MMI awards more funding for VN mental health
The grant will help VN educators integrate mental health and wellbeing into curricula.
The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) has announced a £40,000 research grant to improve mental health training in veterinary nursing education.
The research grant has been awarded by RCVS’ Mind Matters Initiative, in collaboration with the Veterinary Nursing Department at the RCVS.
It will support a mental health research project, Veterinary Educator Training in the Mental Health Integration and Nurse Development (VET-MIND). The project is led by Dr Faye Didymus and Dr Jackie Hargreaves, both based at the Carnegie School of Sport at Leeds Beckett University.
The new project will build upon previous Mind Matters research from 2023, also conducted by Dr Didymus and Dr Hargreaves. This had explored how mental health and wellbeing could be integrated into the learning paths of student veterinary nurses.
It resulted in a set of evidence-based recommendations, aimed at enhancing mental health education for veterinary nursing students.
Across three years, VET-MIND will use these recommendations to ‘upskill’ veterinary nurse educators in further and higher education. Educators will learn to integrate mental health principles into their curricula, so students can put these knowledge and skills into practice.
The researchers will utilise their funding to co-design mental health webinars, provide interactive training to educators, and evaluate learning over time.
RCVS says that awarding this grant supports their Mind Matters Strategy, launched in May 2023, which seeks to work for ‘lesser heard voices’ in the veterinary profession. RCVS says this includes RVNs and SVNs, and so targeted projects are organised to meet their needs.
Dr Didymus said: “VET-MIND builds on our previous research into mental health among SVNs, veterinary nurse educators, and registered veterinary nurses (RVNs).
“In that work, we found that veterinary nurse educators working in further and higher education need more support to deliver education that embeds mental health principles and, in doing so, sustains students’ mental health. VET-MIND responds directly to this need by co-designing practical solutions with those who are educating the next generation of nurses.”
Julie Dugmore, RCVS director of veterinary nursing, added: “VET-MIND has the potential to transform the way mental health education is embedded across veterinary nurse training.
“By equipping educators with practical tools and the confidence to integrate mental health principles into everyday teaching, the project supports more responsive, reflective, and psychologically informed learning environments.”
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Defra has published guidance for the vet sector ahead of a proposed UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement.
