Dear Reader

Welcome to the final issue of the VNJ of 2018. We have a lot to catch up on since my last edition of Dear Reader in October! Many thanks to Wendy Nevins, BVNA President for providing November’s Dear Reader. I hope that you found it insightful.

I was fortunate to attend the Waltham Centre in Leicester for the first time with a very enthusiastic group of veterinary nurses who had completed the Oral Care Nurse Certificate. When I was at university as an undergraduate, someone from the Waltham Centre came to speak to us about the centre and the research projects they were working on. I remember thinking at the time that it seemed to be a fantastic place with great facilities. I wasn’t disappointed!

I found the tour and the lectures on the research results fascinating. The icing on the cake was spending the day with vet nurses who were clearly passionate about oral care and eager to further develop their skill set in this area.

In October I was able to spend three whole days with passionate and enthusiastic vet nurses at my first BVNA Congress. My friends and colleagues had informed me that BVNA Congress is fantastic, and they were spot on! From meeting speakers, reading posters, holding a focus group, spending time on the BVNA stand, speaking to the stewards and chair people, discussing the VNJ with the editorial board, spending more time with council members, meeting the regional representatives and exhibitors, the passion of the people I met was overwhelming! Thank you for taking the time to share your ideas with me and my colleagues. We really appreciate the time you take to provide feedback. Exciting times ahead!

In this issue of the VNJ we have two clinical articles including the second part of change management for vet nurses by Helen Ballantyne and canine cognitive dysfunction (CCD) by Louise Stott and one feature article providing advice on communicating with clients and colleagues with hearing loss by Jessica Griffin. In addition to these peer-reviewed articles, we have the final article in Robin Millar’s trilogy based on the changes the BVNA has made over the last year since Robin was employed as the Strategic Director. Last but not least, Jo Hinde (BVNA’s JVP) has kindly provided a review of the webinar, ‘The reality of breed specific legislation and dog bite prevention’ presented by Shakira Free- Miles. The webinars are free to access for BVNA members and can be found via the BVNA website: www.vnknowledge.co.uk

On behalf of the BVNA, I would like to wish you happy holidays and all the best for 2019. I hope that you manage to find some time over the festive period to snuggle up with a hot chocolate and a copy of the VNJ.

Author

Stacey Blease BVSc MVetSci PhD MRCVS Editor-in-chief

VOL 33 • December 2018 • Veterinary Nursing Journal