Consultation launched on veterinary nurse day-one clinical skills

As part of a complete review of our day-one’ clinical skills for the practical training of veterinary nurses (VNs), we are launching a consultation today on the proposed new skills list and would welcome comments on the revisions from veterinary nurses, veterinary surgeons and all those involved in veterinary nurse training and education.

The current Day-One Skills document was developed by RCVS Awards, our awarding body, in 2010 and provides a list of those skills student veterinary nurses are expected to have gained by the end of their training, and to be competent and confident in when they first go into practice.

As RCVS Awards will be closed by the end of this year, we are taking the opportunity to review the Day-One Skills to bring them closer into line with our recently revised Day-One Competences, and to reduce the number of required skills in order to make it more relevant to clinical practice.

Julie Dugmore, Head of Veterinary Nursing, explains: “The current document was developed from an awarding body perspective and not that of the regulator, so it specifies a large number of non-clinical skills, for example, handling and moving equipment safely, which, while important, are somewhat out of our regulatory remit.

A clearer focus on safe and effective clinical skills would support our primary regulatory role: that of protecting animal welfare and the public interest.

“Given the wide variety of veterinary practice settings to which student veterinary nurses are exposed, it is important that we, as the industry regulator, define the required day-one skills and ensure that these align with the required day-one competences.

"We need to review the skills list to ensure consistency, that it reflects current practice, and that it only includes those skills deemed necessary for registration purposes.

"A clearer focus on safe and effective clinical skills would support our primary regulatory role: that of protecting animal welfare and the public interest.”

The consultation sets out the proposed Day-One Skills, grouped according to the corresponding day-one competences, and asks for feedback on their relevance, accuracy and completeness.

We would welcome comments from higher education institutions, awarding organisations, centres, and training practices, as well as veterinary nurses and veterinary surgeons.

The consultation is available our consultations page and the deadline for responses is 5pm on 29 July 2015.