Three veterinary organisations team up to develop a new direct entry system for equine nursing course
Under new proposals set out by the British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA), British Veterinary Nursing Association (BVNA) and Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) a new equine nursing course is to be launched.
Currently, veterinary nurses can “top-up” with a one-year equine course to become an equine veterinary nurse, providing they have first completed and passed the Small Animal Nursing course.
It has long been recognised that the existing top-up course needed altering to cater for those nurses who want to work exclusively with horses and other equines.
Training for veterinary nurses is changing over to the NVQ/SVQ system and this has led to a restructure of the syllabus, exam and examiners and regulation. At the end of the new course, nurses will be awarded an NVQ or SVQ at level 2 and 3.
Mike Garlick from BEVA said: “Although no firm date has been set for the start of this course, it is hoped that it will be operational by 2002. Vets in particular recognise the need for trained equine nurses to carry out specialised care.”
The directentry course is likely to be a two-year course and the entry requirements will be the same as veterinary nursing – 5 GCSEs at grade 2 and above, including science and English.
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