WORK PLACEMENT HANDBOOK
Once you have located a clinic or workplace willing to take you on, you must obtain our approval and have insurance arranged by completing all the following steps. This all must be completed and approved by us PRIOR to starting your placement.
All forms are available for download in the Learning Centre in your Workplace Placement Approval area.
We recommend returning all forms at least 3-4 weeks prior to starting to allow time for processing and confirming requirements with the clinic if we are unsure they have the right equipment or if we need further information from the Clinic or your Mentor.
Any placement that is undertaken PRIOR to any of the steps outlined below cannot count towards your course requirements.
The steps you need to take are:
1. ARRANGING PLACEMENT & OBTAINING ACVN APPROVAL
The first step is to get ACVN to approve the workplace as suitable for the placement. To do this, you will need the clinic to fill out the Clinic Approval Form and hand them back to you.Once approved, we will email you.
You can then either post or scan and upload to submit them to us. If you can’t scan the documents, please post to:
Australian College of Veterinary Nursing
Po Box 4208
Hoppers Crossing VIC 3029
2. ORGANISING A CLINICAL MENTOR
When doing your placement, you need to have a Clinical Mentor that can help teach and oversee your time in the workplace. This person will also sign off on your skill development through your key skills.
ALL Clinical Mentors need to complete the Clinical Mentor Registration packet and be approved by us prior to signing any of your practical skills.
Appropriate clinical mentors are:
- Veterinarians
- Qualified Veterinary Nurses
Mentors with other animal care qualifications can be accepted for placement one if performed outside a veterinary clinic.
Nurses that have an older qualification must be actively undertaking professional development within the industry to keep their skills and knowledge up to date before we can approve them.
You can then either post or scan and upload to submit them to us.
In some instances we may not approve a clinical mentor as suitable. You will then need to arrange an alternative mentor at the clinic.
3. ARRANGING INSURANCE
Insurance is vital and is arranged by the RTO once we have approved your clinic and mentor and received the ‘Clinical Placement Application’ form.
The RTO will contact the clinic direct to obtain a Placement Agreement and return it to the RTO direct.
We will email you confirmation that insurance is arranged and in place once the RTO has notified us.
4. COMPLETE THE WHS AND ANIMAL HANDLING SUBJECTS
You must complete the ‘WHS in the Vet Clinic’ and ‘Safe Animal handling Techniques’ subjects prior to starting your first placement.
This is to ensure you are aware of all the hazards that can be encountered in the vet clinic and this is a requirement under WHS legislation. Remember that you need to allow time for your work AND any resubmissions to be graded, so make sure you have submitted work and allowed time for this.
For your remaining placements, you should complete all your associated subjects PRIOR to starting your placement. This ensures that you have completed all your learning prior to performing your assessments.
You should continue to study your subjects if you are waiting for placement to commence or are still looking for placement. Do not stop studying or you will fall behind on your study plan.