Everybody knows what it is like to feel stressed. Stress can be a useful drive that can help us to be more productive and feel more energised*, however chronic stress that becomes overwhelming over time can, not only, make existing mental health problems worse, but contribute to the development of mental health problems too.* If […]
The College of Animal Welfare News Blog

Mental Health Awareness Week: Managing Stress

Mental Health Awareness Week: Self-esteem
Self-esteem refers to the beliefs that we have about ourselves. This includes the opinions we have about our personalities, character traits, behaviours, abilities, strengths and weaknesses. People with healthy self-esteems will generally have a positive opinion of themselves. As such, although these people will experience tough times, they will be able to cope better than […]

Mental Health Awareness Week: Eating Disorders
Our relationship with food can be complicated, and often changes depending on our mood in the current moment. For this reason it might be difficult to recognise when an occasional food problem, such as comfort eating or undereating in times of stress, has escalated into an eating disorder. An eating disorder is an eating problem […]

Mental Health Awareness Week: Anxiety
Anxiety is used to describe feelings of unease, worry and fear. This includes physical sensations we might experience when we are struggling with anxiety. It’s normal to feel tense and fearful at the prospect of big event or decision you’re facing, especially if it is going to have a big influence on your future; for example […]

Mental Health Awareness Week: Depression
Depression is an incredibly common mental health problem, affecting around 1 in 10 people at some point during their lifetime.* Depression goes much further than simply feeling fed up now and again. Everyone experiences periods of unhappiness occasionally, however often low mood will improve after a short period of time. Depression is characterised when feelings […]

Record number of votes cast in the VN council elections
The 2017 VN council election results have been announced A record number of veterinary nurses cast their votes in this year’s VN council election. Of the 14,411 members eligible to vote, 2,092 voted (14.5%). This is compared to 1,435 votes (10.9%) last year. For the two places available on the council, one new member was elected and […]

Mental Health Awareness Week: E&D Competition of the Month!
This month’s prize competition topic is Mental Health Awareness Week – enter and be in with a chance to win a £20 amazon voucher! Mental Health Awareness Week will take place from 8-14 May 2017. This year’s theme is ‘Surviving or Thriving?’ which aims to look at mental health from a new angle. Rather than ask why so […]
April E&D Competition Winner Announced
Congratulations to Emma Onyejekwe, Level 3 Veterinary Nursing student at Potters Bar, for winning our April Equality & Diversity competition. During April , the College invited students and staff to submit entries around the theme of International Mother Earth Day; to which Emma submitted an excellent photograph raising awareness of the Barbary Macaque, an endangered species. On submission of the photo, […]
New DNA testing scheme for Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla
The Kennel Club has approved a new official DNA testing scheme for hyperuricosuria (HUU) in the Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla, following consultation with the breed health coordinator on behalf of the Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla Association. Caroline Kisko, Kennel Club Secretary, said: “The popularity of the Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla has been slowly increasing over the past decade […]

Play your part in improving rabbit welfare!
Are you a veterinary surgeon or veterinary nurse? If so, you can play your part in improving rabbit welfare in clinics by taking part in an online study! The University of Bristol’s Animal Welfare and Behaviour Group is calling on vets and VNs for help in further understanding how pain is treated in rabbits. The […]