Dear Reader

At the time of writing this editorial, the inflated egos of the England Cricket team have sullenly postured their unsporting way to a narrow victory over the Australians in the opening Ashes Test Match in Nottingham. Whilst, in Sweden, in sharp contrast, the opening games in the UEFA Women’s European Soccer Championship have been a joy to watch.

Open, free-running, passing games with levels of skill and innovation to rival that of the men’s national teams. And no histrionics, no diving, no foul-mouthed abuse, just a simple joy of playing the game to win – but as a team playing for each other and not as a group of motley egos grudgingly welded together for the event.

Time was when women’s football was seen as an oddity, not quite the ‘done thing’. It was newsworthy for its idiosyncrasy rather than its merits per se. How that has changed! It is now widely reported and is setting the headlines in its own right.

Time was too – not so very long ago – when the VNJ editorial team would be scratching around to find sufficient news about veterinary nurses to fill a couple of pages. Nowadays we are spoilt for choice; and instead of just being in the news, veterinary nurses are making it.

With the numerical growth of what is still a predominately ‘female’ profession, has come greater recognition – from both outside and within – of the skill sets and potential that veterinary nurses offer. One has only to read the pages of this edition of VNJ to witness how their innovation and enthusiasm now knows no bounds.

Thus we have a host of winners of the National Veterinary Nursing Awareness Month competition representing the very best in individual flair and consummate team effort – all in the interests of flying the flag for the profession as a whole. And then, as horizons are extended on the educational front, we hear from the RCVS about the first recipients of the Advanced Veterinary Nursing Diploma (Equine).

Add to this, all the other news stories that affect veterinary nurses in one way or another – together with the bulging content of the forthcoming congress programme – and it becomes patently clear that veterinary nurses are learning how to combine individual excellence with team cohesion in order to achieve real, headline-grabbing success.

Author

David Watson BVetMed MA MRCVS 

Editor

To cite this editorial use either

DOI: 10.1111/vnj.12051 or Veterinary Nursing Journal Vol 28 pp 238

• VOL 28 • August 2013 • Veterinary Nursing Journal