One of the College’s roles is to maintain standards of professional conduct within the veterinary profession and, from 1 September 2007, for those veterinary nurses who join the non-statutory VN Register.

The first thing that springs to many minds in relation to regulation is ‘striking off’. Yet the process of regulation starts with setting standards and offering advice, and very rarely leads to this most severe sanction.

In order to maintain standards, veterinary surgeons and registered veterinary nurses have their own Guides to Professional Conduct to follow. The most up-to-date versions of these can be found on RCVSonline – www.rcvs.org.uk/guide for veterinary surgeons and www.rcvs.org.uk/vnregister for veterinary nurses.

The College also issues Advice Notes on particular issues – from the definition of ‘negligence’ through to the use of artificial insemination in dogs. The list of available notes is updated several times a year and can be found on www.rcvs.org.uk/advicenotes.

If you can’t find the answer to your query in the relevant Guide or the Advice Notes, please feel free to contact the College’s Advice Line on 020 7202 0729 or profcon@rcvs.org.uk.