VN Times Podcast

Where can your veterinary nursing skills take you?

In this month’s VN Happy Hour, the team will be exploring all the angles and showcasing the diverse range of careers and lifestyles on offer to the UK’s “green army” of veterinary nursing professionals.

In this episode we hear Belinda Andrews-Jones, Luke Frewin and Fraje Watson answering questions posed by the people that matter – you and your peers.

VN Times editor Rachael Buzzel is joined by RVN and manager of the Linnaeus Veterinary Nursing Post Registration Programme, Sophie Venables.

The programme launched in early 2020, but Linnaeus had to think fast and adapt as COVID hit and the nation was thrust into its first national lockdown.

Sophie talks us through the first year of the programme and how, though it was not what they expected, they have learned from it and plan for future cohorts.

For more information on the programme and how to apply for the March 2022 cohort, email [email protected] or visit the Linnaeus website: https://www.linnaeusgroup.co.uk/nursing-post-registration-programme/

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BIOGRAPHY

During Sophie’s career she has worked as an RVN in a variety of clinical settings to cover primary care, charity and referral clinics. Throughout these roles, she has always had a passion for education and development of veterinary nurses.

While working at Wear Referrals part time, Sophie  commuted to the University of Bristol for the remainder of the week as a veterinary nursing clinical demonstrator. Here she was involved in the design and implementation of veterinary nursing clinical rotations at Langford Small Animal Hospital, as well as being responsible for supporting students during their six-month  rotations.

Sophie joined Linnaeus as one of two Veterinary Nursing Post Registration Programme Managers in January 2020. Within this role she supports 0 to 12 month post registration RVNs make their transition from student to veterinary nurse.

VN Times editor Rachael Buzzel sits down with RVN and university lecturer Amanda Curtis to discuss wound care, management and the VN’s role in this complicated process.

There are a lot of factors to consider when it comes to wound care and it is important vet nurses understand what can go wrong when caring for these injuries.

Amanda Curtis talks us through the process and, in particular, how to keep a step ahead of the sometimes tricky biofilms.

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This month’s podcast is sponsored by Essity.

Essity is a leading global hygiene and health company, dedicated to improving well-being through its products and solutions, essentials for everyday life. Essity, best known in the veterinary market for key brands such as Soffban and Tensoplast, is excited to introduce the Advanced Wound Care range through its Cutimed and Leukomed product portfolios.

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Amanda Curtis began her veterinary nursing career in late 2006 working for a small animal hospital. She has worked in a variety of clinical settings, including the Queen Mother Hospital at the RVC as an emergency and critical care nurse in the ECC department. She is a lecturer of veterinary nursing for the Coleg Gwent part of The University of South Wales and out of hours weekend lead nurse for Valley Veterinary Hospital in Cardiff.

Outside of clinical practice, Amanda writes for the The Veterinary Nurse Journal and sits on the editorial board. She is also studying for a Bachelor of Science in health science, and looks to use this degree alongside her veterinary nursing to create a one health approach to her practice.

Amanda is a BVNA regional representative for the South West Wales region and is running for BVNA council this year.

On 27 May 2021, VN Happy Hour 5 – sponsored by AnimalCare – focused on the topic of senior pets.

Hosted, as usual, by Vet Times editor James Westgate and VN Times editor Rachael Buzzel, the evening featured a lead interview with RVN Kirsty Cavill and an expert panel comprising Nicola Lakeman and Emma Gerrard.

This month VN Times editor Rachael Buzzel is joined by locum RVN Molly Fiander to chat about life as a locum, coping through COVID-19, and her love for helping VNs find/rediscover their passion and get the most out of their qualification.

Molly qualified as a vet nurse in 2017, but has had a huge passion for animal welfare since she was a little girl. In 2018 she “fell” into locum life, but hasn’t looked back.

Molly is super passionate about teaching other veterinary professionals about locuming and improving the standard of care across the industry.

She built her own consultancy business to help vets and VNs thrive as locums.

VN Happy Hour 4.0 saw vet nurse, writer, educator and leading blogger Jane Davidson feature in our main interview to discuss her perspective on physical and mental well-being, before joining our expert panel for a broader debate on some of the big issues in the veterinary nursing profession.

RVN panellists Aoife Smith, Elle Payne, Jane Davidson, Zara Livingstone and veterinary nurse-turned personal trainer Adam Robinson – all leading experts in their fields of well-being and health – answered delegates’ questions and shared the day-to-day magic moments that make being an RVN a job like no other.

Following on from the monster success of our first two events, we were delighted to lift the winter blues and blow away the cobwebs by hosting Vet Nurse Happy Hour version 3 on 28 January.

January’s online event saw Lacey Pitcher in the lead interview slot, followed by a panel discussion with a team of expert speakers (Kirsty Cavill, Gisela Luckhurst and Helen Manning), hand picked to offer the latest insights into the best ways of making nurse led clinics work in your practice.

Hear these interview highlights in this podcast, or head over to http://bit.ly/3qaMUAV where you can find the whole event in video format, including the breakout sessions with Holly from Vetfit and our own daring duo, Lee and Nikki.

Following the monster success of our first VN Happy Hour event, we decided to do it all over again – and our second event took place on 26 November 2020.

For those that missed the event, however, this podcast includes “Exotic encounters: fFrom lizards to llamas” – our big interview with VN Council chair and leading exotics nurse, Matt Rendle.

Also, contained is “Owning your future”, our panel discussion featuring Tom Reilly, Emma Eve-Raw and Matt Rendle, all offering advice on how to diversify your nursing career. This section is hosted by VN Times editor Rachael Buzzel and RVN Jack Pye.

VN Times editor Rachael Buzzel is joined by RVN and veterinary manager at Pet Blood Bank UK (PBBUK) Caroline Peacock.

Caroline tells us all about her work with the UK charity set up to support vets by providing a blood service for pets, and the vital role of the VN in its work.

To find out more about how you can get involved with the charity, read “Pet Blood Bank: how VNs can help” in the November 2020 issue of VN Times.

For more information about PBBUK, and to view its literature, support tools and CPD, visit www.petbloodbankuk.org/vet-professionals

VN Times sits down with Linnaeus chief nursing officer Andrea Jeffery to talk Schedule Three and what it means for the future of the veterinary nursing profession.

Andrea discusses how proposed legislative changes could have the biggest impact on this crucial role in decades.