RCVS to hold November virtual veterinary nursing evening to celebrate new registrants

The RCVS will be holding a virtual veterinary nurses evening in November which will welcome over 70 newly-qualified VNs to the profession.

The evening takes place at 7.30pm on Thursday 12 November and is hosted by Chair of VN Council Matthew Rendle, and RCVS President Mandisa Greene. The event will start with an address from Matthew who will then take all the veterinary nurses present through their professional declarations.

The names of all the new registrants, as well as 10 registered veterinary nurses who are collecting their Diplomas in Advanced Veterinary Nursing, will be read out with a corresponding slide and picture of each. This will include the recognition of Judith Montgomery RVN, who is currently based in clinical practice in Liverpool and has been practising as a veterinary nurse for nearly 40 years, for her long-standing contribution to the profession.

As well as the formal welcoming ceremony, two speeches will also be given on the evening from two previous recipients of the Veterinary Nursing Golden Jubilee Award, the highest honour that can be bestowed on a veterinary nurse by the College for those who have had a sustained and distinguished career and who can demonstrate a leadership role within the profession.

The first speaker is Jane Devaney who was bestowed the VN Golden Jubilee Award in 2019. Jane, is the Head Nurse at the Philip Leverhulme Equine Hospital at the University of Liverpool’s School of Veterinary Medicine and was recognised for her contribution to veterinary education, particularly in terms of teaching and mentoring veterinary students. Her presentation will be about the development of her career in veterinary nursing and is titled ‘From graduation to Golden Jubilee: how a veterinary nursing career can lead to great things’.

The second speaker is Hayley Walters, recipient of the VN Golden Jubilee Award in 2014. Hayley currently works in practice at Carrick Vets in Derbyshire but has previously worked in China nursing bears rescued from the bear bile trade and in the anaesthesia and international animal welfare education teams at The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies in Edinburgh and was awarded an MBE in 2018 for her contributions to animal welfare. Her presentation will be about her international work and is titled ‘From Bosnia to Vietnam: where a veterinary nursing career can take you’.

As well as two guest speakers, our Director of Veterinary Nursing Julie Dugmore will be giving those attending an update on the VN Futures initiative and letting them know how they can get involved with the project which aims to identify and address the challenges veterinary nursing is likely to face over the coming years.

Speaking about the event Matthew Rendle said: “This will be my first formal event as Chair of VN Council and it’s a great honour for me to be welcoming these newly trained veterinary nurses into our great profession and sharing with them my hopes and wishes for veterinary nurses and how they can play their part in its development and its future.

“Our guest speakers Jane and Hayley also demonstrate just how diverse a career veterinary nursing can be and that it can encompass teaching, mentoring, international outreach and clinical practice and I hope those attending will be inspired to think about all the different paths their veterinary nursing qualification can take them down.”

The event will be available to watch live on its dedicated webpage and will also be recorded for those who aren’t able to attend on the evening itself. Those with any further questions should contact the RCVS Events Team on [email protected]