VN Council supports VN Week

The Vice-Chairman of the Veterinary Nursing Council, Dot Creighton, gave her support to BVNA’s Veterinary Nursing week on the BVNA’s stand last month at the County Land and Business Association Game Fair near Grantham, Leicestershire.

The Game Fair is the largest of its type in the UK, with over 136,000 visitors, many of whom were dog owners, bringing their pets with them.

A team of VNs were on hand throughout the three-day show giving free pet-health checks and healthcare advice.

With so many visitors to the fair, the VNs also found themselves caring for distressed dogs, catching escaped hounds and working with stewards to keep paths clear for horses and maintain public safety.

As well as advising animal owners, those staffing the BVNA stand discussed identification and role of the VN. Over 800 information packs, which included RCVS VN career leaflets, were given out.

Advice was also given on veterinary nursing as a career: choosing veterinary nursing as a career change was popular amongst those visitors wanting to return to work after raising a family.

Attending the event, Dot said: “The BVNA should be congratulated on organising such a successful event. The Game Fair provided just the right type of target audience - the animal-owning public - that we needed to reach to promote the role of the VN.

"Visitors to the stand experienced the VN's role in preventative healthcare, and we encouraged them to make enquires about the nursing team in their practice.

“It’s also important that we promote veterinary nursing to people who are looking for a challenging professional career. Modern veterinary nursing offers both the satisfaction of caring for our patients, and real opportunities for progression whether it be into managerial roles, specialist nursing areas or teaching.”