Review of the Standards Framework for Veterinary Nurse Education and Training
Please note this consultation is now closed.
Chapters
Standard 1 - Learning culture
The learning culture prioritises the safety of people, including clients, students and educators, and animals enabling the values of the Code of Professional Conduct to be upheld.
Standard 2 - Governance and quality
There are effective governance systems that ensure compliance with all legal, regulatory, professional and educational requirements and clear lines of responsibility and accountability for meeting those requirements
Standard 3 - Student empowerment
Students are provided with a variety of learning opportunities and appropriate resources which enable them to achieve the RCVS Day One Competences and Skills for Veterinary Nurses and programme outcomes and be capable of demonstrating the professional behaviours in the RCVS Code of Professional Conduct for Veterinary Nurses.
Standard 4 - Educators and assessors
Theory and clinical learning, and assessment are facilitated effectively and objectively by appropriately qualified and experienced professionals with necessary expertise for their educational and assessor roles.
Standard 5 - Curricula and assessment
Curricula and assessments are designed, developed, delivered, evaluated, and validated to ensure that students achieve the RCVS Day One Competences, Skills and Professional Behaviours for Veterinary Nurses, QAA HE Subject Benchmark Statements for Veterinary Nurses (HE) and outcomes for their accredited programme.
Standard 6 - Effective clinical learning
All students are provided with safe, effective, and inclusive clinical learning experiences. Each clinical learning environment has the governance and resources needed to deliver education and training.
Introduction from VN Education Committee Chair
As a responsible regulator with quality assurance at the heart of everything we do, we have a commitment to regularly review our educational standards for veterinary nursing in order to ensure that they remain up-to-date, fit for purpose and reflect the latest developments in the educational landscape.
This consultation on our Standards Framework for Veterinary Nurse Education and Training is part of a five-year review cycle for this document, which sets out the professional values, skills and behaviours required of approved educational institutions (AEIs), delivery sites and training practices (TPs) responsible for providing training and support to our student veterinary nurses.
The aim of the standards framework is to provide AEIs, delivery sites and TPs with the flexibility to develop innovative approaches to education for student veterinary nurses, while being accountable for the local delivery and management of accredited programmes.
We are looking for veterinary nurses in all walks of life – as well as student nurses and veterinary surgeons – to provide constructive and specific feedback on our proposals.
Your insights will help us ensure that the standards continue to enable veterinary nurse educators to deliver the best training and support possible for our students, prepare them for life in clinical practice, and ensure that animal health and welfare is a foremost consideration.
In fact, animal health and welfare and public safety is central to our standards. Students will be in contact with patients and their owners throughout their education and it is important that they learn in a safe and effective way.
Some of the key changes we are proposing to the standards framework are around sustainability, including the potential impact of delivering the veterinary nurse training on the environment, and academic integrity, for example, around assessment and moderation processes. We would particularly appreciate feedback in these key areas.
We are grateful to the members of the task-and-finish working group set up to develop the changes and all other stakeholders and contributors for the development of this new proposed framework.
Please do take the time to read through the Standards Framework in full before undertaking the survey. If you have any questions about the document or how to respond to the survey please don’t hesitate to contact the RCVS Veterinary Nursing Team on [email protected]
Sue Howarth RVN
Chair, VN Education Committee
Any questions?
If you have any questions on any aspect of the consultation please contact the Veterinary Nursing team, on [email protected].
