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 VetSkill has approved to offer this qualification. Zavmo is not an approved centre, so you register with them, not with us.
- The centre assesses, and VetSkill awards. A qualified assessor at the centre judges your evidence, and the certificate comes from VetSkill.
The VetSkill Level 3 Diploma in Veterinary Nursing (Companion Animal) is an occupational qualification for aspiring veterinary nurses. It includes units covering anaesthesia, medical nursing, pharmacology, and professional responsibilities, preparing learners for a career in animal care and veterinary science.
These are the units VetSkill 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 VetSkill. It does the teaching and the mapping. VetSkill sets this qualification and awards it, and a qualified human assessor makes the assessment decision.
What each unit actually teaches you to do
VN01 Professional Veterinary Nursing Responsibilities Real unit · VetSkill
What you'll be able to do
- Apply ethical principles to veterinary nursing practice.
- Understand the legal framework for veterinary nursing practice, including relevant legislation and regulations.
- Understand the professional framework for veterinary nursing practice, including the role of professional bodies and codes of conduct.
- Understand the key principles of veterinary business, including financial management, marketing and customer service.
- Understand the personal and professional role of the Veterinary Nurse within the veterinary team and the wider community.
VN02 Diagnostic Principles Real unit · VetSkill
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the Health and Safety legislative requirements and protocols relevant to veterinary diagnostic principles and procedures.
- Understand the fundamental principles underpinning various diagnostic imaging techniques used in veterinary practice.
- Understand the relevant anatomy and physiology required to interpret results from veterinary diagnostic procedures.
- Prepare animals and equipment for a range of veterinary diagnostic imaging procedures.
- Understand the principles of processing radiographic images to ensure optimal quality.
- Perform microscopic examination of diagnostic samples, including preparation and staining techniques.
- Correctly prepare, collect, preserve, and transport diagnostic samples to maintain their integrity.
- Understand the principles of analysing pathological specimens to aid in diagnosis.
VN03 Principles of Veterinary Nursing Care 1 Real unit · VetSkill
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the principles of handling and restraint of patients for veterinary procedures, ensuring safety and welfare.
- Plan nursing care for a range of hospitalised patients, considering individual needs and treatment plans.
- Understand the structure and function of body systems to support nursing care, including anatomy, physiology and pathophysiology.
- Understand the principles of animal husbandry, including housing, feeding and environmental enrichment.
- Understand the process of wound healing and management, including assessment, treatment and prevention of complications.
- Know the principles of animal first aid in relation to a veterinary practice, including emergency procedures and basic life support.
- Understand infection and biosecurity in veterinary practice, including prevention, control and management of infectious diseases.
VN04 Pharmacology and Dispensary Management Real unit · VetSkill
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the legal requirements applicable to the supply, storage and use of veterinary medicines.
- Understand the dispensary requirements for veterinary medicines, including storage, record keeping and dispensing procedures.
- Understand the anatomical and physiological principles underpinning pharmacokinetics, including absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion.
- Understand the principles of pharmacodynamics, including drug action and effects on the body.
- Understand the roles and responsibilities of the Suitably Qualified Person (SQP) in relation to veterinary medicines.
- Apply the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) Code of Practice for Suitably Qualified Persons (SQPs) when prescribing and supplying veterinary medicines for companion animals.
VN05 Practical Veterinary Nursing Skills and Professional Behaviours Real unit · VetSkill
What you'll be able to do
- Comply with Health and Safety legislative requirements in veterinary practice to ensure a safe working environment.
- Communicate effectively with colleagues, clients and other stakeholders within veterinary practice.
- Approach, handle, lead, move, and restrain patients safely and humanely within veterinary practice.
- Deliver appropriate patient nursing care in veterinary practice, including monitoring, hygiene and comfort.
- Safely and effectively manage diagnostic sampling in veterinary practice, including collection, handling and storage.
- Safely and effectively assist with and conduct diagnostic imaging in veterinary practice, including radiography and ultrasound.
- Safely and effectively manage veterinary medicines in accordance with legislative guidelines, including dispensing, administration and disposal.
- Apply principles of biosecurity in the veterinary practice to prevent the spread of infection.
- Provide surgical nursing support in veterinary practice, including preparation, monitoring and post-operative care.
- Assist the veterinary surgeon with anaesthesia for patients, including preparation, monitoring and recovery.
- Behave professionally and appropriately in all aspects of veterinary nursing practice, demonstrating empathy, respect and integrity.
VN06 Anaesthesia and Theatre Nursing Skills Real unit · VetSkill
What you'll be able to do
- Explain the principles of instrument care and sterilisation.
- Explain the management, handling, and use of instruments during surgery.
- Explain theatre preparation and protocol.
- Explain the principles of anaesthesia and analgesia.
- Describe the function of a range of anaesthetic equipment.
- Explain the principles of anaesthetic monitoring.
- Explain how to recognise and respond to anaesthetic adverse events.
VN07 Life Stage and Medical Nursing Care and Support Real unit · VetSkill
What you'll be able to do
- Explain pathological changes to the normal functions of the patients.
- Explain the patient care and client support for patients with life limiting conditions.
- Explain the reproduction and breeding of animals.
VN08 Principles of Veterinary Nursing Care 2 Real unit · VetSkill
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the principles of nutritional assessment in animals to support disease processes.
- Understand the methods of assisted feeding in animals to support disease processes.
- Understand how to calculate patient fluid requirements.
- Understand how to assess pain in animals using appropriate methods.
- Understand how to provide nursing care to patients with compromised mobility.
- Understand the principles of preventative health care for animals.
VN09 Surgical Nursing and Patient Care Real unit · VetSkill
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the procedures involved in preparing a patient for surgery.
- Understand the general nursing requirements for patients following surgical procedures.
- Understand the specific post-operative nursing needs of different types of surgical patients.
- Understand the requirements for home care and convalescence of surgical patients following discharge.
Free, by email
Is this the right qualification for you?
One email to help you decide: the facts, what it teaches and where to start free. With a link back here. Nothing else follows unless you confirm your address.
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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
Admit and discharge veterinary patients
- Standard
Assist the veterinary surgeon in preparing sedation and anaesthesia materials and equipment for veterinary procedures
- Standard
Collect, process and preserve diagnostic test samples from veterinary patients and communicate the results
- Standard
Handle and control veterinary patients in a veterinary setting
- Standard
Prepare and maintain diagnostic imaging equipment and materials for use on veterinary patients
- Standard
Prepare and maintain veterinary diagnostic test equipment and materials
- Standard
Prepare veterinary patients for anaesthesia or sedation
- Standard
Prepare veterinary patients for medical procedures and diagnostic investigations
- Standard
Provide nursing care for veterinary patients in recovery
- Standard
Work to professional veterinary nursing practice standards
One email to help you decide: the facts, what it teaches 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 VetSkill 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
VN01 Professional Veterinary Nursing ResponsibilitiesVN02 Diagnostic PrinciplesVN03 Principles of Veterinary Nursing Care 1VN04 Pharmacology and Dispensary ManagementVN05 Practical Veterinary Nursing Skills and Professional BehavioursVN06 Anaesthesia and Theatre Nursing SkillsVN07 Life Stage and Medical Nursing Care and SupportVN08 Principles of Veterinary Nursing Care 2
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 - Lead it Apply
“VN04 Pharmacology and Dispensary Management” is practised on the team you actually have. You talk through the call you are about to make, and Zavmo makes you say it the way you would say it to them.
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.
- Admit and discharge veterinary patients
- Assist the veterinary surgeon in preparing sedation and anaesthesia materials and equipment for veterinary procedures
- Collect, process and preserve diagnostic test samples from veterinary patients and communicate the results
- Handle and control veterinary patients in a veterinary setting
- Prepare and maintain diagnostic imaging equipment and materials for use on veterinary patients
- Prepare and maintain veterinary diagnostic test equipment and materials
- Prepare veterinary patients for anaesthesia or sedation
- Prepare veterinary patients for medical procedures and diagnostic investigations
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 VN01 Professional Veterinary Nursing Responsibilities, one of this qualification's own units.
Applied to your own work
This unit provides learners with an understanding of ethical, legal, and professional frameworks underpinning veterinary nursing practice. Learners will explore ethical principles, relevant legislation, professional standards, veterinary business principles, and the personal and professional responsibilities of veterinary nurses.
- 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 VetSkill VTEC Level 3 Diploma in Veterinary Nursing (Companion Animal)
9 units in this credential, in the order it lists them, awarded by VetSkill.
- VN01 Professional Veterinary Nursing Responsibilities
- VN02 Diagnostic Principles
- VN03 Principles of Veterinary Nursing Care 1
- VN04 Pharmacology and Dispensary Management
- VN05 Practical Veterinary Nursing Skills and Professional Behaviours
- VN06 Anaesthesia and Theatre Nursing Skills
and 3 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.