Kate White is a consultant anaesthetist working mailnly in private referral practices. She also works on first opinion practices offering CPD and anaesthesia training, pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions. She lectures regularly on the topics of anaesthesia and analgesia and is particularly keen to help improve the standards of anaesthesia and pain management in practice.

 ** It is possible to attend individual modules of this course. Please contact us if you would like more information **

Veterinary anaesthesia and analgesia have advanced significantly during recent years. This course will review the latest anaesthetic and monitoring equipment, the selection of key anaesthetic and analgesic agents, techniques for safe anaesthesia and effective analgesia in dogs, cats, equines and exotics. The course will help increase confidence in this vital area of veterinary nursing and delegates will be eligible to sit an examination leading to the ‘Level One Accreditation’ in Veterinary Anaesthesia.

Anaesthetic drugs and breathing systems - Sedatives, injectable anaesthetics, inhalation anaesthetics. Review of principles, practical use, case examples and use of 'newer agents', Circuits: made simple. How they work and how to choose them. Use of lower flow anaesthesia with circle circuits. 

Monitoring anaesthesia - The anaesthetic record, basic through to advanced monitoring, equipment - how it works and what to choose, potential problems and pitfalls, minimal monitoring in 'general practice'

Fluid therapy in anaesthesia and critical care, critical care nutrition, use of muscle relaxants in anaesthesia, artificial ventilation and use of ventilators - Types and uses of fluids, including colloids, Oxyglobin, transfusion medicine. Nutrition: Requirements, evaluation, nutrition of the critical patients. Muscle relaxants, indications, current use, new drugs, monitoring, practical examples. Ventilation, including advantages and pitfalls.

Cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, accident and emergencies - Causes and identification and treatment of arrest. What to do: A practical step-by-step guide as to how to manage an arrest, basic CPR, ventilation and artificial circulation. Advanced CPR, use of drugs, monitoring, additional support and resuscitation aids.

Analgesia and pain assessment - The need for analgesia. Recognising pain in different species. Review of analgesia options, including opoids, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents, local anaesthesia and other agents (e.g. ketamine). Local blocks and epidurals, Constant rate infusions, Multi-modality approach, Long term pain management and chronic pain, Adjuncts to pain control, New and novel drugs.

Anaesthesia of equine and exotic species - Equine anaesthesia: the horse as an anaesthetic candidate. Evaluation of anaesthetic risk. Drugs and anaesthetic technique. Monitoring and complications in equine anaesthesia.  Case examples. Special considerations, techniques and advise for anaesthesia in special species including: birds, reptiles, rabbits, ferrets and small mammals.