Awarding a rewarding veterinary career

NORTH Clare resident Melanie O’Donoghue is a busy woman. She is a veterinary nurse, runs her own business, is a member of the Veterinary Council of Ireland and is public relations officer for the Irish Veterinary Nursing Association. She is also spearheading a campaign to recognise the contribution of veterinary nurses to practices across the country.

“I wanted to work with animals from day one. I always had pets, ponies, cats and dogs. I collected everything, I had very understanding parents,” Melanie laughed.
“Then when I developed an interest in veterinary medicine, I immediately sought work experience. That was how I got into it,” she recalled.
Two decades ago, the Meath woman began her career in veterinary nursing. Having studied in Berkshire College of Agriculture, she worked in practices before becoming the first person to be accepted to the Register of Veterinary Nurses.
“In order for us to be compliant with the law and practice as veterinary nurses, we must register with the Veterinary Council of Ireland and when we do this, we are awarded the title, Registered Veterinary Nurse, RVN. This allows us to do specific procedures and acts of veterinary nursing that lay people are not permitted to do,” she explained.
Melanie now works for herself in Ballyvaughan designing veterinary clinics and training practice staff in practice management.
“Practices have changed, there is greater demand for small animal expertise in the veterinary sector. People are looking after their pets a lot more now and with that comes challenges for practices because they are growing and they need to train their staff and expand within their own sector,” she outlined.
In order to keep her skills sharp, Melanie often locums with other practices but this is just one of the strings to her bow.
In 2006, Melanie was appointed to the Veterinary Council after being nominated by the Irish Veterinary Nursing Association, (IVNA) for which she is the public relations officer. With the profession only having been recognised in 2005, there was just one seat for veterinary nurses on the council. Melanie is one of 18 council members and has just started her second four-year term.
“It is very interesting because there is a huge amount of changes happening in the veterinary nursing profession and with the regulations new colleges have started to offer programmes in veterinary nursing in Ireland now. They had to be accredited by the Veterinary Council and I was involved in that process,” she recalled.
Conscious that veterinary nurses often go unappreciated, Melanie and the IVNA are currently seeking nominations for the inaugural Veterinary Nurse Awards to be held in May.
“We want to raise the profile of veterinary nurses. We have been known in our own practices but not necessarily recognised for what we could do. Through the IVNA, we wanted to raise this profile. We decided to do this through the awards, which we believe will give clients the chance to highlight extreme dedication amongst our members,” she explained.
“All veterinary nurses and support staff deal with any difficult and challenging tasks while in practice. This in itself deserves an award, however, there are occasions where nurses go above and beyond the call of duty to ensure that their patients and clients receive the utmost of special care and attention,” she continued.
Anyone who feels they know someone who has made such a contribution and would like to see them recognised should nominate them for an award. The contribution can be an outstanding one or a simple gesture which you feel made a big difference to their patients, clients, or practice team.
The closing date for entries is April 31. The winner will be announced during the social event of the IVNA Congress on May 22, 2010.
Nomination forms will be available from vet surgeries around the county or can be downloaded from www.IVNA.ie.