How you’d get this certificate
- Zavmo teaches you. You learn the units one-to-one with an AI tutor, on your own work.
- You register with an approved centre. That is a college, training provider or employer Central Qualifications has approved to offer this qualification. Zavmo is not an approved centre, so you register with them, not with us.
- The centre assesses, and Central Qualifications awards. A qualified assessor at the centre judges your evidence, and the certificate comes from Central Qualifications.
This occupational qualification is designed for individuals working as veterinary nurses with small animals. It covers areas such as veterinary medicine supply, fluid therapy, theatre practice, and laboratory diagnostics. Home care and convalescence are also addressed within the small animal veterinary science context.
These are the units Central Qualifications registers against this qualification. It is a catalogue, not a syllabus. Which of them you take depends on the combination the qualification requires, and that is set by the awarding body rather than by us. Every unit here is regulated. Zavmo teaches towards them on your own work.
Zavmo is not an awarding body, is not an approved centre, and is not affiliated with Central Qualifications. It does the teaching and the mapping. Central Qualifications sets this qualification and awards it, and a qualified human assessor makes the assessment decision.
What each unit actually teaches you to do
Applied animal welfare, health and husbandry in small animal practice Real unit · Central Qualifications
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the principles of animal welfare in relation to dogs, cats and rabbits, including the five freedoms.
- Understand the use and maintenance of different types of accommodation for hospitalised animals, ensuring hygiene and safety.
- Understand the essential factors for maintaining animal health for a range of species, including preventative healthcare and disease recognition.
- Know the nutritional requirements of animals, including species-specific needs and dietary considerations for different life stages and health conditions.
- Understand the reproduction and breeding of animals, including responsible breeding practices and common reproductive issues.
- Know methods of animal identification, including microchipping, tagging, and other forms of identification.
- Handle and restrain animals safely, using appropriate techniques for different species and temperaments.
Communication and professional relationships in small animal practice Real unit · Central Qualifications
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the dynamics of communication within a veterinary practice environment.
- Communicate effectively with clients, including active listening and clear explanation of information.
- Communicate effectively with colleagues, including verbal and written communication.
- Understand the factors that can affect working relationships with clients, such as cultural differences and emotional states.
- Understand the factors that can affect working relationships within the veterinary practice, such as team dynamics and conflict resolution.
- Explain how to support a client through grief and loss, demonstrating empathy and providing appropriate resources.
- Understand the principles of customer service in a veterinary setting, including meeting client needs and exceeding expectations.
Diagnostic imaging in small animal practice Real unit · Central Qualifications
What you'll be able to do
- Know the legal requirements for operating radiographic equipment safely and compliantly in a veterinary practice.
- Understand the principles of radiography, including radiation safety and image production.
- Understand how to take radiographs of small animals, including positioning and exposure techniques.
- Process radiographs using both traditional and digital methods, and understand digital storage and communication systems (PACS).
- Know the principles of alternative imaging techniques used in veterinary practice, such as ultrasound and MRI.
Home care and convalescence Real unit · Central Qualifications
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the importance of client concordance in achieving positive outcomes for animal care.
- Provide homecare plans that address the specific needs of animals with a range of surgical and medical conditions.
Infection control in small animal practice Real unit · Central Qualifications
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the role of infection in animal and human health, including the types of infectious agents and their impact.
- Understand the principles of disease transmission and isolation nursing in veterinary practice, including routes of transmission and appropriate isolation protocols.
- Understand the principles of disinfection and sterilisation, including the different methods and their effectiveness against various pathogens.
- Understand how to maintain a clean clinical environment, including cleaning protocols, waste disposal, and environmental monitoring.
- Understand how to maintain personal hygiene in relation to cross-infection, including handwashing techniques and the use of personal protective equipment.
- Understand the principles of infection monitoring, including surveillance methods and data analysis.
Introduction to professional practice, professionalism and ethics for small animal veterinary nurses Real unit · Central Qualifications
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the importance of professional practice in the context of small animal veterinary nursing.
- Know the legal framework that governs veterinary nursing practice in the UK.
- Understand the accountability of veterinary nurses for their actions and decisions.
- Understand the application of ethical principles in veterinary nursing practice.
- Understand the principles of obtaining informed consent for veterinary treatment.
- Understand the legal and ethical duties of veterinary nurses to clients, colleagues, and animals.
Laboratory diagnostics in small animal practice Real unit · Central Qualifications
What you'll be able to do
- Explain basic cell structure and function, focusing on features visible using a variety of microscopes commonly found in veterinary practice
- Describe the function and use of common laboratory equipment used in small animal practice, including microscopes, centrifuges, and analysers
- Describe the correct procedures for collecting and preparing specimens for laboratory examination, ensuring accurate and reliable results
- Demonstrate the ability to perform routine tests on pathological specimens in-house, following established protocols and quality control measures
- Describe the correct procedures for preparing specimens for transportation to external laboratories, ensuring sample integrity and compliance with regulations
Operational requirements in small animal practice Real unit · Central Qualifications
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the aims of effective health and safety management within a veterinary practice environment.
- Understand how to safely use and maintain equipment commonly found in a veterinary practice.
- Understand how to maintain appropriate stocks of veterinary consumables and pharmaceuticals, including storage and stock rotation.
- Know the principles of accurate and comprehensive record-keeping in a veterinary practice.
Principles of small animal peri-operative veterinary nursing support Real unit · Central Qualifications
What you'll be able to do
- Understand how to prepare a patient for surgery
- Demonstrate how to prepare a patient for surgery
- Understand the requirements for immediate post-operative care
- Apply processes for immediate post-operative care
- Understand the requirements for ongoing post-operative care
- Apply processes for ongoing post-operative care
- Know species-specific nursing requirements for patients before specific procedures
- Know species-specific nursing requirements for patients during specific procedures
- Know species-specific nursing requirements for patients following specific procedures
Principles of small animal veterinary nursing support Real unit · Central Qualifications
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the anatomy and physiology of body systems in mammals relevant to veterinary nursing care, including the skeletal, muscular, cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive, urinary, nervous, endocrine and reproductive systems.
- Understand how pathology affects the normal function of an animal, including the causes, signs, and effects of common diseases and conditions.
- Understand how to plan and deliver care for animals with a range of commonly encountered conditions including emergencies, considering individual needs and treatment plans.
- Understand and apply the principles of wound healing and care, including wound assessment, cleaning, dressing, and management of complications.
Principles of supporting anaesthesia for small animal veterinary nurses Real unit · Central Qualifications
What you'll be able to do
- Describe the structure and function of the respiratory and nervous systems in relation to anaesthesia.
- Understand the principles of anaesthesia, including different anaesthetic agents and techniques.
- Understand and demonstrate the function of anaesthetic equipment, including its safe operation and maintenance.
- Understand and assist with anaesthetic preparation and induction procedures.
- Understand and apply the principles of monitoring an anaesthetised animal, including vital signs and reflexes.
- Recognise and respond effectively to anaesthetic emergencies.
Theatre practice for small animal veterinary nurses Real unit · Central Qualifications
What you'll be able to do
- Explain the principles of theatre suite design and its impact on infection control and workflow
- Describe the use of theatre suite furniture and equipment, including their function and maintenance
- Demonstrate appropriate dress and behaviour in an operating theatre environment, adhering to hygiene and safety protocols
- Explain the management of instruments and materials during a surgical procedure, including sterilisation, organisation, and disposal
- Demonstrate the ability to assist the operating surgeon as a circulating nurse, providing support and maintaining a sterile environment
- Demonstrate the ability to assist the operating surgeon as a scrub nurse, preparing instruments and assisting with surgical procedures
Understand and apply the principles of fluid therapy and intravenous cannulation Real unit · Central Qualifications
What you'll be able to do
- Explain the concept of body fluid compartments and their importance in maintaining homeostasis
- Describe the structure and function of the circulatory system in relation to fluid therapy
- Explain the different types of parenteral fluids used in veterinary practice, including their composition, indications, and contraindications
- Explain the principles of intravenous cannulation, including site selection, catheter placement, and maintenance
- Explain the principles of administering blood and blood products, including indications, compatibility testing, and potential complications
Veterinary medicine supply in small animal practice Real unit · Central Qualifications
What you'll be able to do
- Explain the legal requirements relating to the storage and supply of veterinary medicines within a small animal practice
- Describe the role, remit and professional responsibilities of a Suitably Qualified Person (SQP) in veterinary medicine supply
- Explain the principles of pharmacodynamics and how they relate to veterinary medicine
- Demonstrate the correct procedures for administering medications to small animals
- Describe the procedures for supplying veterinary medicines to clients, ensuring legal and ethical compliance
- Provide clear and accurate advice to clients on the correct administration of veterinary medicines, including dosage, frequency, and potential side effects
Veterinary nursing care for hospitalised small animals Real unit · Central Qualifications
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the principles of a systematic approach to the provision of nursing care
- Understand how to assess the condition of patients
- Understand the basic nursing care of patients
- Understand the hygiene management of patients
Veterinary nursing support for emergency and critical care of small animal patients Real unit · Central Qualifications
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the principles of small animal first aid, including assessment, stabilisation, and basic life support.
- Support emergency veterinary care, including assisting with triage, monitoring vital signs, and administering medications as directed.
Free, by email
Is this the right qualification for you?
One email to help you decide: the facts, what it teaches, the jobs it leads to and where to start free. With a link back here. Nothing else follows unless you confirm your address.
Juliette Denny, Zavmo's founder, writes about learning and work on LinkedIn. Follow Juliette's Learning Tribe
Study the units online with a personal AI tutor, for £70 a month. Your first Future Fluency module is free.
The national standards these units are built against
What the job actually needs, in the words employers and awarding bodies already use for the work itself.
- Standard
Administer emergency and critical nursing care to veterinary patients
- Standard
Administer emergency first aid and assist with the provision of emergency treatment to veterinary patients
- Standard
Administer perioperative care to animals in a Home Office designated establishment
- Standard
Assist in administering and maintaining anaesthetics or sedation to veterinary patients
- Standard
Assist the veterinary surgeon as a general theatre assistant during surgical procedures
- Standard
Assist the veterinary surgeon in preparing sedation and anaesthesia materials and equipment for veterinary procedures
- Standard
Calculate and administer fluid therapy to veterinary patients
- Standard
Collect, process and preserve diagnostic test samples from veterinary patients and communicate the results
- Standard
Conduct diagnostic imaging on veterinary patients and produce the results
- Standard
Develop, apply and monitor infection control in a veterinary practice
- Standard
Prepare and maintain diagnostic imaging equipment and materials for use on veterinary patients
- Standard
Supply veterinary medicines
- Standard
Work to professional veterinary nursing practice standards
The jobs these credits are mapped to
A qualification is never a dead end here. Each of these is a job record this qualification is a mapped route into.
- 1 record
Where this can lead
Director, Medical Imaging R&D
This work can lead to a Chief Technology Officer role, a board or advisory position in medtech, or founding a medical imaging company.
See the whole journeyOne email to help you decide: the facts, what it teaches, the jobs it leads to and where to start free. With a link back here. Nothing else follows unless you confirm your address.
The credits, and who awards them
Level 3 credits are regulated, and they are awarded by Central Qualifications rather than by Zavmo. They don’t vanish when a subscription ends or a website closes. They travel to any employer, and Zavmo keeps the map of what you have covered and what is next.
What you would be collecting
Applied animal welfare, health and husbandry in small animal practiceCommunication and professional relationships in small animal practiceDiagnostic imaging in small animal practiceHome care and convalescenceInfection control in small animal practiceIntroduction to professional practice, professionalism and ethics for small animal veterinary nursesLaboratory diagnostics in small animal practiceOperational requirements in small animal practice
Each one is a real unit registered against this qualification.
How you’d practise it
You don’t watch this. You do it.
You are not assessed on remembering this. You are assessed on applying it, analysing it, evaluating it and producing something. So that is what the practice is: projects, role play and your own live cases, with a tutor in the room.
The Coach · your practice partner Illustration - Bring the real thing Apply
“Applied animal welfare, health and husbandry in small animal practice” is taught against the work in front of you rather than a worked example. You bring what you are doing this week and it becomes the practice.
What you leave holding
The standards this credential builds, in the shape the product keeps them
Nothing here is marked learned. There is no learner on a public page, so the map shows what the qualification covers rather than what anybody has done.
- Administer emergency and critical nursing care to veterinary patients
- Administer emergency first aid and assist with the provision of emergency treatment to veterinary patients
- Administer perioperative care to animals in a Home Office designated establishment
- Assist in administering and maintaining anaesthetics or sedation to veterinary patients
- Assist the veterinary surgeon as a general theatre assistant during surgical procedures
- Assist the veterinary surgeon in preparing sedation and anaesthesia materials and equipment for veterinary procedures
- Calculate and administer fluid therapy to veterinary patients
- Collect, process and preserve diagnostic test samples from veterinary patients and communicate the results
How you would learn this
One to one, on the work you already do
A tutor sets the task against your own job and marks the reasoning, at your pace. There is no cohort to fall behind.
A lesson from Applied animal welfare, health and husbandry in small animal practice, one of this qualification's own units.
Applied to your work in any of these jobs
Learners will gain a comprehensive understanding of applied animal welfare, health, and husbandry principles for dogs, cats, and rabbits. The unit covers welfare needs, accommodation requirements for hospitalised animals, health maintenance factors, and nutritional needs across species.
- 1 Remember
- 2 Understand
- 3 Apply
- 4 Analyse
- 5 Evaluate
- 6 Create
It is £70 a month, billed monthly. Your free first module is Future Fluency, and you can cancel any time. Teaching towards this qualification begins when you subscribe.
Built for CQ Level 3 Diploma in Veterinary Nursing - SA
16 units in this credential, in the order it lists them, awarded by Central Qualifications.
- Applied animal welfare, health and husbandry in small animal practice
- Communication and professional relationships in small animal practice
- Diagnostic imaging in small animal practice
- Home care and convalescence
- Infection control in small animal practice
- Introduction to professional practice, professionalism and ethics for small animal veterinary nurses
and 10 more in the full unit list below.
Free tools
Want a read on where you stand?
Three free tools, no account needed. Each one ends with a role, a level and a way in.
Learned on your own work, taught one-to-one.
Everything you just read, learned one-to-one on the job you already do. Your free first module is Future Fluency, so you can see how the teaching works before you pay for anything.
Start my free AI Fluency moduleNo card. See how this qualification maps onto your role and meet the tutors who’d teach it, free. The learning begins when you subscribe. It’s £70 a month, billed monthly. Cancel any time and billing stops.
The title, level, credits, guided learning hours and unit learning outcomes on this page are taken from the Ofqual Register of Regulated Qualifications. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Where this data comes from.