• Join Laura Jones Senior Medicine Nurse and Veterinary Technician Specialist in Small Animal Internal Medicine for three 2-hour online sessions
• Comprehensive notes to download
• Self-assessment quizzes to ‘release’ your 8 hours CPD certification (don’t worry, you can take them more than once if you don’t quite hit the mark first time)
• A whole year’s access to recorded sessions for reviewing key points
• Superb value for money – learn without travelling
• Watch the recordings on your iPad!

Programme

The kidneys: structure, function and pathophysiology

The kidneys are vital organs responsible for several key functions within the body. As well as filtering the blood, forming urine and removing nitrogenous waste products, they are also responsible for maintaining blood pressure, acid/base and electrolyte balance, and regulating red blood cell production.Renal disorders are some of the most common conditions we encounter as veterinary nurses.
Broadly they can be categorised as either acute (acute kidney injury, or AKI) or chronic (chronic kidney disease, or CKD).

What you’ll learn:

• To understand the structure and function of the kidneys
• To understand the diagnostic tests and common results for patients with renal disorders

Treating and nursing chronic kidney disease

Chronic kidney disease is characterised as a gradual, progressive deterioration in renal function which has persisted for over 3 months. Most cases are idiopathic, though glomerular diseases, and renal dysplasia may also cause CKD. It has no cure, and treatment is aimed at slowing progression of the disease, as well as managing complications such as hypertension, hyperphosphataemia and anaemia.

What you’ll learn:

• To understand the pathophysiology and common causes of chronic kidney disease

Treating and nursing acute kidney injury

Acute kidney injury is an acute, severe, potentially reversible insult to renal function. AKI can be caused by pre-renal, intrinsic renal, and post-renal causes, depending on where in the body the insult takes place. Pre-renal causes include hypotension or hypovolaemia resulting in poor renal blood flow, intrinsic renal causes include toxin ingestion causing damage to the kidney tissue itself, and post-renal causes include lower urinary tract obstructions.
The way a renal patient is managed depends on the type of renal disease that they have, and the veterinary nurse needs to be aware of this when planning and implementing nursing care to these patients. In the first session, we will look at the structure and function of our kidneys, and how they are impacted by chronic kidney disease and acute kidney injury. In our second session, we will look at the diagnosis, treatment and nursing care of patients with chronic kidney disease, and in our final session, we will discuss the diagnosis, treatment, and nursing care considerations for patients with acute kidney injury, including options for dialysis and critical care nursing of these patients.

What you’ll learn:

• To understand the pathophysiology and common causes of acute kidney injury
• To understand the treatment options and nursing considerations for patients with renal disorders, and how they differ between CKD and AKI patients
• To understand the diagnostic tests and common results for patients with renal disorders

The price includes all 3 sessions, notes and quiz – 8 hours of CPD

*No traffic jams, accommodation hassles, pet or childcare, rota clashes, locum fees ……….. just great CPD and a valuable ongoing resource.