Showcasing core skills to the future of veterinary nursing.
This year, CCOAS was invited to have a stand in the Farm4Future section of the very reputable and well attended Suffolk Show.
Karen Lee and Lynette Overing, along with a number of our current students from the college, went along to showcase the diverse and impressive range of skills that veterinary nurses bring to the welfare of animals and to speak to anyone interested in becoming a veterinary nurse.
We took with us some fun interactive activities relating to veterinary nursing for both children and adults to experience. Those attending the show were invited to give CPR to a specialist-training model dog and learn how to correctly apply a dressing and the three layers of a bandage. They were even given the chance to gown up and perform abdominal surgery!
Our willing surgical volunteer was a model dog used at the college during practical sessions that we affectionately call Kevin. His internal organs were expertly crocheted by one of our wonderful students. Visitors to the stand were given the opportunity to seek out an ingested foreign body from his digestive tract, carefully setting aside the intestines and liver in order to pull that crafty sock from the crocheted stomach.
It wasn’t just young visitors getting involved. Guardians, grandparents and parents all were very interested in trying out our activities, especially learning how to resuscitate their pet. Another popular activity saw people identify a selection of parasites that can be found on dogs and cats. Many people were surprised at how many different lice, mites and insects there are that can impact an animal’s health.
We were also glad to see a number of our previous students and have the chance to catch up on their progress as registered veterinary nurses in their respective practices in Suffolk, Norfolk and Essex.
Karen Lee said: “We were delighted to be given the opportunity by the Suffolk Show to demonstrate the exciting and varied career options available in veterinary nursing. We certainly had a busy time with many visitors to the stand and it was great to have our students on hand to answer the questions of visitors who were interested in learning more about training to be a veterinary nurse.”
