Dear Reader

Well, yet another Congress has come and gone and has again been a huge success! The fact that it is an enormous hit each year is down to the amazing committee and office staff we have behind this major event. The Congress committee works incredibly hard to find the best speakers and most interesting subjects while the office team, stewards and other volunteers at Congress do a wonderful job to keep the event running smoothly. At our annual AGM, which is held on the Sunday of Congress, we always thank the people who have been involved in the organising and it may seem like just the routine thing to do, but the genuine appreciation behind those thanks is far from a routine sentiment!

Our AGM is also the start of the Association’s new year, which brings sad departures from Council but also the arrival of some new faces. You have already ‘met’ our four new Council members in previous issues of the VNJ – Bizzy Allen-McClure, Megan Whitehead, Whilmari Worrow and Sarah Wyatt – and they are eager to get started. We also saw the handing over of the chain of office at the AGM, and we warmly welcome our new BVNA President, Fiona Andrew. She has a challenging task ahead ‘filling the shoes’ of Kirstie Shield whose professionalism and passion shone through in her Council year, but Fiona is more than up to the challenge and will continue to uphold the BVNA’s mission.

Both Kirstie and Fiona have reconfirmed in me the belief that it is good to be passionate about our profession. I was once told by someone that ‘there are worse things than not caring about the profession’. At the time, the words winded me because I felt so strongly about what I was doing, and they have continued to haunt me over the intervening years. They have made me question if I was being oversensitive or ‘missing’ something. However, I would now like to say that I firmly believe that there is nothing worse than not caring in our profession. Veterinary nursing needs individuals who care, not only about the animals – that is why we do what we do, after all – but about the future of the profession and about the passion other individuals have for the profession. People who do not really care should be gently reminded that it is not compulsory to be a veterinary nurse and there are other careers to choose…

Stepping down off my soapbox now, I will leave you to read this month’s VNJ and be informed and inspired. If you didn’t manage to get to Congress this year, I hope the report and pictures from the event will encourage you to attend in the not-too-distant future.

Author

Sam Morgan CertEd DipAVN (Medical & Surgical) RVN

Editor-in-chief

To cite this editorial, use either
DOI: 10.1111/vnj.12186 or Veterinary Nursing Journal VOL 29 p344

• VOL 29 • November 2014 • Veterinary Nursing Journal