Attendees of the Purina Veterinary Nurse Nutrition Symposium had the opportunity to be involved in two days of virtual CPD. The event ran over 29th and 30th April, providing 10 hours of live CPD and a further 10 hours available to watch after the event.

Attendees were able to choose between two streams on each day, and these focused on how to integrate nutrition into general practice, gastrointestinal topics, obesity and feline urinary disease and hydration. Delegates also had the opportunity to attend workshops on running nursing clinics and how to effectively integrate nutrition into general practice. Topical issues were discussed throughout the symposium, with both lectures and workshops centered around obesity and communication with owners.

The event featured a wide range of speakers, both vets and nurses, raising important points for further discussions within the nursing and veterinary communities.

Highlights from the event

From tackling nutrition myths and misconceptions, to exploring the links between behaviour and the microbiome, the two-day symposium was jam-packed with information specifically tailored to the role of veterinary nurses in practice, with the importance of nutrition always the primary focus.

Zoe Jackson, Veterinary Nurse Development Manager at Purina, spoke about how to succeed with creating and running nurse clinics during the Covid-19 pandemic. Speaking about the success of the event, she said: “We had some amazing engagement from attendees which facilitated some really important discussions within the nursing profession.

“Our aim was to create an event that could provide nurses in practice with accessible and practical CPD to help them in both patient care and their client facing roles in practice. Our panel of UK and international speakers helped us make this possible by sharing their expertise and experience with the rest of the nursing community.”

Delegate feedback

Attendees were given the opportunity to give feedback throughout the event, with many commenting on how much they had enjoyed the symposium, identifying the usefulness of discussing common issues affecting veterinary nurses in practice and how to deal with them. Others also commented that being able to discuss the latest research allowed them to stay up to date with current nutritional trends, and issues, which they often get asked about in practice.

Though many of us would often prefer to talk about anything but Covid-19, with it playing such a detrimental role in our lives this past year, Zoe Jackson facilitated discussions of how the pandemic has affected the way veterinary nurses work within their roles in practice. Notably, an emphasis was made on the importance and value of nurses’ time within a practice.

There were talks on how to build client loyalty through nurse consultations, especially within the current Covid-19 restrictions. Due to the pandemic altering the way practice is structured, vets and nurses were not seeing patients as often as they once might have, resulting in a reliance on other aspects of communication.

“Care happens 365 days a year with clients at home. It’s about finding ways to connect with clients when you do see them in practice to help them continue that care at home,” explained Alison Lambert, during her talk on how to generate revenue and build client loyalty from nurse consults.

During her talk, Alison also emphasised the ‘365 opportunity’ to nurses, by encouraging the value of other forms of communication – not just telephone calls, but also using texts and online messages to communicate with pet owners. Through using a multimodal approach, owners are still able to have conversations with nurses outside of the typical face-to-face setting, in a way that works for them.

Non-clinical talks

Topics of lectures in the symposium extended far beyond the realm of clinical discussions. The veterinary practice business model was an area of focus, demonstrating how veterinary nurses play a role in driving the business cycle in practice and creating revenue. Feline hydration was another topic of discussion, following the launch of Purina’s nutrient enriched water product, PRO PLAN™ Hydra Care™.

These are only a few of the topics discussed across the two-day event, showcasing the diversity of content available to veterinary nurses.

Delegates can watch all 20 hours of recorded CPD back and can still register for the event to access the recordings here.

Read Vet Report’s interview with Dr. Brian Zanghi from the Purina Institute on his research on feline hydration and PRO PLAN™ Hydra Care™ here.

Read more articles about Purina here.