Course

Veterinary Nursing Skills Lab

Faculty
Science & Technology
Department
Veterinary Technology
Course code
VTEC 1306
Credits
1.00
Semester length
2 Weeks
Max class size
30
Method(s) of instruction
Lab
Course designation
None
Industry designation
None
Typically offered
To be determined

Overview

Course description
This is a condensed lab-only course intended for students registered in the part-time VTEC program. Students will practice essential veterinary nursing skills, such as medication administration, venipuncture, intravenous and urinary catheter placement, and bandaging.
Course content
  • Patient assessment
  • Administration of medications: topical, oral and parenteral injections
  • Blood collection and sample handling
  • Intravenous and urinary catheters and fluid lines
  • Urine collection methods including cystocentesis
  • Bandaging
Learning activities

Skills will be taught and practiced using canine and feline models (including cadavers). 

Means of assessment

Assessment will be in accordance with the Douglas College Evaluation Policy. The instructor will present a written course outline with specific evaluation criteria at the beginning of the semester.

This course will use a Mastery-based assessment. Students will receive a Mastery (“MAS”) grade based on upon attendance at a minimum of 80% of the scheduled laboratory hours and successful completion of the learning outcomes.

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of the course, successful students will be able to:

  • perform patient assessment skills which may include blood pressure measurement, ECG, tonometry and fluorescein dye test;
  • administer medication orally, aurally, topically, subcutaneously, intramuscularly and intravenously to a model or live patient;
  • perform venipuncture and prepare a blood sample for shipment to a laboratory;
  • place a cephalic intravenous catheter using a limb model;
  • set up fluid lines and pumps for the administration of intravenous fluids;
  • place a urinary catheter in a male dog model;
  • palpate a bladder and perform cystocentesis on a feline or canine model;
  • place simple limb bandages.
Textbook materials

Consult the Douglas College Bookstore for the latest required textbooks and materials. Example textbooks may include:

  • Crow and Walshaw. (Current Edition). Manual of Clinical Procedures in Dogs, Cats, Rabbits, and Rodents. J Boyle: Pub Wiley.

Requisites

Prerequisites

VTEC 1303

Students in the Veterinary Technology program are required to maintain a minimum grade of (C) in all courses, in order to progress in the program.

Corequisites

No corequisite courses.

Equivalencies

No equivalent courses.

Course Guidelines

Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.

(Current)

Course Transfers

These are for current course guidelines only. For a full list of archived courses please see https://www.bctransferguide.ca

Institution Transfer details for VTEC 1306
There are no applicable transfer credits for this course.

Course Offerings

Winter 2025