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VN Diamond Jubilee Events & Activities

Veterinary Nursing 60: 1961 - 2021 This year’s Diamond Jubilee events celebrate how far the profession has come and pay tribute to those who have impacted and influenced veterinary nursing over the years. Our programme of events which include:

  • A webinar programme covering the past, present and future of the profession with presentations from eminent veterinary nurses;
  • A podcast series with a range of hosts, each reflecting an area of veterinary nursing that they are passionate about;
  • The launch of an e-book encompassing a brief history of the VN profession as well as some of the key factors that form the profession today.

Diamond Jubilee e-book

Our commemorative e-book celebrates the veterinary nursing profession with particular focus on the developments that have taken place since the Golden Jubilee. Content includes the highlights of the past 60 years including the advent of nationally and internationally recognised qualifications and titles, the creation of the registered veterinary nurse role in law as well as the continued privilege of self-regulation. There are interviews with vet nurses at different stages of their career reflecting on what being a veterinary nurse means to them.

To get the best out of our ebook, here are a few tips:

  • Use the toolbar at the bottom to navigate backwards and forwards through the pages, or use the arrows on each side of a page. On desktop devices, you can also use your back and forward keys for this.
  • You can select individual pages from the Table of contents on the left.
  • Select 'Settings' in the toolbar to adjust the font size, enter full-screen view or make other changes.
  • There is also a handy notebook for you to jot down anything you may wish to find out more about.

You can find the e-book here

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"I've been in the profession for 30 years and I've seen such an amazing advancement in the profession of veterinary nursing. This is a great opportunity to reflect on all the progress that's been made."
Matthew Rendle RVN, Chair of Veterinary Nursing Council

 


Webinars & podcasts

Webinar:
Creating diamonds, a decade of progress - Jane Davidson RVN

Jane Davidson

A webinar exploring the highlights of the last ten years of veterinary nursing, hosted by VN Council Member, Jane Davidson RVN. Jane qualified as a veterinary nurse in 2004 and has worked small animal charity and private hospitals across London and the home counties. She is currently completing a PhD in the history of veterinary legislation.

Podcast:
Reflecting on sparkling careers - Jean Turner RVN and Matthew Rendle RVN

Jean Turner

A podcast hosted by Matthew Rendle RVN, Chair of the RCVS Veterinary Nurses Council, who is interviewing Jean Turner RVN – the recipient of the inaugural RCVS Golden Jubilee Award in 2011.

Jean became a registered animal nursing auxiliary (RANA) in 1971. After retiring, she remained a member of BVNA and took a keen interest in the profession until she sadly passed away in January 2022.

Hear Jean share stories from her career and reflect on how the veterinary nursing profession has changed throughout the decades.

Webinar:
Sixty years on and still shining - Jill Macdonald RVN

Jill MacDonald

A webinar hosted by Jill Macdonald RVN, VN Futures Project Coordinator.

Hear Jill talk about the current developments in veterinary nursing, the career opportunities for vet nurses, CertAVN and the VN Futures project.

Jill owns and manages ONCORE ePD who provide online education to the veterinary profession, and who won an RCVS Innovation Award in 2017. She took up the RCVS post of VN Projects Coordinator in January 2019, with the main remit of her role being Project Management for VN Futures.

She is a previous BVNA Council Member, a representative for the BVA’s Animal Welfare Foundation, and a regular contributor to the veterinary press.

Podcast:
Adding polish to your career - Susan Howarth RVN and guest speakers

Susan Howarth

A podcast hosted by Sue Howarth RVN, who is interviewing VN graduates George Aspey RVN, Nathan Price RVN and Katherine Hart RVN.

Hear them discuss the different and exciting CertAVN qualifications they are working towards and the variety of options VNs have after graduating. 

Sue Howarth qualified in 1997 and is currently the Programme Manager of Veterinary Nursing at Harper Adams University, overseeing the undergraduate degree, the RCVS Dip AVN and postgraduate Vet Nursing courses. 

Podcast:
The strength of a diamond - Dr Andrea Jeffery RVN

Andrea Jeffery

A podcast hosted by Dr Andrea Jeffery RVN, past member of Veterinary Nurses Council.

Hear Andrea share her knowledge on staying resilient, continuing to challenge the status quo and how you can strive for a better profession.

Andrea became a Veterinary Nurse in 1990 and has served on several different bodies to support Veterinary Nurses with their careers. During her 19 years tenure, she welcomed many new veterinary nurses to the profession and launched the first formal Register of Veterinary Nurses. She is now acting as Chief Nursing Officer for Linnaeus.

Podcast:
Making the Cut - Lily Burley RVN

Lily LipmanA podcast hosted by Lily Burley RVN, Senior Manager of the Practice Standards Scheme (PSS).

In this podcast Lily will discuss the importance of having RVNs as assessors and their role within the Practice Standards Scheme.

Lily is an RVN, who graduated in 2006, and gained an MBA in 2014. Lily started working at the RCVS in 2014 in the Veterinary Nursing Department, where she was in charge of accreditation and quality assurance of education institutions.

Lily has lectured across Europe regarding best practice in veterinary nursing, education and regulation of nurses via ACOVENE. Recently, she was involved in the re-writing of the post-registration framework for veterinary nurses and awarding organisation and higher education institution standards.

Lily is now part of the PSS team and works closely with the Officer team and Lead Assessor to regularly appraise the service delivery and quality of Practice Standards.

Webinar:
Creating Diamonds of the Future - Carla Husband RVN

Carla Husband RVNA webinar hosted by Carla Husband (BSc (Hons) RVN

Hear from Carla who explains how registered veterinary nurses can become diamonds of the future. Carla graduated in June 2020 from the University of Bristol, where she studied Veterinary Nursing and Bioveterinary Science. She works for Bath Vets but outside this, she works for the RCVS and sits on the veterinary nursing education council as a student representative. At the beginning of 2020 she co-authored a knowledge summary which has won an award with RCVS veterinary evidence.