RCVS to continue e-certificate trial for newly-qualified veterinary nurses

At its February meeting, the RCVS Veterinary Nurses Council agreed a continuation of its trial of providing-certificates to newly-qualified veterinary nurses upon joining the Register.

The trial was first launched on 1 November 2021 with all those veterinary nurses joining the Register after completing their qualification via a further education provider, as well as those newly-qualified veterinary nurses who had undertaken the higher education route at Hartpury University.

The trial will continue over the next few months in order to gain further feedback and insight from members of the profession before deciding whether to formally provide e-certificates to new registrants as a standard practice. This will be reviewed at the next VN Council meeting in May 2022.

The e-certificates are available to download for each individual in the trial via the My Account area of the website, although they are also able to request a printed hard copy of the certificate.

Robert Hewes, RCVS Head of Insight and Engagement, said: “Thank you to all those newly-qualified veterinary nurses who took part in the trial and especially to those who provided their feedback and thoughts on the e-certificate.

“From those that have completed the survey, it is clear that there is still a great deal of pride and meaning attached to having a hard copy certificate which is why we will continue to offer these to all our newly-qualified veterinary nurses. However, the feedback from the vet nurses overall regarding the e-certificates were that they appreciated that there was a benefit from an environment and sustainability point of view, as well as the practicalities of having immediate and easy access to their proof-of-registration.”

E-certificates for newly-qualified veterinary surgeons had been successfully trialled in early 2021 and rolled out as standard practice to all new veterinary registrants from summer 2021. This is the basis on which the same initiative is currently being trialled for veterinary nurses.

Robert added: “We would like to take this opportunity to make clear to prospective employers of both newly-qualified veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses involved in the trial, that the e-certificates are now a legitimate form of identification of registration and that they no longer require a hard copy. However, if they are in any doubt about an individual’s registration status, they shouldn’t hesitate to contact the Registration Team on [email protected] or 020 7202 0707.”