REGISTERED TRAINING CLINICS

Registered Training Clinics are veterinary practices and hospitals that provide the supportive, professional environment our ACVN Student Veterinary Nurses need to complete their practical placements.

By joining our network, you’re not only giving students the chance to learn in a real-world setting, you’re also helping shape their future careers and strengthening the profession as a whole.

Becoming a Registered Training Clinic is free, simple, and highlights your commitment to education and professional standards. Once approved, your registration lasts for five years.

Practical experience is essential for every veterinary nursing student. While ACVN provides opportunities for students to practice skills through at-home activities and occasional simulation workshops, these experiences can only go so far.

To truly prepare graduates for the realities of practice, students must also learn in a clinical setting. Real-world experience takes their knowledge beyond simulation, helping them retain what they’ve learned, apply it in different situations, and develop the critical thinking, problem-solving, professionalism, and communication skills that define an outstanding Veterinary Nurse.

No one enjoys unnecessary paperwork, and we’ve worked hard to keep it to a minimum. Our mission is to provide the best training possible so that graduates are clinic-ready and meet the high expectations of the veterinary nursing role. To achieve this, we need to ensure that the clinics hosting our students have the right equipment, case load, and supportive team environment for students to develop and master their skills.

The good news is that registration is quick and entirely online. If you’ve hosted ACVN students in the past, you’ll notice the process is much simpler. Gone are the days of endless sign-off sheets — instead, students complete a combination of short “Key Skills” assessments and video or live assessment submissions, most of which require little or no extra involvement from clinic staff.

Registered Training Clinics must be approved with ACVN before students begin placement. This ensures your clinic is equipped for the tasks students need to learn, and that you have authorised ACVN Clinical Mentors available to provide guidance. These checks are part of our quality assurance processes, which allow us to deliver Nationally Recognised Training with confidence.

Our aim is to make hosting a student as straightforward and rewarding as possible.

As a thank you for supporting our students, we provide a range of benefits for your nursing and support staff.

• Free live and recorded CPD webinars for your team.
• Access to our annual online conference at no cost.
• Direct access to our Nurse Educators for assistance with course-related queries or technical aspects of nursing procedures.
• Access to the Clinical.Partners website, with helpful information on our syllabus and clear guidance on what’s expected in clinic.
• ACVN short course discount vouchers for all registered mentors.
• A Certificate of Registration (posted on request) that you can display.

Getting started is simple. To become a Registered Training Clinic, your practice just needs to complete one quick online form. Each clinic must also have at least one registered Clinical Mentor, who will fill out a separate mentor registration form.

Your benefits begin as soon as your registration is approved and continue for the full five years. To keep receiving the ongoing benefits, we ask that your clinic hosts at least one student each year.

From time to time, we may reach out if a student is struggling to find their own placement. Accepting them is entirely up to you. There’s no obligation, and we always recommend treating the process like hiring an employee — interview them first to make sure they’re the right fit for your team.