Andrea Jeffery talks VN Council
Surgical veterinary nurse Andrea Jeffery has a history on the VN Council since it first began in 2002, and was even the first veterinary nurse to chair the council. She is now standing for re-election.
Mrs Jeffery, who is largely involved in the education of veterinary nurses, hopes to find a way of protecting the veterinary nurse title, to prevent those who are not registered or listed from calling themselves a veterinary nurse.
She said: "Protection of the title of veterinary nurse to those who are on the register or list would be a huge step forward, in particular, for clarity to the public who assume that all those in uniform and calling themselves veterinary nurses are on a professional register."
Mrs Jeffery explained that this is one of the rules she would like to see added to the VN Bye-laws, if this was agreed by the RCVS Council under its royal charter powers.
As her manifesto states, Mrs Jeffery would like to raise public awareness of the veterinary nurse's role. Part of this involves making it clear who is registered and listed, and who is not.
"[The VN Council] has clearly shown itself to be a council that has animal welfare and public confidence in the professional role of veterinary nursing at the forefront of all decisions it has made," Mrs Jeffery commented.
She added that, over the last 10 years, the council has self-regulated, made CPD compulsory and introduced VN Preliminary Investigation Disciplinary Committees.
For this reason, Mrs Jeffery believes the RCVS already shows its commitment as a regulator. She also explained that as veterinary nurses are part of a team alongside veterinary surgeons, it is sensible to be regulated by the same house.
"I would have to be convinced of the argument to have a separate Royal College of Veterinary Nurses."
When asked why members should vote for her, Mrs Jeffery commented that her experience on council and as part of the RCVS for a number of years now means that she has a clear understanding of the role of council and its position within the RCVS.
"Having a diverse group of nurses on VN Council will provide it with a breadth an depth of experience to help with the decision making that needs to take place."
She added: "I would like to see veterinary nursing continue to grow as a profession."
With Strangles Awareness Week just around the corner (5-11 May), vets are being encouraged to share a survey about the disease with their horse-owning clients.
