As you may have seen, I have won a little award. Obviously, with my writing here, I should be the Nobel Laureate for Literature, but I think that’s in the bag for for next time. This award was for innovation.
It came as a bit of a surprise, as I’ve been “innovating” for so long I’d forgotten what I was doing was a little different. Apart from writing here I run #planetrvn on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and for my own website JaneRVN.com
It’s a hashtag (#) for vets and vet nurses to share information, ideas and support. Over the six-plus years it’s been going, it’s created an online community I couldn’t be happier with – I’m so proud of the information shared and the support given, and thank you again to everyone who shares.
Joining data
Just to help those who may be reading this who are new to all things social media, a # is a way of joining data together on a similar subject – posh word, “metadata”. It means people can see information from that # without having to follow new people or read their entire timeline to find it.
You can even just Google #planetrvn to see what’s happening cross the platforms – you don’t even need to join social media to start seeing what’s going on. If you want to know more, though, head over to my social media blogs.
Shown here is an example of a word cloud created from posts to #planetrvn. It’s an amazing collection of positive words from our community. It makes me so proud to be part of a group of people that can create this.
Given a purpose
What most people don’t know is that during the time I’ve posted and shared under #planetrvn I’ve often been in crippling, debilitating pain. At times I’ve wondered if I’d ever work in the vet world again (or anywhere, in fact).
It’s been depressing, demotivating and I’ve had to re-evaluate my entire life. I’ve lost friends and family as I’ve tried to create a life that I can cope with.
Technology and innovating to my strengths has kept me here, literally and metaphorically – and more than just kept me here: it’s created a community and network of support that has helped so many people. For me, technology has been the key to a new way of working, and I believe it can be a key for many more people.
Symposium
Anyway, fast forward six or so years and the award for #planetrvn came courtesy of the RCVS Innovation Awards, highlighting the college’s soon-to-be bi-annual symposium on innovation and technology in the veterinary industry.
The inaugural event has just taken place, and I was there, as one of the winners, alongside the other amazing VN winners Jill McDonald (OnCore ePD) and Jo Hinde (Lagolearn). It felt great to be held in the same esteem as two great VN innovators and entrepreneurs as Jill and Jo.
So, we headed off to The Shard to admire the views and find out more…
The lectures and discussion during the day were really interesting. Emerging technology and innovations for veterinary practice take many forms. There’s hardware, software, data. How do we use it, do we need to know it all, what are the benefits?
Range of views
The speakers had a great range of views from across many fields. The first meeting provided a good overview of what’s been happening elsewhere and how it could benefit our industry.
For me, the message for the day was that technology, and the associated advances of it into our working lives, will happen. The data, facts and what’s happened in history show us this is the case. Resisting it will only slow you down – do you want to be the Nokia of the veterinary world? The best thing to do is make the changes suitable for you and your needs.
All this doesn’t mean you need to sell your bricks-and-mortar practice and e-consult from a zen-designed pod in your garden and never touch a patient again. It means you need to be flexible and open to new opportunities.
I’m still finding people who don’t see the value in having social media for their practices, so how are these people going to grasp even bigger changes? How will they know what is out there to help them if they miss the small opportunities to join in with bigger communities?
There is enough competition out there in the vet world you can see coming – don’t be blind-sided by competition you didn’t even know existed.
Check with the team
Check what is going on in your team. I’ve seen a poll on who adopts innovations better – vets or VNs. I don’t need to tell you who won that – #planetrvn, you are the best innovators out there.
Vets, make sure you include your team in discussions on new ideas for your practice. You never know what skills your nursing team has.
Creating your version of new innovations is very much at the heart of how this brave new world works. I have used innovations to make a world that works for my needs; you can do the same. The RCVS is making a start to provide the industry with a place to find out more and get support in implementing positive change. Head to ViVet and sign up for the newsletter to keep up to date with news from vets for vets – there’s also links for future events on innovation to attend and resources so you can start finding out more when you are ready.
Everyone can be part of this – create your future for you before someone else creates your future for them.
Leave a Reply