Postgraduate Certificate Advanced Veterinary Nursing (Perioperative Nursing and Patient Safety)

Course overview

RCVS accredited

Develop your specialism as an advanced nursing practitioner in your chosen field while enhancing your skills and knowledge. Our Postgraduate Certificate in Postgraduate Certificate in Advanced Veterinary Nursing (Perioperative Nursing and Patient Safety) focuses on areas of clinical interest and mapping out individual pathways for career progression.

Flexible learning

This course is ideal for those wanting to combine working in practice with studying for an advanced qualification. All compulsory delivery is flexible and online, with optional study days at weekends providing opportunities to access our world-class facilities and meet with fellow students and staff face-to-face. The course can be tailored to fit around your existing commitments, with options to complete in one year or spread out over two/three years.

Enhance your expertise

The course has been designed for veterinary nurses with a special interest in advanced surgical nursing. In addition to advancing your surgical nursing knowledge and skills, the course will encourage you to suggest creative solutions to applied problems in surgical nursing practice, even in cases of incomplete evidence or uncertainty, while acknowledging professional responsibility.

You'll be supported to set aspirational individual and team goals, and to supervise others to achieve these. This course will develop your approach to providing, monitoring and evaluating safe and effective advanced nursing care during the perioperative period. As patient safety is a key focus during this time, you'll be supported to develop skills in identifying factors that contribute to the safety of the surgical patient, including client liaison, and in planning and conducting clinical audits in practice.

Professional learning environment

You’ll benefit from the expertise of our professional veterinary nursing team, whose research interests include veterinary professional ethics and law, equine intensive care, behaviour and rehabilitation, and end-of-life care for animal patients. At Hartpury, you’ll join an inclusive, supportive and welcoming learning community that will help you to develop as an advanced practitioner.

A typical offer for the Postgraduate Certificate is a Level 3 Diploma, FdSc or BSc (Hons) in Veterinary Nursing. Applicants must be a Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, Registered Veterinary Nurse or, if an international applicant, must hold equivalent qualifications.