Ms Alison Langridge
APVN (Avian) MSc PGDip RVN BA(Hons) FHEA
Teaching Fellow in Veterinary Clinical Skills
Department: Clinical Science and Services
Campus: Hawkshead
Alison is a Teaching Fellow in Veterinary Clinical Skills, teaching both veterinary medicine and veterinary nursing undergraduates. She is also a Clinical Tutor for BSc and Foundation degree nursing students, and a final year project supervisor for BVetMed, BScVN and Veterinary Biosciences courses.
Alison qualified as a Registered Veterinary Nurse in 2003. After qualifying, she was given the time, funding and opportunity to specialise and spent the next few years developing her skills in medical nursing, most notably in rabbit health. In the last two years at the practice, she was almost exclusively devoted to running daily nurse consultations which ranged from general life stage health checks through to more specialised diabetes, rabbit health and wound management clinics. After ten years, she moved to a fixed term position as Head Nurse of a large, mixed practice to cover maternity leave before leaving to locum, which included a two week stint at the RVC. She then travelled the UK, including Northern Ireland, for nine months as a consulting nurse for the PDSA PetCheck Roadshow, before joining the Clinical Skills Centre team as an Assistant Lecturer in November 2009.
Since joining the RVC, Alison has achieved her MSc degree, Post Graduate Certificate and Diploma in Veterinary Education, graduating in 2014 and gaining her Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy. Her research project centred on interprofessional education (IPE) and explored whether teaching veterinary medicine and veterinary nursing undergraduates together changed their perceptions of each other.
Following her keen interest in IPE, Alison is a founding member of the RVC staff interprofessional education team (iPET), supporting the newly formed interprofessional student club (IPEC). Along with other iPET colleagues, she continually creates, develops and facilitates interactive sessions between vet and vet nursing undergraduates where they can learn with, from and about each other through practical sessions and clinical scenarios.
Alison is a supervisor and examiner for final year research projects for the BVetMed, Veterinary Nursing and Veterinary Biosciences degrees. She is also author, facilitator and assessor for all years of veterinary medicine and veterinary nursing undergraduates OSCEs and Directly Observed Procedures (DOPs). She is also Lead Assessor for the summative BVetMed3 dog handling DOP examination and BVetMed5 dental health OSCE.
Alison has a keen interest in supporting the mental health of students and has undertaken training in mental health support and suicide prevention. She is a trained First Aider and Mental Health First Aider, recently qualified as a coach through the Chartered Management Institute and is continuing to peer coach, supporting other staff who are now training through the coaching and mentoring programme.
Alison also enjoys being active in the wider veterinary community. She regularly chairs and lectures at veterinary educational events and is also a member of the RCVS Ethics Review Panel.
Although Alison's job is 100% teaching, she is enjoys research and promoting research skills for vets and RVNs in practice as well as at the RVC.
She completed an MSc in Veterinary Education in 2014, which explored interprofessional education, in particular, whether teaching veterinary medicine and veterinary nursing students together changed their perceptions of each other.
Following on from her project, and since supervising RP2 students as they explore IPE and produce more qualitative research, she is currently collaborating with her iPET colleagues to undertake some research in IPE which looks at attitudes and motivations of students who are invited to IPE sessions.
2018
Kinnison, T., Langridge, A., Lumbis, R.,Serlin, R. 2018. Vet and VN Training: Going beyond approach of training side by side. Veterinary Times 48 (30) pp16-17.
English, K., Langridge, A. 2018. Principles of good practice in the laboratory. IN Veterinary Clinical Skills Manual. Eds Nichola Coombes and Ayona Silva-Fletcher. CABI, UK. pp 127-168.
Langridge, A. 2018. Principles of Small Animal Bandaging. IN Veterinary Clinical Skills Manual. Eds Nichola Coombes and Ayona Silva-Fletcher. CABI, UK. pp 190-202.
2016
Langridge, A., Silva-Fletcher, A., Whittlestone K. 2016 Teaching veterinary medicine and veterinary nursing undergraduates together changes their perceptions of each other. Vet Ed Symposium, Glasgow University.
Langridge, A., Maccallum, B., Burn, C.C. 2016 Veterinary professionals report lack of education and confidence regarding pain scoring and analgesia for rabbits and guinea pigs. UFAW Conference, York.
2015
Langridge, A. 2015 Design and implementation of a feline urinary catheter model. Vet Ed Symposium, Cambridge University.
Vincent, I., Coombes, N., Pead, M., Langridge, A., Brown, F., Mace, W., Sanger, J. 2015 From OSCEs to DOPS for animal handling exams at the RVC - Why? Vet Ed Symposium, Cambridge University.
Coombes, N., Vincent, I., Langridge, A., Brown, F. 2015 The pastoral side of a Clinical Skills Centre - getting to the heart of the matter. Vet Ed Symposium, Cambridge University.
Vincent, I., Coombes, N., Brown, F., Langridge, A., Pead, M. 2015 RVC's clinical skills centre celebrates decade of teaching. Veterinary Times 45 (3) 12-13
2011
Langridge, A, Seymour, C. 2011. The forgotten pet? Addressing the need for more veterinary teaching about rabbits, Vet Ed Symposium, Nottingham University.
Coombes, N., Vincent, I., Langridge, A. 2011 Integrating clinical skills teaching into the RVC curriculum: how is it done? Vet Ed Symposium, Nottingham University.
2010
Langridge, A. 2010 Preparing an outdoor rabbit to stay healthy throughout winter. VN Times 10 (11): 18-19.
As one of a team of five which includes two vets and two other RVNs, Alison’s core teaching duties focus on the timetabled delivery of clinical skills for the BVetMed3 students, although we also support and teach all undergraduates who come to the centre to practise in their own time.
She is also a Clinical Tutor for years 1-3 of veterinary nursing undergraduates and in that capacity she supports students academically and pastorally whilst on campus and on placement.
Alison is regularly invited to teach on other courses and strands including the BSc VN Advanced Practice module, communication skills for veterinary and veterinary nursing undergraduates, the Veterinary Nursing School and the BVetMed5 Feline Elective.
She enjoy developing skill stations in order to help broaden Day One competencies and to this end she has developed a feline urinary catheter model which has been successfully used in the Clinical Skills Centre (CSC) as well as during IPE sessions and Nursing Progress Log (NPL) task completions for the nursing undergraduates.
She is currently collaborating with the Veterinary Wound Library and Advancis to develop a wound management station which will link to a new infection control station, where students can practise skills in making up kits for autoclaving and opening them aseptically. She is also developing a rabbit intubation model with the Veterinary Wound Library with the plan of developing a skill station where students can practice placement of an endotracheal tube or laryngeal mask.
As an OSCE author and assessor, Alison is keen to integrate more rabbit health into the teaching and assessment at the RVC and has had a rabbit based OSCE successfully used in formative and summative OSCEs . In collaboration with colleague Dr Jo Hedley, she has developed two more rabbit-centric OSCEs with a view to broadening the range of exotic species in OSCEs to reflect the increased number seen in general practice.
As with all of the CSC staff, she is keen to align teaching practice with a sound evidence base and current best practice. She has an up-to-date Professional Development Record (PDR) which is relevant to her current role and reflects appropriate evidence base CPD. This was spot-checked and audited by the RCVS in December 2017 and remains ahead of the recommended requirements.
Although no longer in clinical practice, Alison enjoys maintaining her links with clinical practice and has spent time as CPD at two small animal practices, as well as a nursing advisor to a rabbit rescue.
Next year, she has plans to undertake seeing practice with an ambulatory zoo vet as well as gaining new handling skills at a raptor sanctuary. She has also made arrangements to see practice supporting night nurses at the Queen Mother Hospital for Animals and hopes to spend some time on the exotics ward at the Beaumont Sainsbury Animal Hospital to give her some practical experience of more unusual exotics that she is learning about on her course.
Although CSC staff are no longer in clinical practice, it is an RCVS requirement that RVNs fulfil their mandatory CPD responsibilities to stay as clinically up to date with relevant clinical issues as possible in order to provide skills teaching which is sound and evidence based.
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‘Nursing Matters’ – an investigation of mental health in the veterinary nursing profession
RVC researchers are conducting a much-needed investigation of mental health and wellbeing amongst RVNs and SVNs, aiming to identify issues that can be changed to provide better support.