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International Workshop on Veterinary nursing begins@Thrissur

International Collaborative Workshop on Development of Veterinary Nursing Curriculum started at College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, Thrissur from 23^rd November 2015 onwards. This is as part of international collaboration between University of Edinburgh and Edinburgh Napier University, UK with Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University. Dr. Heather Bacon, a Zoo Veterinarian and Ms. Hayley Walters, a registered, qualified veterinary nurse from University of Edinburgh are leading the workshop. Dr. Dave Smith, Mr. Andrew Coe and Ms. Karen Hibell are the nursing faculties from Edinburgh Napier University participating in the workshop. Faculty members and clinical students from KVASU, Mannuthy are attending the four day workshop at Veterinary Hospital, Mannuthy. Dr.S.Ajithkumar and Dr.Syam K.Venugopal, Professors, KVASU are leading the workshop from the University.It is well recognised that, for an animal, being sick or injured and hospitalised is a very stressful experience. They are often frightened, in pain and have none of their home comforts or owner with them. Whilst it is the vet’s job to diagnose, treat or perform surgery successfully, it is often the nursing care of the animal that can make the biggest impact on the animal’s experience while in the clinic. By providing consistent, compassionate and knowledgeable nursing care to patients, we can reduce wound healing time, reduce pain, increase comfort and give the animal as positive an experience as possible. Under the instructions of a vet, all of this can be done by a well-trained veterinary nurse. The first part of the workshop was held at pookode from 16^th to 20^th at College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Pookode, Wayanad Dist.

 During the workshop, the delegates will discover the importance of a veterinary nurse (VN) in improving inpatient care and strive to organise their own VN training programme. The delegate will be sensitised to recognise patient needs and implement the steps necessary to meet those needs. They will be guided to make good decisions on what to feed their patients and why and how to practice good hygiene measures to improve infection control. Delegates will be trained to use bandages appropriately and safely and understand how to use different bandage materials. Also they will be able to recognise pain, score it and understand how to treat it. The delegates will be able to create, implement, evaluate, improve and review their own protocols for the hospital. Workshop participants will be taught to prioritise good record keeping as fundamental in improving patient welfare and integrate them into their daily routine. At the end of the workshop, delegates will be able to differentiate between appropriate and inappropriate handling of dogs and cats and will confidently be able to perform a physical examination.. The programme is being organised by Directorate of Entrepreneurship and Academics and Research  of Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Pookode Hence it is expected that, at the end of the workshop, Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University will come up with a solid curriculum for veterinary nursing best suited for this part of the country. Moreover University is in the process of designing a career oriented Veterinary Nursing programme for the Country.