Training: all change please!

This September will see the first intake of students on the new Level 3 Diploma in Veterinary Nursing. This is not to be confused with the Diploma in Advanced Veterinary Nursing, a post-qualification award. The Level 3 Diploma replaces the National Vocational and Vocationally- Related Qualifications, and those achieving it will be eligible to register with the RCVS.

Why the change?

The catalyst for the change was the Government’s move to scrap all NVQs/VRQs – not just those relating to veterinary nursing – and replace them with the new Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF). But the RCVS Working Party, given the task of developing a replacement qualification, seized the opportunity to make some positive changes, rather than just shoehorning the existing qualification into the new framework. That work kicked off in spring 2009 and, racing to meet tight deadlines set by government, has been a tall order!

And nothing is ever straightforward – at the same time as the qualification was under review, sector skills Council Lantra was updating the National Occupational Standards (NOS), to which the new syllabus needed to be mapped. There was a degree of ‘chicken and egg’, as both the NOS and syllabus were changing at the same time, but the Working Party, under the able chairmanship of RCVS Council Member and, more recently, SPVS president, Jacqui Molyneux, rose to the challenge.

During the development process, it was vital that lessons were learned from the experiences of those involved with delivery of the existing awards. To this end, two consultation phases took place in 2009 – one over the summer and one in autumn.

Around 400 responses were received to the second – more meaty – consultation, which, taking account of the organisational responses, equated to the views of around 2,000 individuals involved with the training of veterinary nurses. Some significant changes were made to the proposed qualification following feedback.

For example, it was initially envisaged that the work-based training would be a two-year, 70-credit Level 3 qualification, equivalent to 700 hours’ learning. Following concerns raised, this was beefed up to 180 credits.

So, following the consultation, discussion and debate, what’s the final result? The new qualification differs from the old in many ways, as outlined below.

Full-time option

In addition to the usual apprentice-style training, there is now a full-time option, allowing better access to training for school leavers. Full-time students will, in addition to attending a college course, undertake at least 60 weeks of placement in a training practice, in much the same way that university students currently do.

Core and optional units

The new qualification comprises core and optional units. Students will be required to achieve 12 core units at Level 3 and one unit at Level 4 (130 credits). Six pathway units at Level 3 in either small animal or equine specific nursing need to be completed, amounting to 50 credits. There will no longer be a specific equine qualification.

The table on the following page outlines the new units and their credits/level.

Auxiliary TPs

A shortage of TPs has made for a bottleneck in VN training over the last five years or so. In order to increase the number of training places in practice, we have introduced a new category of Training Practice – Auxiliary TPs (ATPs). Such ATPs will be able to employ and train VN students, even if they do not have the facilities to provide all of the work experience required. However, ATPs need to have a formal agreement with their centre that will involve seconding students to other TPs that can ‘fill in the gaps’ in training and experience.

New clinical coach role

Another key change is in practice-based support for students. The D32/33 assessor role will be phased out and, instead, students will require an accountable ‘Clinical Coach’ in practice – an experienced and professionally-mature RVN or MRCVS.

The Clinical Coach will have a wider remit than an assessor; although many will continue to fulfil this role for remaining NVQ students still working through their qualifications. They will be responsible for ensuring requisite clinical tuition and suitable experience, as well as for verifying competence. Clinical coaches will be trained in-house by centres and will be required to attend annual CPD training to keep their skills up-to-date.

No more portfolio!

The portfolio has been replaced by an electronic logging system (the Nursing Progress Log – NPL). The NPL will be used by students and the Clinical Coaches to record practice-based tuition, experience and competence. A system is currently being piloted by four colleges and feedback has been extremely positive from both students and practices.

The NPL is based on a series of Day-one practical nursing skills in which students need to learn, practise and reach competence. The skills are those expected of all qualified veterinary nurses when they join the RCVS Register, and are founded on Lantra’s National Occupational Standards and the hands- on skills needed by nurses in practice (such as clinical cleaning, monitoring patients and bandaging). The NPL will be accessed and monitored by the responsible centre and also by the RCVS for quality assurance purposes.

To the relief of many, the NPL will not require either students or Clinical Coaches to write lengthy notes or collect large volumes of assessment evidence. However, unlike the portfolio, Clinical Coaches – or, in some cases, course tutors – must confirm that students have been taught each NPL skill and are able to carry this out before students can ‘unlock’ that skill and start logging experience.

They will then log experience before indicating to their Coach that they feel competent. The Clinical Coach will either sign off the skill or arrange for further teaching and/or experience if he or she feels the required standard of competence has not yet been reached.

Students will be required to log their teaching and experience regularly and there will be a time bar to prevent significantly retrospective recording – students should log-in at least once a week.

Although the NPL will involve a great deal less paperwork than an NVQ portfolio, it is still designed to be rigorous. It records teaching – which a portfolio did not – and requires students to record experience before being deemed competent. It is web-based and will require students and clinical coaches to have internet access at work.

Quality assurance

As now, there will be a need to quality- assure assessment processes and the delivery of the qualification in general. Centres will accordingly need to have qualified verifiers in place to monitor the NPL and moderate internal college assignments and exams. Centres will still visit all prospective TPs for approval, and annually thereafter (or more frequently should a practice present high risk). External verifiers will continue to monitor centres and TPs as they currently do.

Funding

Funding for the new programme has now been agreed by the Skills Funding Agency.; but there is less available than in previous years. However, there are no longer two separate (Level 2 and Level 3) apprenticeships that entail costly internal verification activities (bi-annual visits to practices, time-consuming portfolio monitoring, and so on).

Apprenticeship funding covers 100 per cent of training costs for 16- to 18- year-olds and approximately 50 per cent of costs for 19- to 25-year-olds, with employers exp
ected to contribute the remaining 50 per cent. Students over the age of 25 will, as previously, be unlikely to be funded.

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