions and occupations.Method:One hundred random practices, treating any species, were selected from the RCVS' list of practices. Information on the team was collected.Results:Meet the Team pages existed on 82...

Is veterinary nursing a visible profession? Part two

November 2017

With recruitment, returning to work and retention being key to the future of veterinary nursing what are the issues that are common across all these areas? Veterinary nurses have limited visibility in their role. There is also the lack of a media image that reinforces the veterinary nurse skills base and a lack of veterinary nursing presence in the financial aspect of both business and client relations. These factors all contribute to a role that is hard for people to visualise and define. In...

Is veterinary nursing a visible profession? Part one

September 2017

With recruitment, returning to work and retention being key to the future of veterinary nursing what are the issues that are common across all these areas? What they wear gives veterinary nurses limited visibility in their role. There is also the lack of a media image that reinforces the veterinary nurse skills base and a lack of veterinary nursing presence in the financial aspect of both business and client relations. These factors all contribute to a role that is hard for people to visualise...

Delegation and the legal, professional and ethical issues for veterinary nurses: a case study

May 2017

This article aims to examine a given scenario from legal, professional and ethical perspectives to highlight what is appropriate delegation. It is important to consider a student's level of knowledge and stage of training to also gain insights into the appropriate delegation of tasks in practice.

Veterinary nursing uniforms: their role in infection control

February 2017

Veterinary nursing uniforms play an important role in infection control. However we rarely encounter protocols or advice in the veterinary industry about how to ensure our uniforms are as clean as possible. The veterinary nursing community needs to introduce protocols to improve uniform hygiene by considering where they are worn and how they are cleaned.

Practice Standards Scheme — the veterinary nurse's perspective

September 2016

Here the RCVS looks back at the recent changes to their voluntary practice accreditation scheme, the Practice Standards Scheme, and the role that veterinary nurses played in shaping it.

Professional

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