Dear Reader 

Welcome to the March edition of the VNJ. The nights are finally drawing out and my favourite time of the year is here. I am always filled with enthusiasm and positivity in Spring, far more than I ever am in January!

A reminder to look at the programme for the 2017 BVNA congress and book to ensure that you take advantage of the ‘Early Bird’ discount. We will soon be launching, once again, the call for abstracts for the conference – so, if you are a current student or did your degree or advanced diploma some time ago then I urge you to dig out your abstracts and review them for submission. This year we are also hoping to see more submissions from our RVNs in practice and in education – we invite you to support the association at the grass roots of nursing rather than take your abstracts elsewhere.

Whilst reviewing the proofs for this month’s journal, and reading Mary-Ellen Goldberg’s excellent second article on chronic pain it has made me truly thankful that our American technician counterparts are so willing to write for and support our journal.

As you will read from her biography, Mary-Ellen was previously the Executive Secretary for the International Veterinary Academy of Pain Management (IVAPM) and a Certified Veterinary Pain Practitioner – the Academy and the certification are certainly something that those of you with an interest in analgesia may wish to look into.

The hot topic article included this month takes an anecdotal look at mental health in our Veterinary Nursing population and is extremely eye opening. For me this piece shows the importance of the ‘Mind Matters’ initiative and Vet Helpline but also how much we need to look after our friends and colleagues in practice. Remember that it’s ok to not be ok and that simply asking someone ‘are you ok?’ or ‘how are you really?’ could make such a difference. Louise Buckley, Jill MacDonald and Alison Mann have provided an excellent piece for us this month on evidence based veterinary nursing and what it means for RVNs – I couldn’t agree more and urge you all to get involved!

This issue of the VNJ appears to have something for our SVNs and RVNs alike and I very much hope you enjoy this edition (alongside the extra daylight hours). However, if there is some-thing that you feel the VNJ is lacking or a topic that you would like to see covered in more depth then please get in touch.

Author

Sam McMillan BSc(Hons) VTS(Anesthesia/Analgesia) DipAVN RVN

Editor-in-Chief

VOL 32 • March 2017 • Veterinary Nursing Journal