Veterinary Nursing self-assessment tool

As a veterinary nurse it is important for you to be able to talk to clients and make sure they have the information they need to care for their animal.

Ratings - Likert scale

Use the scale to rate your ability to talk to members of the public.

• Very good, good, acceptable, in need of improvement or poor

Reflections

Think about the last time you spoke to a member of the public in a formal setting.

• Write down the thing you did the best in this situation.
• Write down what you could have done to improve this interaction.

The ability to read a person’s body language and respond to them appropriately is an important skill for a veterinary nurse to have. For example, if a veterinary nurse is talking to a client about the medication their animal requires and they pick up from the client’s body language that they don’t seem to understand, the veterinary nurse will need to change the way they deliver the information.

Ratings - Likert scale

Use the scale to rate your ability to interpret body language and adjust your communication accordingly.

• Very good, good, acceptable, in need of improvement or poor

Reflections

Think about the last time you noticed a change in person’s body language when you were talking to them and were required to adjust your communication.

• Write down the thing you did the best in this situation.
• Write down what you could have done to improve this interaction.

Veterinary Nurses work in a team with people carrying out a range of different roles including other veterinary nurses, veterinary surgeons, and receptionists.

To work effectively in a team, veterinary nurses need to support their colleagues, use their initiative, and follow instructions.

Ratings - Likert scale

Use the scale to rate the following:

1. Your ability to work effectively in a team
2. Your ability to support colleagues
3. Your ability to use your initiative
4. Your ability to follow instructions
5. Your ability to ask for help

Scale:

• Very good, good, acceptable, in need of improvement or poor

Reflections

Think about a time when you have worked as part of a team of people who are undertaking different roles.

• Write down the role you normally take in a team (e.g. leader, implementer, planner):
• Write down how your normal way of team working could be suited to the role of a veterinary nurse.
• Write down the adjustments you would need to make to your normal way of working in a team to suit the role of a veterinary nurse.

When veterinary nurses enter the RCVS register, they take the following declaration:

" I PROMISE AND SOLEMNLY DECLARE that I will pursue the work of my profession with integrity and accept my responsibilities to the public, my clients, the profession and the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, and that, ABOVE ALL, my constant endeavour will be to ensure the health and welfare of animals committed to my care."

The RCVS Code of Professional Conduct for Veterinary Nurses sets out the professional responsibilities of veterinary nurses and provides advice on the professional standards.

Ratings - Likert scale

Use the scale to rate your commitment to promote the health and welfare of animals, and to adhere to professional guidelines:

• Very good, good, acceptable, in need of improvement or poor

Reflections

Think about a time when you have made a decision that will influence the welfare of an animal (e.g. finding injured wildlife)

• Write down how the actions that you took promoted the welfare of the animal.
• Write down what you would do differently in a similar situation in the future.

Veterinary nurses need to be dependable and often work long and unsociable hours.

Ratings - Likert scale

Use the scale to rate how you feel about regularly working evening, weekend, and night shifts:

• Happy to work unsociable hours
• Okay about working unsociable hours
• Indifferent about working unsociable hours
• Not keen on working unsociable hours
• Don’t want to work unsociable hours

Reflections

Think about a time when you have had to miss a social event due to a work, school, or college commitment.

• Write down how this made you feel and how you think you would cope with this being a regular occurrence.
• Write down the strategies you would put in place to enable you to cope with working unsociable hours.

Veterinary nurses need to be flexible in their approach to their role and be able to deal with unexpected situations, such as emergencies.

Veterinary nurses need to have the resilience to remain calm and rational in high pressure and emotional situations, such as assisting with animal euthanasia.

Ratings - Likert scale

Use the scale to rate your ability to deal with unexpected situations and changing circumstances:

• Very good, good, acceptable, in need of improvement or poor

Use the scale to rate your resilience and ability to stay calm and rational in high pressure and emotional situations:

• Very good, good, acceptable, in need of improvement or poor

Reflections

Think about a time when you have had to cope with an unexpected and emotional situation.

• Write down how you coped with the situation.
• Write down what you could do to cope better with similar situations in the future.

Registered veterinary nurses are required to engage with continuing professional development (CPD) to ensure their skills and knowledge are current.

Ratings - Likert scale

Use the scale to rate your interest in learning new skills and keeping up to date with innovative ideas:

• Very interested, interested, indifferent, not particularly interested or not at all interested

Reflections

Think about a situation when you have learnt a new skill and then been able to try it out.

• Write down how learning and trying out a new skill made you feel.
• Write down how you plan to approach learning new skills in the future.

Thinking and reasoning

Veterinary nurses need to be able to recall crucial information in high pressure situations and then make decisions that are in the best interests of their patient.

Ratings - Likert scale

Use the scale to rate your ability to make rational decisions in high pressure situations:

• Very good, good, acceptable, in need of improvement or poor

Reflections

Think of a time when you have been required to make a rational decision under pressure:

• Write down how you feel you coped with this.
• Write down what you would do differently in similar situations in the future.

IT skills

Veterinary nurses are required to use computer-based systems for a range of activities including accessing patient records, recording clinical notes, booking appointments, and ordering stock.

Ratings - Likert scale

Use the scale to rate your IT skills:

• Very good, good, acceptable, in need of improvement or poor

Reflections

Think about a time when you have had to access a computer-based system in a work, school or college setting to record information:

• Write about the aspects of the tasks that went well.
• Write about what you would do differently when completing similar tasks in the future.

Suitability for the VN role

Veterinary nursing degree programmes provide you with the knowledge and skills for a fulfilling clinical career as a veterinary nurse.

Given the specialised nature of these degrees, it's important to feel confident that this is the right career path for you. If you have any questions or need further guidance, we encourage you to attend an open day at Hartpury University where you can speak with a member of staff and gain a clearer understanding of the rewarding opportunities this profession offers.

Ratings - Likert scale

Based on your ratings for the previous questions, use the scale to rate how suited you feel you are to the role of a veterinary nurse:

• Very well suited, well suited, quite well suited, not sure or not well suited

Reflections

Based on your answers to the previous questions, think about how suited you are to a career as a veterinary nurse.

• Write about the aspects of the role of a veterinary nurse you feel you have experience of and will be prepared to undertake.
• Write about the aspects of the role of a veterinary nurse you feel you need to research further before committing to the career path.
• Write about the experience you feel you require to be fully informed about the veterinary nurse role before deciding on your career path.