VN Futures project attends inaugural SVN Fest

The work and aims of the VN Futures project were highlighted last weekend as part of the inaugural Student Veterinary Nurse (SVN) Fest which took place at the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) in Camden.

Jill Macdonald, Project Manager for the joint RCVS and British Veterinary Nursing Association (BVNA) initiative, and Julie Dugmore, our Director of Veterinary Nursing, attended the event on Saturday 20 July 2019.

The aim was to help nurses who are entering the profession learn more about the project and how they could get involved. Jill also spoke to those attending about the three key areas of focus for the project over the next few months, these being: maximizing the role and value of VNs in practice; educating the next generation on the possibilities of a career in veterinary nursing including promotion of diversity; and researching and developing the district or community nursing role.

Jill Macdonald commented: “We were delighted to have the opportunity to attend the first SVN Fest and talk to the next generation of our profession about why it is so important they take an interest in and contribute to their future via the project.

“We were pleased to see that many of the students were aware of the VN Futures project thanks to its well-known supporters such as Louise Northway, who spoke about the project during her keynote speech.

"We also took along a game which tested the delegates’ knowledge of Schedule 3 and delegation, which led to many interesting conversations around how delegation happens in practice and what sort of tasks veterinary nurses can undertake.

“Furthermore, we are currently looking for student veterinary nurses to join VN Future’s ‘Creating a Sustainable Workforce’ Working Group for their vital input in developing veterinary nursing career materials, running a schools’ ambassadors pilot and encouraging increased diversity in the profession. It was fantastic how much interest there was in getting involved and we will now be following up to increase student veterinary nurse participation in this area.”

The VN Futures project is aiming to attend similar events over the coming two years to engage the profession, increase awareness of the project’s work and to improve understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing the profession.

If you are interested in getting involved in VN Futures, or if you wish to invite someone to visit your practice or event to talk about the project, you can contact Jill Macdonald on [email protected].