College speakers attending Clinical Coach Congress

Speakers from the RCVS will be attending the College of Animal Welfare’s Clinical Coach Congress to talk about VN Futures and the Mind Matters Initiative this month.

The Clinical Coach Congress takes place at the East of England Area and Events Centre in Peterborough on Monday 18 and Tuesday 19 March and is aimed at clinical coaches and others who support the practice-based training of veterinary nurses.

On Monday 18 March, Kathy Kissick, current Veterinary Nurses Council member and former Head of School Veterinary Nursing and Farriery at Myerscough College, will be speaking on behalf of the College with a talk entitled ‘It’s not the job you do; it’s how you do the job’.

This talk will look at how clinical coaches can encourage their students not only to achieve their qualification, but also develop professional accountability, consider issues regarding fitness to practise and understand the links between professional, legal and ethical responsibilities and accountability.

The work of the VN Futures project is the topic of discussion on the next day, with a talk from RCVS Director of Veterinary Nursing Julie Dugmore and Jill Macdonald, VN Project Coordinator, who will be giving an update on the project’s current status and reporting on the work undertaken by its various working groups.

These working groups were set up shortly after the publication of the VN Futures Report in July 2016 to focus on areas such as retention and recruitment in the veterinary nursing workforce, Training Practices, developing meaningful career progression routes for the profession and developing ‘One Health’ links with other healthcare professions, including medical nurses.

Julie Dugmore (pictured right) commented: “Much of the work of the VN Futures project has been going on under the radar for the past few years, but with the appointment of Jill as our VN Futures Project Manager, and moving towards the deadline of the five-year VN Futures plan, we want to make sure the profession is aware of what has been happening and our plans for the next two years.”

More information about the VN Futures project can be found on its dedicated website.

The final presentation, also on Tuesday 19 March, will be from our CEO Lizzie Lockett who will be talking about the Mind Matters Initiative. She will discuss how the project is aiming to improve the mental health and wellbeing of those in the veterinary team by offering mental health awareness training, trying to break down the stigma associated with mental ill-health and developing support resources and courses to help members of the veterinary team flourish and, where needed, to get back on form.

She will also give an outline of current activities, provide tips on improving wellbeing in the practice and give information on how veterinary nurses can get involved in the project as well.

The full agenda and information about the Clinical Coach Congress can be found on the College of Animal Welfare website.