Supporting Inpatients and Isolation for PCAs

Enhance your clinical support skills by mastering professional animal handling, vital sign monitoring, and the specific protocols required for isolation ward management.

  • PCA

  • 3 hours

      Overview

      This course is focused on increasing the skillset of Patient Care Assistants (PCAs) and those in equivalent roles, such as VCAs, ANAs, and ACAs, in the essential areas of animal handling and husbandry. You will explore the theoretical steps required for measuring vital signs, observing wounds, and managing inpatient care within a clinical environment. The training also covers how these principles are applied to the specialised care of isolation patients, including the detailed protocols for the setup and clean-down of an isolation ward. By understanding your role in emergency situations and diagnostic sampling, you will be better equipped to support the wider veterinary team and ensure the highest standards of patient welfare.

      Intended learning outcomes

      By the end of this course, you should be able to:
      • Explain how to safely approach, transport and restrain various species of small animals
      • Describe how to observe various vitals in small animal patients and know to refer these to the clinical team
      • Consider basic husbandry of small animal species, including resting energy requirements (RERs)
      • Explain the role of the PCA in emergency situations, wound observation and diagnostic samples (urine and faecal analysis)
      • Differentiate the setup, use and close of an isolation ward to that of a normal hospital ward
      “I have always believed, and I still believe, that whatever good or bad fortune may come our way we can always give it meaning and transform it into something of value.”
      HERMANN HESSE, SIDDHARTHA