In October 2019 Gillian RVN travelled down to Telford to attend BVNA Congress. The British Veterinary Nursing Association (BVNA) is an organisation available as a supportive group for Veterinary Nurses, and aids in promoting animal health and welfare.
Lectures were held over the course of a weekend at the Telford International Centre. Not only was there the chance to attend lots amazing lectures, there was also the exhibition hall where RVNs could socialise and chat with reps from all different companies about the products they offer!
During the weekend, there were different streams of lectures ranging from Advanced Nursing Care and Promoting Mental Well-being in Practice to Behaviour and Equine. During her time there, Gillian attended a mixed bag of subjects including talks on anaesthesia, behaviour, and dental care.
Her favourite lecture was given by fellow RVN Nimisha Patel and was called Commonly Encountered Issues for SVNs and How to Tackle Them. Gillian is one of the practice’s Clinical Coaches, which means she aids in the training of Student Veterinary Nurses (SVNs). This lecture helped Gillian to see issues that could easily arise in practice, and how to overcome such issues to ensure SVNs receive the best training possible and are able to work to the best of their ability!
As well as enjoying lectures, Gillian enjoyed chatting to the reps about their products and managed to bag some free samples for the practice! These included bandage material, Pet Remedy products, dog leads, and – of course – lots of pens!
Gillian has already started to implement some of the tips she learned at BVNA Congress into practice and looks forward to when the SVNs are back in practice from college and university so she can help them further with their training. She hopes to attend BVNA Congress again next year, to further her knowledge in her Veterinary Nursing career!