This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

      

Pepas is presenting the

interesting project results

at the final conference in Oslo

on September 3rd 2010.

For more information click here.

 

 

The Pepas project aims to set up a Pan European Practical Assessment system for Veterinary nurses in Europe.
The project uses the Dossier of European Competences for veterinary nurses, as published by Acovene. Acovene runs a succesfull accreditation system for veterinary nurse programmes (www.acovene.com). 
The competences in the dossier underpin all accredited programmes, bringing about a standard baseline approach to veterinary nurse clinical training. However, whilst the accreditation system evaluates the quality of delivered programmes, it does not call for a standardised approach to competence assessment.  This means that assessment strategies vary across programmes and some place limited emphasis on practical competence assessment.  The assessment of safe practical performance is paramount in veterinary nurse training and education. A standardisation of the assessment strategies will increase the possibilities for students to follow part of their education programme in a foreign country. To be able to do this, and also make the competence level of these nurses transparent for all employers, we want to create a Pan European Practical Assessment system. 

Main aims and objectives of Pepas:

Our main aim is to create a Pan European Practical Assessment system for Veterinary nurses in Europe. First of all, we will compare the existing national (or local) assessment systems. We will explore the possibilities to objectively and uniformly assess the competences and / or performance criteria (learning outcomes) of the Dossier of European competences. The RCVS in the UK has developed a reliable, objective and transparent practical assessment system, which could readily be adapted to the Dossier of European competences. The existing “OSCE” (Objective Structured Clinical Examination) schemes from the RCVS will be evaluated, adapted to the Dossier of European Competences, and translated into the languages of the partners. Furthermore, new “OSCE” assessment tasks will be developed where needed to meet the learning outcomes of the Dossier of European Competences. 

Characteristics of the partnership:

The partnership consists of employer organisations (FECAVA and RCVS), colleges with veterinary nurse programmes, most of them accredited by Acovene and institutes that can supervise the quality of the exams (RCVS and CITO under subcontract). 


The envisaged impact will be significant:

- The colleges that have run a pilot will be able to implement the assessment system immediately.

- Students from the participating colleges will find it easier to do part of their training within a foreign programme and have their learning outcomes recognised.

- Other colleges within Europe can opt to implement the system after the project.

- Employers throughout Europe will now know exactly the competence level of a veterinary nurse, and will thus be much more willing to employ him or her. Shortages of veterinary nurses in some countries and a surplus in others can now be more easily solved.

For more information:
Please contact the project manager through the contact form on this page.