Dear Reader

Welcome to the February issue of the VNJ. As you may have noticed from reading the contents page, the VNJ is covering a variety of topics which we hope are of interest to you. Mary Ellen Goldberg takes us for a walk on the wild side with her extensive article on reviewing physiotherapy for exotics and zoo animals. This is an area in which I do not have a lot of experience so I found this article very interesting and informative. Mary’s article includes lots of images including a giraffe and a rhino receiving laser therapy, grimace scales for ferrets, mice, rats and rabbits, and a duck about to attempt cavaletti rails placed on the floor.

Have you ever considered the use of early warning scores and could they be used to identify deteriorating health status of veterinary inpatients sooner? Helen Ballantyne discusses the potential advantages of applying such scoring systems in veterinary medicine and outlines some of the caveats to be considered too. If you are a fan of completing the multiple choice questions to test yourself when reading the VNJ, the questions in this issue are based on Helens article.

Jo Oakden, BVNA Honorary Secretary and Regional Representative has provided a discussion article describing her experience of ‘The 10-year itch’. In her article Jo discusses a wide range of options available for veterinary nurses within the profession such as specialising, academia, sales representatives, technical advisors and potential options to work from home. Towards the end of her article, Jo shares how being involved with the BVNA has assisted her personal development.

Wherever your nursing qualification has taken you or takes you in the future, an important aspect of any role is communication. Gemma Reeve, BVNA Council Member and Regional Representative has provided a review of Lisa Winter’s webinar on client communication. Communication methods and barriers are provided during the webinar which is specifically tailored for nurses working in practice. However, with communication being such an integral aspect in a wide variety of positions, the themes discussed within the webinar could be applied to a range of different roles within the profession as discussed in Jo Oakdens article.

Those of you who are eagle-eyed readers of the contents page may have spotted a change on the VNJ Editorial Board. Gareth McCormack has recently become the VNJ’s Deputy Editor to take over from Samantha Morgan who has been on the board for the past six years. On behalf of the BVNA council, staff and members, I would like to welcome Gareth to the VNJ and say a huge thank you to Sam for all her time and support for the journal. Gareth has kindly offered to write the ‘dear reader’ for the March issue of the VNJ so I will leave to Gareth to introduce himself next month.

I would also like to mention that the very popular Oral Care Nurse Course will be running from March to July. There are four modules covering anatomy, periodontal disease, oral care consultations and instrument care. The course is £10 for BVNA and BVDA members and £30 for non-members. On successful completion of the course, a certificate is provided demonstrating that nine hours of CPD has been undertaken. The course will open for registrations on 4th March but in the meantime, you can register your interest on the BVNA website: www.bvna.org.uk/oralcarenurse

Author

Stacey Blease BVSc MVetSci PhD MRCVS Editor-in-chief

VOL 34 • February 2019 • Veterinary Nursing Journal