Over the course of this summer, the VN Futures project, a joint endeavour between the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) and the British Veterinary Nursing Association (BVNA), will be sponsoring and supporting a series of RCVS engagement events. These will aim to draw out the views of the professions on their aspirations for the future of veterinary nursing.

As a project focused on ensuring that veterinary nursing remains a vibrant, rewarding and sustainable profession, it is important for VN Futures to refresh its understanding of where veterinary nurses, student vet nurses and other veterinary professionals feel the delivery of team-based veterinary healthcare currently is, and also where it should be heading.

The aim of the Vet Nursing Vision workshops will be to ask delegates what they think, or hope, veterinary nursing will look like in 2035 in areas such as education and training, the structure of delivery of care, what veterinary nurses can do, and practice culture. The sessions will encourage open-minded, unrestricted thinking to explore how positive changes for the professions might be achieved and the steps that need to be taken on the way.

The first of the Vet Nursing Vision events takes place on Wednesday 8 May from 6.15pm to 9.30pm at the College of Agriculture, Food & Rural Enterprise’s Greenmount Campus in County Antrim, Northern Ireland and will be hosted by Julie Dugmore, RCVS Director of Veterinary Nursing, and Jill Macdonald, VN Futures Project Lead.

Jill said: “I do hope veterinary nurses from across Northern Ireland and beyond can join us for what is sure to be a fascinating evening of discussions about where we want to be as a profession and how we can take steps to manifest that vision.

“These workshops will also form part of an overall refresh of the VN Futures project. A lot has happened in the world and in the veterinary sector in the eight years since it was launched and the veterinary nursing profession itself has more than doubled in size.

“While VN Futures has continued to stay relevant in its focus on career development and showcasing the diversity of career options open to veterinary nurses, the new reality means we need to reconsider the fundamental aims of the project.

“If you come along please bring your ideas about your aspirations for the profession, what you’d do to ensure more people want to stay within the profession for longer, and how you’d encourage VNs to feel proud of their professions and inspire subsequent generations to want to join it.”

Two further Vet Nursing Vision events will also be taking place this year. These are:

  • Wednesday 26 June 2024 at Edinburgh Napier University
  • Thursday 11 July 2024 at Harper Adams in Shropshire

To sign up to the Northern Ireland event go to its dedicated Eventbrite page. If you have any questions about the Vet Nursing Vision events please contact Jill Macdonald on j.macdonald@rcvs.org.uk