Author Archives: Sami Cooper

About Sami Cooper

Senior Web Developer and Media Manager for the CAW Business School, The College of Animal Welfare and VetSkill.

TP Congress 2014 Special Offer!

Have you missed the Early Bird Deadline for TP Congress 2014? Do you take CAW students, or work for a CAW Training Practice? Then we have good news for you – you can still book on TP Congress for the Early Bird price of £150+vat for a single day and £225+vat for both days!

Book on and learn about academic writing, nursing care plans, equine nursing, and professionalism and goal setting. With a mix of the best speakers from 2013 and a range of new speakers for 2014, TP Congress will be the nurse training congress you shouldn’t miss! What’s more, The College of Animal Welfare is celebrating 25 years of teaching in 2014; join us for a piece of cake and some high quality CPD!

Michael Stanford MRCVS is coming from the Veterinary Defence Society to share what every veterinary nurse needs to know about professional indemnity. With statutory regulation on the books for RVNs, you need to know how (and if!) you’re covered in your day to day job!

Anne-Marie Aylott MRCVS of Purple Cat Coaching will be talking about helping your students with setting goals, and gearing up their motivation for success. Anne-Marie’s a qualified vet and professional coach, and she spends her days supercharging staff and turbocharging trainees! She’s a dynamic and exciting speaker, and is a veteran of SPVS Congress.

Day two starts off with CAW Lecturers Jane Davidson and Julie Cory talking about tackling the VN OSCE exams. They’ll be here to share some of their experiences with the OSCE exams and how you can help your students master their skills and confidence.

Elizabeth Figg is a highly experienced equine VN, and she’ll be giving a brief overview of what’s the latest you need to know about equines in education, or ‘Horses for Courses!’ She works for Donnington Grove Veterinary Group, and while she’s speaking with her ‘practice’ hat on, some of you may also know her as a recently elected member of VN Council.

You’ll also have lectures on academic writing, OSCE exams, dealing with difficult conversations, and we’re happy to welcome back Julie Dugmore, Head of Veterinary Nursing at the RCVS and a past speaker at TP Congress 2012.

Book your place today at The College of Animal Welfare! or contact us at 01480 422060!

Come and Meet CAW at the 2013 London Vet Show!

The College of Animal Welfare is at London Vet Show 2013, exhibiting at stand N20 (next to the Business Theatre!) Stop by, pick up a Keep Cool bag, and find out more about our Leadership and Management qualifications!

Are you a practice manager, senior vet, or team leader? Do you want to be one? If you have ‘issues’ with organising your work, or handling members of your team, our ILM accredited courses will help you get the essential strategies you need to handle small teams of professionals. Learn how to handle conflict, organise work, develop your leadership skills and make that team of yours a well-oiled machine!

And it doesn’t need to cost the Earth – ask about our new Pay As You Learn scheme.

No stand is complete without a freebie and CAW is no exception! Following on from last year’s “Keep Calm and Trust Your Head Nurse” theme, we’ve got a “Keep Cool and Trust Your Head Nurse” cooler bag that will keep your lunches cool and tasty! Pick yours up at stand N20!

For those of you who are involved in nurse training, we’ve got a sneak preview of TP Congress 2014 for you! Yes, we’re back, and we’ve got a great line up of speakers and topics for Clinical Coaches working in Training Practices. If you liked what Helen, Kathy, and Pam had to say last year, they’re back with new and improved lectures, joined by quite a few special guests! We’ll have talks about nursing plans, VN education updates, setting goals, and having difficult conversations! Never been to TP Congress before? Find out what all the fuss is about – Drop by stand N20 to see what we’ve got in store for you on 17-18 March 2014!

Last but not least, we’re doing a CPD survey! We want to find out who and what you want when you do CPD with The College of Animal Welfare, so we can improve our offer! Head on over to the CAW CPD 2013 Survey to have your say!

Come See The College of Animal Welfare at BVNA Congress – Stand B11!

CAW is pleased to be exhibiting at the 40th BVNA Congress this year in Telford! This year we’re at stand B11, featuring our leadership and management courses! Are you a head nurse or team leader? Do you want to be one? If you have ‘issues’ with organising your work, or handling members of your team, our ILM accredited courses will help you get the essential strategies you need to handle small teams of professionals. And it doesn’t need to cost the Earth – ask about our new Pay As You Learn program!

No stand is complete without a free goodie and CAW is no exception! Following on from last year’s “Keep Calm and Trust Your Head Nurse” theme, we’ve got a “Keep Cool and Trust Your Head Nurse” cooler bag that will keep your lunches cool and tasty! Pick yours up at stand B11! And just for a bit of fun, we’ve got a “What Can You Do With Yours?” competition going on – send us a picture of practical, funny, original, or crazy things you do with your cooler bag!

We’ve also got a sneak preview of TP Congress 2014 for you! Yes, we’re back, and we’ve got a great lineup up speakers and topics for Clinical Coaches working in Training Practices. If you liked what Helen, Kathy, and Pam had to say last year, they’re back with new and improved lectures, joined by quite a few special guests! We’ll have talks about nursing plans, VN education updates, setting goals, and having difficult conversations! Never been to TP Congress before? Find out what all the fuss is about – Drop by stand B11 to see what we’ve got in store for you on 17-18 March 2014!

Last but not least, we’re doing a CPD survey! We want to find out who and what you want when you do CPD with The College of Animal Welfare, so we can improve our offer! Head on over to The CAW CPD 2013 Survey to have your say!

So there’s quite a lot going on this year and we’re looking forward to seeing you at BVNA Congress! (PS: It’s stand B11, don’t forget!)

Practicals for Clinical Coaches – 4 November 2013

Support your student VNs by reviewing OSCE tasks!

This day course is an in depth look at supporting your students as they prepare for their RCVS practical exams. As well as looking at the correct techniques for current tasks you will also look at the exam procedure, recent changes and common causes of failure.

Huntingdon: 4 November (Please note that the Potters Bar 30 October date has regrettably been cancelled)

All the more common OSCE tasks will be covered, with special attention paid to areas you feel need extra work. Practical tests in Anaesthesia, Theatre Practice, Laboratory, Radiography and general Nursing care (bandaging, pharmacy and fluid therapy) will be reviewed on this day course.

Book on at https://www.caw.ac.uk/courses/sc/sc-info.aspx?scc=PCC !

Enrolment Update for The College of Animal Welfare

The College of Animal Welfare is pleased to announce that applications for January 2014 (Day Release, students employed in veterinary practice) is now open. Applications for full time students to study in September 2014 will be available in the next few weeks.

We are still receiving a large number of inquiries concerning our September 2013 class enrolment. We are flattered and humbled by the continued interest, but the classes are full,  term has already begun and therefore we cannot accept further students onto this class start. Interested students are warmly welcomed to apply for the January 2014 start if you are employed in vet practice, and full time places when applications for these open in a few weeks.

We will of course have an update on our social media feeds when these applications are open.

Taking your C&G and RCVS OSCE Exams at CAW Huntingdon!

Just a reminder that CAW Huntingdon is an RCVS OSCE exam centre for September 2013.

If you’re looking to take your City & Guilds written exams, you can do this at any of The College of Animal Welfare’s centres, at Huntingdon, Edinburgh, Potters Bar, and Leeds. Contact CAW’s Admin team for more details!

In a very happy aside, 95% of CAW veterinary nursing students passed their RCVS practical exams in July, comparing very favourably with a national pass rate of 77%. If you are looking for a September 2013 location for RCVS exams, why not consider CAW Huntingdon?

Local hope for worldwide declining bee populations

A tiny flea that incubated the deadly zoonotic disease; the bubonic plague, killed an estimated one-hundred-million people worldwide. The Black death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history.

Now the parasitic ‘Varroa’ mite has helped spread a deadly virus, killing off millions of bee colonies (that’s billions of bees) around the globe.

Many countries have been collaborating in an effort to help save the humble bee. Now, in our own backyard a new hope emerges. The Cornish honey bee seems to be able to better handle the mites and therefore stave off the disease. Paignton Zoo scientists are now monitoring several bee colonies to see how how they fair over the summer.

[Related article: Save the UK’s Declining Bee Population]

[Sources: Cornish Bees / BBC Nature / BBC News Cornwall]

Important information about OSCE exams this weekend at CAW Godmanchester & MYF Aldershot

Godmanchester Saturday 6 July 2013

We have been notified of road closures in Godmanchester on Saturday 6 July, therefore some roads will be closed at certain times. We advise that where possible you allow yourself additional travel time to reach the examination centre in case of disruption.

 MYF Training Sunday 7 July 2013

We have been advised that on Sunday 7 July the nearest car park to MYF Training (the Co-op car park) will be closed.  The car park at the railway station will be open, and there should also be a considerable amount of roadside parking available.