RCVS News - CertVN

A letter was sent to veterinary nurses with the latest issue of RCVS News that encouraged them to read a selection of articles within the publication.

One of these articles, regarding the use of ‘CertVN’ postnominals, was cut from the publication at short notice as RCVS Council suggested that this subject be reviewed again by VN Council at its February 2008 meeting. Unfortunately, the letters had been sent to print before the publication.

The article considered whether qualified veterinary nurses should be encouraged to use their qualification postnominals – ie CertVN – regardless of whether they were Registered/Listed. Unqualified staff cannot use these letters, so applying them where relevant could help to differentiate between those who have completed training and those who have not.

‘CertVN’ status would not mean VNs could legally carry out Schedule 3 activities, but it would signal that they had qualified as veterinary nurses at some point. Although the postnominal ‘VN’ should only be used by listed veterinary nurses, the contraction ‘VN’ has come to represent the listed, qualified, student and unqualified alike, and so is often used erroneously as a postnominal. This can cause confusion and be misleading for the public.

Those who have been educated by the veterinary nursing degree route would be able to use their degree postnominals – BSc, for example. Either type of qualification-related postnominals could be used in addition to VN (Listed Veterinary Nurse) or RVN (Registered Veterinary Nurse) where relevant.

If you have any views on this issue that you would like the VN Council to take into account, please email [email protected].