E-certificate trial to continue for newly-registered VNs
"Thank you to all those newly-qualified veterinary nurses who took part in the trial" - Robert Hewes.
The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) has announced that it will continue its trial of providing e-certificates to newly-qualified veterinary nurses.
This decision was agreed upon at the RCVS Veterinary Nurses Council's (VN Council) February meeting, and will be reviewed at the upcoming VN Council meeting in May 2022.
First launched in November 2021, all veterinary nurses joining the Register after completing their qualification were provided with an e-certificate, which are available to download via the 'My Account' area of the RCVS website.
As decided in the VN Council meeting, the trial will continue over the next few months in order to gain further feedback and insight from members of the profession, to ascertain whether providing e-certificates to new registrants should be standard practice.
“Thank you to all those newly-qualified veterinary nurses who took part in the trial and especially to those who provided their feedback and thoughts on the e-certificate,” said Robert Hewes, RCVS head of insight and engagement.
“From those that have completed the survey, it is clear that there is still a great deal of pride and meaning attached to having a hard copy certificate which is why we will continue to offer these to all our newly-qualified veterinary nurses.
“However, the feedback from the vet nurses overall regarding the e-certificates were that they appreciated that there was a benefit from an environment and sustainability point of view, as well as the practicalities of having immediate and easy access to their proof-of-registration."
He added: “We would like to take this opportunity to make clear to prospective employers of both newly-qualified veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses involved in the trial, that the e-certificates are now a legitimate form of identification of registration and that they no longer require a hard copy.
“However, if they are in any doubt about an individual’s registration status, they shouldn’t hesitate to contact the Registration Team on registration@rcvs.org.uk or 020 7202 0707.”
Veterinary practices are being urged to help owners safely dispose of any unused and expired pet medicines - not just antibiotics - during November's Animal Medicines Amnesty. 
