Veterinary Council Of Ireland – Veterinary Nursing Circular

Your attention is drawn in this circular to important changes in the status of veterinary nurses in Ireland. As an employer you have an obligation to ensure that veterinary nurses are registered and conform to the provisions of the Veterinary Practice Act 2005. PLEASE MAKE YOUR VETERINARY NURSES AWARE OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS CIRCULAR.

Veterinary nursing became a regulated profession in the State on 1 January 2008 under the Veterinary Practice Act 2005. The Act provides for a period of grace up until 1 July 2008 to allow veterinary nurses to complete the registration process, however, after that date the title ‘veterinary nurse’ can only be used by those registered with the Veterinary Council.

Procedures which a veterinary nurse can perform

The Veterinary Practice Act 2005 and Veterinary Practice (Amendment) Act 2012 lays down in section 91 the procedures which only registered veterinary nurses can carry out, any non-registered person carrying out these procedures will be guilty of an offence under the

Act and will leave themselves open to prosecution.

Procedures which can be carried out by a registered veterinary nurse while assisting and in the presence of a veterinary practitioner are

(i) holding and handling tissue during performance ofsurgical procedures,

(ii) induction, maintenance and termination of general anaesthesia, Including performance of endotracheal intubation,

(iii) assisting at the performance of surgical procedures that are not minor,

(iv) assisting at the performance on an animal of a caesareansection operation or other surgery to assist her to give birth;

(b) those carried out by a veterinary nurse, under the direction of a veterinary practitioner—

(i) administration of medication enterically, intraosseously, or Intravenously,

(ii) catheterisation, surgical treatment of abscesses and ulcers, application of external casts and cutaneous suturing,

(iii) the taking of images by x-ray,

(iv) the carrying out of minor medical procedures or minor surgery;

It is an offence after 1 July 2008 for a registered veterinary practitioner to employ a veterinary nurse who is not registered with the Veterinary Council. It is an offence after 1 July 2008 for a non-registered ‘veterinary nurse’ either to use the title ‘veterinary nurse’ or to perform any of the above procedures.

Additional Provisions

Veterinary nurses from 1 January 2008 will also be subject to the fitness to practise procedures laid down in the Veterinary Practice Act 2005 which means that any complaint made against a veterinary nurse will be investigated by the Council. A code of professional conduct in being developed which must be complied with. Veterinary nurses are only permitted to work in practices which are registered with the Veterinary Council's Premises Accreditation Scheme (PAS), unless they are working in an exempt place. Each veterinary nurse will be required to make a declaration to that effect at the time of registration.

Registration in the Register of Veterinary Nurses

The Veterinary Council from 2008 is the designated competent authority in the State for registering veterinary nurses. Veterinary nurses with recognised qualifications can apply for registration from 1 January 2008. Qualifications in veterinary nursing are broadly of two types (a) those provided by education providers in the State which the Council has validated as registrable qualifications and (b) those obtained from colleges outside the State.

(a) Courses Provided within the State

There are five courses providers in the State - UCD, Athlone Institute of Technology and St John’s College, Cork Dundalk IT and Letterkenny IT.

(b) Graduates with Qualifications from Out of State Providers

Veterinary nurses who are EU citizens with a qualification from a recognised EU educational institution can also apply for registration, this application will be considered under the EU directive on mutual recognition. In general terms this means that the qualification on which the registration is based must be recognised by the relevant competent authority

in the EU state in which it was obtained and this must be attested to by that competent authority. EU citizens with a veterinary nursing qualification which has not been obtained within the EU but whose qualification has been recognised by another EU State can also apply to have their qualification recognised in Ireland under the mutual recognition directive.

Veterinary nurses with a qualification from a non-EU country which has not been recognised by another EU State can apply for registration and each such application will be considered on a case by case basis. All applicants for registration must satisfy the Council that they have not been convicted by a court of law of an offence which would preclude them from practising as a veterinary nurse, must be of good standing and not an undisclosed bankrupt. Prior to attending for registration each applicant must make application by post providing either the original, or a certified copy, of their qualification translated into English, where applicable, a copy of their passport

and if registered in another EU Member State a letter of good standing from that Competent Authority. When the Registrar is satisfied that all the documentation is in order an appointment will be made to attend for registration at the Council offices. At the registration appointment all original documentation will be verified, a fee will be payable and each applicant will be required to take a solemn oath before signing the Register. Veterinary nurses on the Register of Veterinary Nurses will be permitted to use the title RVN (Registered Veterinary Nurse) after their name.

Provisional Registration

The Veterinary Practice Act 2005 recognises that there are veterinary nurses working in Ireland who have not obtained a formal qualification in veterinary nursing. To acknowledge these valuable veterinary nurses and allow time for them to obtain formal registrable qualifications a special category of 'provisional registration' is allowed for. There are very specific conditions which such applicants must comply with in order to obtain provisional registration. These conditions include that each applicant must have been working in a full time capacity as a veterinary nurse since 27 October

2004, under the supervision of a veterinary practitioner, and must agree to participate in an approved programme of education which will qualify them to apply for registration in the Register of Veterinary Nurses. The nature of this programme of education will be decided when the number and standard of education/experience of those provisionally registered is known.

Applicants who fulfil these and other conditions and who wish to apply for provisional registration must do so by 30 June 2008 as the provisional registration option ceases on that date. The fees for provisional registration are the

same as those for entry to the Register. Provisional registration confers on the veterinary nurse the same rights and responsibilities as those on the Register enjoy except that those with provisional registration must have reached the standard required for entry to the Register by the 31 December 2012 as provisional registration ceases 5 years after 1 January 2008. Those who do not achieve this standard will no longer be able to call themselves veterinary nurses or carry out the functions of veterinary nurses. Provisionally registered veterinary nurses are not permitted to use the title RVN after their name, this title is reserved solely for veterinary nurses on the Register of Veterinary Nurses.

For further information please contact the Veterinary Council of Ireland, 53 Lansdowne Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4.

Telephone: 01 6684402, E-Mail: , Web: www.vci.ie. Full details can be found in Part 8 of the Veterinary

Practice Act 2005 a copy of which can be found on the Council’s website www.vci.ie or on the Oireachtas website

www.oireachtas.ie.

Memo VN -2012