Nursing students are top of the class

Nursing students are top of the class

STUDENTS at one of the UK’s most successful veterinary nursing schools have achieved a 100% exam pass rate.

Lynwood School of Veterinary Nursing in Higher Bockhampton, Dorchester, has recorded pass rates well above the national average after 20 trainees came through three City & Guilds external exams as part of their diploma with flying colours.

Trainee nurses in one of the groups of this year’s student intake achieved a 100% pass rate in three exams covered anatomy, physiology and animal welfare; essential nursing care and infection control; diagnostic imaging, anaesthesia, theatre practice, pharmacology and laboratory techniques.

The national average pass rate for the three papers is 60%, 90% and 75% respectively.

Since being established 22 years ago, Lynwood School of Veterinary Nursing has trained more than 1,000 nurses and consistently records exam results that exceed the national average.

The college is run by RVNs Val Belbin and Lisa Bugh, who both have Certificates in Education, and is now part of VetPartners, a UK-wide veterinary group.

Val said: “We are delighted with our exam pass rate and it has been a privilege to teach a high calibre of students, who are combining study and working full-time. They are now leading up to their professional registration in July.

“Standards are rising in the veterinary nursing profession and being part of VetPartners has been a positive move. We’ve had a lot of support with strategic planning and ways we can take the school forward.”

Lynwood School of Veterinary Nursing, a former subsidiary of Lynwood Vets, joined VetPartners last September, along with the five-site small animal practice in Dorset.

Val set up the college after 12 years as a veterinary nurse, before completing her teacher training at Berkshire College of Agriculture, where she also taught veterinary nursing and animal care.

Lisa was previously head nurse at Lynwood Vets, where she worked her way up after starting as a Saturday girl at the age of 14 in 1986, before joining the veterinary nursing school in 2001.

Part of the team’s role is also to visit practices to ensure they have the right facilities for training nurses.

Lisa added: “Over the years, we have seen former students go on to become head nurses, practice manager or specialists in referral practices. We support more than 70 different training practices across five different counties – Dorset, Somerset, Devon, Wiltshire and Hampshire.”

Lynwood School of Veterinary Nursing also runs an Animal Nursing Assistant course and a Veterinary Practice Administration certificate, a distance learning course run in association with the Veterinary Management Group.

For media enquiries, please contact Amanda Little, VetPartners Senior PR and Communications Manager, on 07970 198 492 or email amanda.little@vetpartners.co.uk