Once again, the BVNA welcomes new faces to Council that have been elected by you. What is great about BVNA Council is that it has people with a wide range of experience, skills and areas of interest. They give up their spare time voluntarily to represent the veterinary nursing profession, you, at critical meetings with key stakeholders. It is really important that the BVNA is the ‘go to’ organisation when the veterinary nursing profession is being discussed.
I know some vet nurses feel frustrated at the lack of recognition, but I would say, take a look at how far we have come, and, how much further we can go. BVNA intend to shout as loudly as possible about how valuable vet nurses are within the veterinary team, and ensure everyone knows how much more responsibility we can take on. With your support, we can make a difference to your daily working conditions. Support your Council members, it may be as simple as filling in a survey you receive, attending a local meeting or joining the BVNA Council in the future.
Make sure we truly represent you by getting in contact with the Council by emailing: [email protected]. Ask questions about topics that interest you, find out about what working groups they are part of, see how you can be involved in raising awareness of our skills and knowledge with the public.
Our new Council members this year are:
Albert Holgate
Bertie put himself forward for re-election this year and was voted on to Council to complete another term. He has worked for 20 years in the veterinary profession, and has developed an understanding of the critical role a veterinary nurse has in shelter medicine. His interests include; strategies for management of infectious diseases and nursing protocols within population management, veterinary nurse forensics, hoarding and cruelty case management. Bertie works in the charity sector and is keen to promote the positive nature of the work of a charity veterinary nurse.
Bertie is keen to ensure there is a wide representation for all nurses; particularly those with disabilities so they can respond effectively and efficiently to the challenges faced daily. He will continue to ensure that a progressive and positive approach is taken with integrity and transparency. We welcome Bertie back on to Council and look forward to him continuing his work on the limited licensure proposals of the LWP.
Kim Rathbone
Kim has been a Regional Representative for BVNA for many years and felt it was time to put herself forward to be a Council member.
She has been nursing for 8 years and is still incredibly proud to be part of this profession. Over the years she has been encouraged to see that veterinary nurses are getting more recognition for their skills and knowledge, and she is really hoping that one day the title veterinary nurse will be protected; which is one of the campaigns that BVNA will be leading. Since qualifying she has worked in both referral and first opinion practice and it is during this time that she feels she has found her niche in managing and setting up nurse consults as she loves to educate the public on pet health and welfare. In her spare time, she likes to read, swim, row, walk, bake and go on nice holidays. She has three Guinea Pigs called Rodney, Cassandra and Rox who are very spoilt. Kim wants to be part of BVNA council so she can be the voice and share new and exciting ideas for developing and shaping the future of Veterinary Nurses.
Rebecca Winter
Becky has been a veterinary nurse for 15 years and qualified since 2008. She has also completed a Hydrotherapy and Physiotherapy qualification as well as several nutrition courses. She hopes to be starting a Nutrition Certificate later this year. Becky’s main passions currently are training student veterinary nurses as well as setting up and running Nurse Clinics.
Three years ago, she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and thought her nursing career was over. Becky has a real understanding how hard this career is mentally and physically on those with disabilities and so she is keen to highlight that having a disability doesn’t mean you can’t achieve a productive nursing career. She wants to be involved in helping all veterinary nurses be recognised for their own achievements and be able to utilise their skills within a practice environment.
Jade Brindley
Jade is a 33-year-old mature (although she says her sense of humour sometimes begs to differ!) student embarking on a career change to become a veterinary nurse.
Previously, she was a Psychiatric Key Worker; then a Management Consultant for Health and Social care in Local Government before following her passion into veterinary nursing and she is specifically interested in animal (and owner!) behaviour.
She enjoys making a positive difference and feels being a member of BVNA Council will help her do that. Jade has a particular interest in nurse’s wellbeing as she has personal experience of how stress can impact mental health. She believes that veterinary nurses support for wellbeing should be tailored specifically to them as the role has wide ranging demands.
Macauly Gatenby
Macauly is a 2nd year SVN from Portsmouth and has been elected as a candidate for a Student Member seat on the BVNA Council 2021; sharing this role with Jade. He really enjoys being involved with exotic and wildlife nursing but is starting to find interests in anaesthesia and believes this just highlights how multifaceted our role can be. A fun fact about Macauly is that his previous experience involves undertaking research in Borneo following Orangutans around, looking into the relationship between laughter and friendship in primates. His main hopes and goals through involvement on the BVNA Council is to highlight and push inclusivity, as someone who relies on hearing aids, he can understand the difficulties some can face. In addition to this he has a strong passion for sustainability which is another campaign that BVNA will be leading in the future.
He would also like to help promote and motivate more students to be involved in writing in the VNJ, which is a passion of mine also. He believes everyone deserves to have a voice in making changes, no matter how small!
Head of Learning and Development
(Editor-in-Chief)
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