When you come into 387 Vets, you can be safe in the knowledge that anyone in our nursing team displaying the badge ‘Veterinary Nurse’ has passed their Veterinary Nursing Diploma or Degree, is fully qualified and is on the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Register of Veterinary Nurses. Nicky, Sharon, Amy and Sophie have all undertaken formal nursing qualifications, have to maintain professional standards and responsibilities laid down by their governing body and are accountable for their conduct.
However, this is not the case in many practices. Currently anyone can call themselves ‘veterinary nurse’ even if they have no qualifications or experience.
Last month, the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (the regulating body for vets and veterinary nurses in the UK) launched a petition to protect the term ‘veterinary nurse’ in law, so that only staff who have passed formal nursing qualifications and who appear on the veterinary nursing register may use this title.
Chair of the Veterinary Nursing Council, Liz Cox, stated, “We believe that the fact that anybody can call themselves a veterinary nurse is unacceptable. It means that there is potential for the public to be misled and for animal health and welfare to be compromised.”
To sign the petition calling on Parliament to protect the term ‘veterinary nurse’ so that you will always know exactly who is helping care for your pet, click here.
To read more about the petition on the British Veterinary Nursing Association website, click here.