6 Aug 2025
The organisations said the initiative has ‘reached its natural conclusion, based upon the original project remit’.
Chris Simpson
Job Title
The RCVS and BVNA have announced the retirement of their joint VN Futures initiative.
The bodies said that while they share the goal of improving the vet nursing profession and will continue to collaborate, the project has come to a “natural conclusion” and they both recognise the benefits of operating more independently.
A counterpart to the BVA and RCVS’ Vet Futures project, VN Futures was launched in 2016 with the goal of addressing the key challenges and opportunities facing the VN profession.
The project’s action plan aimed to create a sustainable and well-supported nursing workforce with structured and rewarded career paths, maximise VN potential, and have nurses play a proactive role in one health endeavours.
RCVS VN council chair, Belinda Andrews-Jones, said: “It has been an absolute pleasure to be part of the collaborative VN Futures project, and I am so proud of all we have achieved together.”
She added: “The project may be coming to an end, but the legacy of all we have achieved will continue to live on and fuel further invaluable projects within the veterinary nursing profession for many years to come.”
In June, the RCVS entered the second phase of its VN Vision initiative, which launched as part of VN Futures last year, comprised of workshops focusing on more effectively integrating nurses into multidisciplinary veterinary teams.
BVNA president Lyndsay Hughes said: “The joint decision to end the project marks an end of an era, but also the beginning of an exciting new chapter.
“We will continue to work with each other on activities and projects that support the veterinary nursing profession on an ongoing basis.”
The BVNA – which will host a VN Vision session at its congress in October – recently issued guidelines to maximise the RVN role under current legislation and is set to launch an “RVN utilisation champions” campaign later this year.
The group is also developing a “Nurse Utilisation Toolkit” for its members that is set to be available in late 2025 or early 2026.
