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Our Nursing Anaesthesia online learning program has been developed to enable all veterinary nurses/ technicians and veterinary paraprofessionals access to our world-class teaching materials.
By studying part-time, at your own pace, this program allows you to effectively manage your work-life balance while taking essential knowledge back to practice immediately.
During the program, online sessions will cover:
You’ll have support and guidance from a Module Tutor who is a specialist in veterinary anaesthesia across 8 varied and interactive modules delivered over 15 months.
Additional sessions allow you to develop your reflective skills and enable time for consolidation and revision of your learning.
Once you join you will be part of an international program with participants from all over the world.
Register your interest to receive Nursing Anaesthesia Online Learning updates.
The anaesthetic machine is an essential tool for inhalation anaesthesia. A good working knowledge of both the machine and breathing circuit is essential to ensure the safety of the patient.
This module will cover the different types of machines available and will review available breathing circuits. The range of monitoring equipment in veterinary practice has increased significantly over the last few years and the latest thinking on this topic will be presented.
Key learning objectives:
This module will cover how to assess the patient before anaesthesia and the different drugs available for pre-medication. General anaesthesia may be induced by injectable drugs or inhalational agents. These will be reviewed along with methods of maintaining anaesthesia.
Key learning objectives:
The causes of cardiopulmonary arrest (CPA) will be covered as will how to recognise ‘at risk’ patients. The aim of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is to support ventilation and circulation until natural functions can be restored and maintained. Equipment and resources needed for CPR will be included and a step-by-step ‘how’ to’ guide.
Key learning objectives:
Fluid therapy is often seen as complicated by both nurses and vets. This module aims to demystify the subject and explain the reasons why every nurse should understand the basics of fluid balance, fluid therapy and fluid administration.
How to calculate fluid requirements, rates of administration, and monitoring techniques will be covered. Nutritional support for the anaesthetised patient will also be included.
Key learning objectives:
Know about the types and uses of different fluids, including colloids, HBOCS
Be able to devise a fluid therapy plan and monitor patients
Understand the principles of transfusion medicine
The importance of nutrition in the critical patient
There are naturally some important differences when planning anaesthesia in both equine and exotic species. This module will cover the different drugs and techniques available for both the horse and also common ‘exotic’ species.
Key learning objectives:
Have an overview of equine anaesthesia: the horse as an anaesthetic candidate
Understand drugs and anaesthetic techniques including monitoring and complications in equine anaesthesia
Know of special considerations, techniques and advice for anaesthesia in other species including birds, reptiles, ferrets, rabbits and other small mammals
Have an awareness of some considerations specific to farm animal anaesthesia
This module will cover the pathophysiology of pain and how to recognise and assess pain in the different species.
The different types of drugs available for analgesia will be reviewed for short, medium and long term use. The concept of pre-emptive analgesia will be covered along with multi-modal analgesia.
Key learning objectives:
Have an overview of the pathophysiology of pain
Recognise pain in different species
Have an understanding of pain scoring
Understand the many analgesia options, including opioids, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents, local anaesthesia and other agents (e.g. ketamine) and alpha 2 agonists
Local blocks and epidurals
Know how to use constant rate infusions
Consider long term pain management and chronic pain
Be aware of adjuncts to pain control, new and novel drugs
Certain conditions require the anaesthetist to employ different techniques from those routinely used. The use of neuromuscular blocking agents will be covered in this course as well as planning anaesthesia for thoracic surgery, head and neck surgery, patients with cardiopulmonary disease and those with neurological problems.
Key learning objectives:
Know about muscle relaxants – indications, current use, new drugs and monitoring
How to plan an anaesthetic for:
Thoracic surgery
Head and neck surgery
Patients with cardiopulmonary disease
Patients with neurological disease
This module will cover how to plan an anaesthetic for both the patient undergoing a caesarean operation, the paediatric and geriatric patient. In addition, considerations for anaesthesia for patients with renal or liver failure and for particular endocrinopathies will be discussed. All of these situations place particular demands on the anaesthetist and the importance of patient assessment, drug selection, induction/maintenance techniques and monitoring will be covered.
Key learning objectives:
*Please note: Module order may be subject to change
All prices are inclusive of compulsory 10% GST.
Payment Plan through VetEdPay* (AU $4,350 + $195 administration fee)
All prices are inclusive of compulsory 10% GST. Australian Residents Only
*Please note: By selecting this option for payment you are connecting with VetEdPay, an external finance provider.
Terms and Conditions apply to all bookings.
Please find the terms and conditions here.
These programs are postgraduate qualifications and require a sound knowledge of veterinary anatomy, physiology and nursing prior to entry.
Registration for the examination (and associated written assessment) is optional, and delegates undertaking an Improve International modular training program can choose to attend the course without undertaking any assessment. Delegates choosing NOT to undertake any assessment receive acknowledgement of their ‘Continuing Professional Development’ (CPD) hours from Improve International but ARE NOT eligible to receive the NCert/VTCert/VPPCert in their chosen discipline.
Registration is via a unique registration link provided at the start of the course via the online learning platform Moodle. Upon registration, you can anticipate email confirmation. (Please add english@isvps.org to your contacts to ensure you receive correspondence from ISVPS).
The confirmation email contains a password to access the ISVPS ‘Candidates’ Area’, which is separate to Improve International’s Learning Management System (LMS), ‘Moodle’. In addition to providing access to assessment guidance, the ISVPS ‘Candidates’ Area’ also permits candidates to submit their written assessment to ISVPS anonymously.
The examination NCert/VTCert/VPPCert takes place every November by remote invigilation. You will therefore require access to a computer or laptop (not a tablet) meeting the following requirements:
Using remote invigilation, you can take the examination in any private, quiet room and therefore you are not required to travel.
The examination will consist of two 1-hour examinations. A 25 MCQ exam and an online applied knowledge examination (OAKE).
The program is worth a minimum of 100 CPD hours (approximately 48 hours of delivered sessions and 52 hours self-study time).
In addition to the 2500-word clinical audit assessment, we suggest that delegates spend an additional 52 hours of self-study. You will also require access to journals and articles via an internet library service (e.g. RCVS Knowledge; PubMed; Google scholar) which may incur an additional registration fee.
The examination fee is included in the full course price however those delegates that require to resit any part of the assessments will be subject to additional assessment fees which are paid directly to ISVPS. You will also be provided with a suggested reading list where there may be additional cost of books and articles depending on the individual preferences.
Yes, we fully appreciated that sometimes life itself gets in the way. Therefore, delegates are able to defer the program for a maximum of three years from their start date.
Examination candidates are permitted one deferral from the time they become eligible to take the examination. Further deferrals are taken from the candidate’s three ‘attempts’ to pass the summative assessments (please see question 10, ‘What happens if I fail an ISVPS assessment?’). For example, an ISVPS candidate can choose to use two deferrals but then has only two ‘attempts’ remaining. Please note, candidates have four years from course completion to satisfy ISVPS assessment requirements for the award.
Progress of the completion of your module and program are tracked in different ways.
Each module consists of 9 interactive lessons including reflective study which may involve case studies, MCQ writing and calculation practice during week 4, depending on the specific module. The interactive lessons will track and remember your progress whilst you complete it. When you return to a specific lesson or case study, you will return to the page that you last visited.
Once a lesson is completed, a tick will appear next to the lesson icon on the module course page. You will also see a progress indicator at the top right-hand corner of the course page and a more detailed Progress Bar in the collapsible side menu on the left.
Upon completing all 9 lessons and the 2 case studies, you will be awarded a Digital Badge, recognising your achievement. As you progress through the program, badges will be awarded at 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 completion stages.
Candidates have three ‘attempts’ to pass the summative assessments. Candidates are ONLY required to repeat the unsuccessful component (for example, if you were to fail the examination—but pass the written assessment—you are only required to repeat the examination, and vice versa). Please note, there is a nominal administration charge to re-submit the written assessment or re-sit the examination. Assessment dates are annual (i.e. your next opportunity to submit the written assessment or take the examination is in the following year).
Proof of qualifications as awarded in the country of origin will be required prior to enrolment on the programme. These are required by ISVPS for exam registration. Please do contact us to discuss your eligibility for further information.
Modules are released every other month. During the months when a module is not running reflective exercises and study skills will be made available.
During the month when a module is live 3 lessons will be made available within the first week followed by a further 3 lessons in week two and week three. During this time delegates will have access to an open forum which is tutor mentored.
Even though you may access our world-leading Learning Management System via any browser, it is recommended that you choose a browser that supports integrated HTML editor. Google Chrome or Firefox on a Windows operating system, and Chrome, Firefox or Safari on a Mac system.
While using Internet Explorer (Edge) should not cause any issue, it has been reported that some security settings and adherence to W3C standards prevent the browser from operating in some instances. If you experience a problem please try one of the other browsers before contacting Improve for additional support.
