I am Lyndsay Hughes and joined the BVNA Council last year. I am proud to have been nursing for 19 years and have seen many changes within the profession, but I feel that there is still a lot to do regarding promoting and supporting nurses. I am passionate about my position as an RVN, and I am fortunate enough to have had senior and management positions in practice for the last 11 years. I am currently the only nurse on a board of Directors of a very busy, independent small animal practice.

My key areas of interest are supporting, developing and empowering nurses as well as promoting the nursing profession.

I believe strongly that all nurses should be given the opportunity to progress within their roles, be that further qualifications, responsibility within the practice, or advanced skill sets (such as schedule 3). To be able to achieve this, it is key that nurses feel that they are supported by leaders within their practice. I feel that in my position as a Director that I need to ensure that I can be the best and fairest leader possible. Until recently there were not any leadership or management training available to enable nurses to take on senior roles.

The board of Directors I sit on are incredibly supportive and have allowed me to undertake the training retrospectively. I now use this knowledge and experience to ensure a better working environment within my practice. I try and be as transparent as I can be, and think it is so important as a leader to be fair, to listen and to have a self-awareness. I always strive to improve myself and use feedback from my team, along with self-reflection, to keep on learning! I feel it is crucial for nurses in management roles to be able to use their position to improve the working environment of nurses, and to allow their nurses to be heard.

I have recently instigated, the setting up of two nursing networks within the XLVets community. These are aimed at firstly providing support for senior nurses – which can often feel like an isolated role, and secondly an overall network of nursing support and development. Both groups aim to increase engagement in the profession and their practice as well as share skills and best practice amongst the XLVets community, as well as have some fun.

Whilst sitting on the BVNA council one of the things I am very keen to get involved in with is leadership training and looking at ways in which we can improve the working environments of nurses. This could, in its simplest form, just be the awareness that working excessive hours, without breaks should not be the norm.

I am excited about the future of veterinary nursing. Empowering nurses will lead to improved confidence in us being able to achieve all that we want to within our roles. Supporting aspirations is key, and providing positive platforms and role models is essential.

Outside of my day job I have two young children, an elderly cat called Mo (Figure 1) and a very springy sprocker spaniel called Taffy (Figure 2). We are a very active family and like to spend lots of time outdoors, and it is really important for me to be able to have this downtime. If I get the opportunity, I enjoy horse riding very much and much to my husbands despair, my daughter has also developed a keen interest!

Figure 1. Mo

Figure 2. Taffy

Author

Lyndsay Hughes RVN

Director Drove Veterinary Hospital 

Hughes@drovevets.co.uk, DOI:10.1080/17415349.2021.1946274

VOL 36 • August 2021 • Veterinary Nursing Journal