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The research team conducted a study with two panels of “mid-career veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses” drawn at random from their respective UK registers with the aim of helping them reach consensus on whether conditions which may be uncovered at a vaccine consultation would be recognised by a veterinary nurse, and the potential risks if those conditions were missed.
The consensus was that “veterinary nurses would be able to recognise and correctly refer a majority of issues that could be presented as part of small animal vaccine consultation”; a veterinary nurse with at least five years’ experience in clinical practice would be able to identify 34 of the 42 conditions which could be picked up as part of an annual vaccination consultation with the animal and its owner/keeper.
For the remaining eight conditions, even though the panels did not reach the threshold for consensus, panel members were most likely to say that a veterinary nurse would correctly refer this to a veterinary surgeon.
Julie Dugmore, RCVS director of Veterinary Nursing, said: “This research is a key part of establishing the feasibility of a veterinary nurse prescriber role, as one part of their clinical responsibilities could be carrying out vaccination consultations and prescribing the vaccination.
“We are glad there was consensus that veterinary nurses could identify the majority of issues though there were a few conditions, particularly those that might occur in older animals or in rabbits, where the panels suggested additional experience or training. This was seen as particularly important for conditions that the vet nurse might hear or feel – such as abnormal lung or intestinal sounds – and enlarged thyroid or lymph nodes.
“We will now be feeding this research back to our Standards Committee and to Veterinary Nurses Council and we will be working to develop possible models for a vet nurse prescriber role which would require additional qualifications and training.”
The full report: https://www.rcvs.org.uk/about-us/what-we-do/our-research