Author Archives: Alison German

Health and Fitness Tip of the week: Sleep!

Sleep… Food for your brain

Did you know college students are one of the most sleep-deprived populations?

Whilst you are asleep your body is repairing, recovering, growing and producing vital hormones. Insufficient sleep can affect your ability to concentrate, make decisions, and engage fully in college and social activities. You may even forget important information like names, numbers and homework! The National Sleep Foundation recommends that 14-17year olds need between 8-10hours sleep per night, whilst those between the age of 18 and 65 require 7-9hours per night. You are however unique and you may require more or less than this.

The CAW Training Practice Customer Survey

If you are a The College of Animal Welfare (CAW) Training Practice, please keep a look out for the annual Training Practice Customer Survey which will be arriving in the post soon!  This annual survey forms part of our commitment to improving our service and provides an opportunity for you to influence not only the College’s service, but also the future training of veterinary nurses.

Please complete and return the form to us by email, fax or post as we really appreciate your comments and feedback.

Holocaust Memorial Day: 27 January

During the Second World War, the Nazis sought to murder the entire Jewish population and to destroy their culture. Although the Jews of Europe were the Nazis’ main target, many millions of other people were imprisoned, enslaved and murdered. The Nazis did not act alone, they were supported and assisted by people from within the countries they occupied across Europe. These events are now called the Holocaust and some of the shocking facts can be found below:

  1. The holocaust began in 1933 when Hitler rose to power and ended in 1945
  2. 11 million people were killed during the holocaust – 1.1 million of these were children and 6 million were Jews although the latest research carried out at Washington’s Holocaust Memorial Museum suggest the figure is actually 15 – 20 million
  3. Two thirds of Jewish people living in Europe at the time of WW2 were killed by the Nazis
  4. After the start of WW” the Nazis ordered Jews to wear the Yellow Star of David on their clothes to make them easy to identify
  5. Auschwitz and Birkenau were liberated on the 27th January 1945
  6. On September 15th 1935 Jewish people living in Germany were excluded from public life, stripped of their citizenship and their right to marry a German
  7. The entrance gate to Auschwitz is inscribed with the message Arbeit Macht Frei which translates to work sets you fee
  8. Auschwitz has been turned into a museum to ensure that the atrocities that occurred were never forgotten. There are display cases of luggage, glasses, shoes, artificial limbs, human hair and more. More than 500,000 people visit the site each year.
  9. Anne Frank died in Bergen Belsen just weeks before the camp was liberated
  10. The exact number of camps established between 1933 and 1945 by the Nazis is unclear but numbers range from 1,000-20,000
  11.  October 1939 Germans first began killing the impaired
  12. 8th December 1941 – Chelmno – the first killing centre began operation
  13. Up to 6,000 people a day could be killed at Auschwitz
  14. The first commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Hoss was tried following the end of the war and sentenced to death by hanging at the place he had ordered the death of so many others
  15. Oscar Schindler saved more than 1200 Jews during the Holocaust at a personal cost to himself of millions
  16. The longest transport of prisoners to a death camp was 18 days and not one person survived the journey
  17. To get prisoners into the gas chambers they were told that they would be washed and disinfected
  18. The first concentration camp was Dachau
  19. Six camps served as the main killing camps – Auschwitz-Birkenau, Treblinka, Majdanek, Chelmno, Sobibor and Belzec
  20. At the entrance to each death camp a selection process to place to decide who would be sent immediately to the gas chambers and who would be used as labour – pregnant women, small children, the elderly and the sick or handicapped were immediately sentenced to death
  21. When the gas chamber at Auschwitz was full it only took 20 mins to kill everyone inside
  22. When prisoners were first liberated from the camps many died within the first week of freedom often due to the sudden change in their diet that their bodies were not used to

Improving Indian Veterinary Patient Care

Back in November a group of veterinary nursing students from The College of Animal Welfare / Edinburgh Napier University had the opportunity to spend some time at Kerala Veterinary School in India.

They worked alongside Indian vets, vet students and technicians to share their nursing skills and knowledge. Despite India’s ever-increasing pet population, there are no officially recognised veterinary nursing qualifications there. The students were able to show how some simple changes to the enrichment and basic nursing care of the patients can make a huge difference.

There were many challenges and learning experiences along the way. Please take a few minutes to watch and share this wonderful video that one of our students created; the work to improve and develop standards of veterinary nursing care will not end here. Thank you.

RCVS responds to Defra statement on its ‘protect the VN title’ petition

In August 2015, the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) launched a petition asking the Government to protect the title ‘veterinary nurse’ by legally restricting it to registered veterinary nurses (RVNs), therefore making it an offence for unqualified and unregistered laypeople to refer to themselves as a veterinary nurse.

The RCVS, along with the British Veterinary Association (BVA) and British Veterinary Nursing Association (BVNA) believe that only individuals with the appropriate level of training and professional responsibilities should be able to use the title ‘veterinary nurse’, and that its use by unregistered individuals is misleading, with the potential to endanger animal welfare.

The campaign received an astonishing level of support, with over 21,000 people signing the official parliament.uk petition. Furthermore, the campaign galvanised the veterinary nursing profession, as well as veterinary surgeons and other practice staff, with many supporting and promoting the campaign on social media and through the press. It has also raised the profile of veterinary nurses with the public, and helped to improve awareness within veterinary practices that it is contrary to the RCVS Code of Professional Conduct to refer to someone as a ‘veterinary nurse’ unless they are registered and qualified as such.

The current Government has a deregulatory agenda, and therefore it was always going to be challenging to persuade it to protect the title in this parliament. It has now responded to the petition to explain that it will not introduce new legislation to criminalise improper use of the title ‘veterinary nurse’.

While this is disappointing, the RCVS is heartened to be asked to work with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to find new ways of bolstering the veterinary nursing profession.  A significant part of this work will be a review of Schedule 3 of the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966, which allows certain minor acts of veterinary surgery to be delegated to veterinary nurses. The RCVS hopes that Schedule 3 can be simplified to give VNs more clarity and confidence over what tasks they can undertake, and augmented to strengthen the role of VNs in areas such as anaesthesia.

The RCVS has also launched the ‘VN Futures’ project, following on from last year’s Vet Futures research and report. VN Futures will take a long-term view, seeking to prepare for the future and to set ambitious goals for strengthening the profession.

The RCVS would like to thank the many Members of Parliament from all parties who came forward to support the campaign. It would also like to give special thanks to those veterinary nurses who have tirelessly assisted with promoting the campaign, especially on social media. The RCVS continues to believe that the title ‘veterinary nurse’ should be protected, and will continue to make the argument in favour of new legislation.

RCVS Logo

RCVS veterinary nursing student enrolment fee set to increase

The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) veterinary nursing student enrolment fee is set to increase on 1 January 2016 to £174 per student.

This is a £5 increase from the current £169 fee.

Learner Satisfaction Survey

Each year, The College of Animal Welfare is required to gain its funded learner’s views on their learning journey. This is your opportunity to tell us what you think about the College; your feedback plays an important part in developing the quality of your education and training.

The survey asks for your opinion on a range of aspects, such as how satisfied you are with the teaching on your course and whether you would recommend us to a friend. The information you provide is used by OFSTED when making decisions about which providers to inspect, and when.

Who needs to complete the survey?

All learners at The College of Animal Welfare who are funded are required to complete the survey. Your tutor will provide you with your Unique Learner Number (ULN) and the College Provider Number. Once you have these you can start the survey online here:

http://www.ipsos-mori.com/learnersatisfaction

The survey shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes of your time to complete. Please do participate in this important survey. By sharing your views, you will help the College to further improve. Many thanks in advance.

Send a Vet Nurse to India: Student experiences

By Kirsty Dougherty, BSc (Hons) Veterinary Nursing student – Edinburgh Napier University/The College of Animal Welfare

My first impressions of India were of smiling people, crazy driving and beautiful scenery -the sun shone, it was warm and life was instantly better.

On arrival at the University campus we were met with a large poster with our picture on it and the words “A hearty welcome to Team Edinburgh”. There was a colourful inauguration ceremony with speeches and presents and we saw a genuine interest in why we were there from all the kind and receptive vets and students.

We entered the veterinary hospital on our first day to showcase what a VN can do with the hopes that by the end of our visit we would be missed and that the supporting, caring role of the VN would be better understood by the Indian staff who were interested in developing their own VN training and qualification programme.

We were faced with many challenges in the unfamiliar environment but in proper VN style we set about cleaning and organising but with minimal supplies. You do not appreciate the true value of blue roll until you have none! The residents of the in-patient ward had varying long term chronic conditions so with a deep breath and remembering that this was why we had come, we did all we could to improve the immediate and long term conditions for these dogs. We scrubbed, sweated and problem solved our way through the week and were rewarded by seeing a big improvement in the demeanour and comfort of the animals there.

The surgical facilities were impressive with fancy monitoring equipment and it was sometimes hard to reconcile this with the less developed ward areas and levels of peri-operative care. After talking to the vet students however, we realised that many of them had been placed onto the veterinary medicine course due to their grades and that becoming doctors or engineers had been the first choice for many. I think we would all agree that veterinary nursing and veterinary medicine can be a difficult, dirty and tiring job but that we do it, and love it because we have a passion for animals that constantly makes it worthwhile. It becomes easier to understand just how difficult it must be for these students if they do not have that same motivating love for animals that gives us our drive, and that sees us through the hard times. In addition to this, there are also very understandable cultural attitudes to dogs that have to be taken into consideration. I was talking to a young shopkeeper who had just shooed away a stray dog and he told me “It’s not that I don’t like dogs, it’s just that I’m scared of needles.”

This really highlighted to me the difficulties faced by normal people living with the very real risk of Rabies. Over a third of the world’s 60 000 deaths from this horrible, preventable disease occur in India, the majority of which are in children under 15. We had to have three rabies vaccinations before we left and two members of our team had to have further injections whilst we were there. This all comes at a cost and for many Indians the means and facilities for medical treatment just aren’t there.

It is no wonder then that dogs are seen so differently from our safe, cuddly, lucky pets at home.

Despite all this we did meet people who really cared about their patients and who were willing to learn new techniques and improve standards. This is why a veterinary nursing programme would be so beneficial, the will is there and with some passionate people, further education and a framework of skills on which to build, the lives of hospitalised patients could be massively improved. I hope that by seeing the love, care and enrichment we gave to the dogs we will have inspired people and that the ripples of compassion will spread to the helpers, students, vets and patients and throughout the hospitals we visited and beyond.

I loved my time in India, I learnt so much and wish we had more time to spend there. I worked with some great people and animals and had lovely views with monkey visitors. We had power cuts in the middle of surgery, there were laughs, tears and many, many unforgettable experiences. The sun shone, it was warm and I feel proud to have been a part of Team Edinburgh.

Send a Vet Nurse to India: A student perspective

By Lydia Barry, BSc (Hons) Veterinary Nursing student – Edinburgh Napier University/The College of Animal Welfare

After two long flights and a car journey where our lives flashed before our eyes on numerous occasions, we arrived at the first campus in the beautiful Pookode. At first, over taking on blind bends and the constant beeping of horns was surreal, but a few days later and I oddly seemed to enjoy it.

India was hot, beautiful and chaotic. The people inquisitive, yet very polite when asking for selfies. All concerns of inter cultural communications were dissolved within the first day. The veterinary doctors and students spoke impeccable English, making every effort to accommodate us with a ‘Hearty Welcome’ and a continuous supply of tea, cookies and the odd curry and banana leaf (which really tested the best of poker faces). At both campuses, problem solving with regards to communication was easily overcome when two vital members of staff did not speak English. Putting our drawing skills to the test, we created numerous images of dogs going to the toilet at a tree amongst others. It was at this point where we all realised the simplicity but enormity of the task that laid ahead.

There was a definite contrast between the two hospitals with regards to both business and clinical decision making. Pookode being the most rural campus was the quieter, with occasional surgery but plenty of inpatients. After a quick tour, Hayley and Heather separated the lecturers to different areas and myself and the other students planned to rotate during the week. In the UK, my passion lies in the medical management of inpatients so I volunteered to be on the first rotation of the IP area.

The kennels were full of sick and injured street dogs with conditions varying from radial paralysis to skin infections. The quality of life for these patients was questionable however we quickly realised the difference in clinical management of cases. Cases that required surgical intervention such as amputation were refused for differing reasons. This included cultural resistance, contradictory views on autonomy and human views on the ‘correct’ appearance of animals. Euthanasia was also a tricky treatment option due to ethical and cultural resistance from both the general public and the veterinary staff. This came as a bit of a shock, but it reiterated the everyday struggles of individual veterinary clinicians in comparison to that in the UK where welfare is often achieved by the option of euthanasia.

In comparison, Mannuthy was a much busier urban vets where numerous surgical procedures occurred on a daily basis. Once again, the kennels were full of dogs which had minimal disease processes that were waiting for rehoming. When speaking to clinicians here, amputation and enucleation was widely accepted whereas euthanasia was still opposed to. It was interesting to see the massive difference in views between two schools of the same university which were only hours apart.

Feline patients were rare. We encountered three stray cats during the trip: Joe, Rocky and Annie. Being a cat lover, I found these cases very difficult but rewarding. Joe presented with a necrotic limb following a road traffic accident and with gentle persuasion, the team amputated his limb by using the operation as a teaching exercise to encourage the veterinary students and also clinicians that this option was a relatively straightforward, inexpensive and successful procedure which resulted in Joe’s release two days later. As well as teaching the Indian staff, I learnt a lot. Using problem solving techniques such as warming the patient outdoors, using a plant pot for a drip stand and bandaging with white open weave.

Such problem solving techniques were tested even further throughout the trip, particularly within the kennel area. Many of the patients had no stimulation and were restricted to a lonely kennel environment. Using plastic water bottles, tyres and leaves to create scavenging techniques for food and using car mats for beds were just some of the methods of creating a more enriched environment. After watching the dogs interact, we housed certain pairs together to create a social environment. The veterinary students and labourers who worked in the kennel area were impressed and amazed at the difference. I was too, it was amazing to see the difference we had made through the implementation of hospital sheets, collars, labels and enrichment. It was rewarding to see the student’s taking the patient’s for walks, cleaning consult tables between patients and giving the dogs an all new concept: ‘Tender Loving Care’. The students loved this notion, giggling when we said ‘TLC Time’, but eventually learning the importance of loving and caring for patients.

All of these ideas reiterated the importance of the role of the veterinary nurse in the day to day care of veterinary patients. Whilst veterinary nurses do not exist here, there is an animal husbandry course that is similar. The veterinary clinicians seemed to appreciate this and were all very much keen to begin the training programme!

The two weeks flew by working with an amazing team. After being asked continuously for photos, being in the Hindu News and having many emotional moments, it was amazing to see the end result.