How has the equine veterinary nursing profession changed over the last 5 years?

I began my career as an equine orthopaedic technician in 2009, just 9 years after the first equine veterinary nurses qualified. Since then, there have been huge changes to veterinary nursing as a whole, most notably with the Royal Charter in February 2015. More recently, the increased scope of the equine veterinary nursing role has been discussed in more depth, in order to maximise efficiency in practice and begin to tackle poor staff retention rates. With the British Veterinary Nursing Association's (2022) new bid to ‘Protect the Title’ also in full swing, this feels like a positive time to be working in our industry.

In 2017, just 5 years ago, UK-Vet Equine was launched as a separate title, providing a dedicated, evidence-based resource for the equine clinician. Since then, its target audience has increased to recognise the impact equine veterinary nurses and paraprofessionals have in practice. It now provides specific articles of interest to professionals in these roles, the overarching goal being to provide continuing professional development (CPD) for staff in all sectors of the veterinary profession, with a greater variety of evidence-based articles to enhance knowledge across the board.