Serena Chung from the Fauna Conservation Department attended the Veterinary Nurses Council of Australia (VNCA) Conference 2016 in Perth, Western Australia from 19th to 22nd April 2016. The theme of this year was “Make Your Mark”.

The VNCA organises conferences annually and welcomes veterinary nurses from all over the world to join. The goal of VNCA is to strengthen the role of veterinary nurses as part of the veterinary health care profession. The annual conference provides a great opportunity for veterinary nurses to learn from each other, present new techniques and develop networking with other colleagues and suppliers in the veterinary industry.

The pre-conference tour to Penguin Island took place on 19 April

Attending the conference were 33 speakers including a university professor, 18 veterinarians and 14 registered veterinary nurses. They conducted 56 presentations and 6 workshops. There were 6 categories for the presentations, including surgical, medical and clinical, communication and management and personal care, behaviour, exotics and equine.

Education displays at the Visitor Centre showing different penguin species (left) the lifecycle of Little Penguins (right)

One of the highlights of the conference was the pre-conference tour to Penguin Island. This tour has taught the veterinary nurse group how human and wildlife can live harmoniously.

Project staff showing the routine work for Little Penguin research which include checking the nest boxes and also a general health check of the penguins

An artificial nest box for the Little Penguins

All the display penguins at the education centre were rescued and cannot be released to the wild, so they stay at the centre for educational purposes. The staff from the centre said that once the people see the real penguins here, they become more aware of the need of wild ones. This helps to protect wild Little Penguins.

The conference was a great opportunity to allow exchange with other veterinary nurses from other countries. There are always some updated techniques or products in veterinary field which can be shared. It is always good to go out to observe and learn how the others are undertaking their own procedures. You can learn something new and bring back and adopt the knowledge in your own work place. This is all helps develop better rescue work, animal care and welfare.