Young candidate talks positive change
Image: Amy Robinson
VN Council hopeful Amy Robinson, has put forward her views on improving support for veterinary nurses, and her hopes of becoming "the voice for the working VN in practice on the council."
As member of the VN Council, Amy says she would "ask for VNs opinions and take [her] time in listening before making decisions on a subject." She believes that "changes should be made" in the training of VNs to improve well-being, for example teaching sociology, to better allow VNs to understand and help clients.
"I feel VN's should be taught as students about recognising the signs of depression and compassion fatigue and knowing how to deal with them. I would also like to set up a support system for working veterinary nurses, [so] that they have access to professional help."
Mrs Robinson also spoke of the importance of the VN Council in helping the RCVS to achieve its goal of becoming a first-rate regulator. "The VN Council will have a better idea of the VN profession, helping to set the standards of how we want our profession to develop, using our nursing principles of honesty, integrity, openness and transparency."
Discussing the question of veterinary nurses having their own council, separate from the RCVS, Amy advocated unity between the two councils. She said: "I feel we should continue to be a part of the RCVS, overseeing the standards of the veterinary profession as a whole to ensure that animals and clients are being provided with a good service.
"Maybe in the future when we have settled into being a profession, we will be able to have our own council and work alongside the RCVS," she added.
Touching upon the subject of the VN Byelaws, Amy reflected that "with the new awarding bodies and regulatory issues", there has been much change recently within the nursing profession. In light of this, she said: "I feel we should leave the Byelaws and have a stage of seeing how they work and reflect on whether any additional changes need to happen in the future."
As a working RVN in a veterinary hospital, Amy says she has a good understanding of VNs in practice, and what ideas "would and would not work." If elected, she says, "I would like to ensure that VNs are treated as individuals, with different ideas, ambitions and goals, and not just one unit."
RCVS' Mind Matters Initiative (MMI) has launched round two of its veterinary mental health research grants.
