TECH246-0715: Anesthesia for the Cardiac Patient
Text only: The lectures for this course will be presented in a predominantly text format.

  

Instructor: Katy Waddell, LVT, VTS (ECC, Anesthesia)
Course Open: July 7, 2015-August 14, 2015
Real Time Sessions (RTS): Tuesdays, July 14, 21, 28 and August 4, 2015; 8:00-9:30 pm ET
Course RTS Times in Your Area: World Clock Converter

Practice Sessions: In order to prepare you for a successful experience in your CE course, we request you attend a Practice Session prior to the first Real Time Session. Please arrive promptly at the start time; each Practice Session is up to 1 hour in length. For more information, please visit the CE Practice Area.

Level and Prerequisites: This intermediate course is focused toward individuals seeking to expand their knowledge of cardiac function, cardiovascular anesthesia monitoring and the analgesic/anesthetic agents that might be more appropriate for certain types of cardiac compromise
VSPN CE Course: This course has been RACE approved for veterinary technicians only The Veterinary Information Network (VIN) is RACE Provider #22.

Course Description:
Anesthesia on healthy patients is not without complications and is too often taken for granted and performed without adequate planning or preparation. Patients undergoing anesthesia with heart disease present a bit more of a challenge than healthy patients. Those patients who require anesthesia for diagnostic or theraputic procedures require the technician anesthetist to bring their �A game� to ensure a safe and event free anesthesia. To help ensure patient safety, this course will cover a review of cardiac anatomy, physiology and various cardiac diseases as well as pharmacology, anesthetic plans, monitoring, and additional issues that may occur with the cardiac patient while under anesthesia. Several case scenarios will be presented to help the participant extrapolate information learned in earlier Real Time Sessions and put together a safe anesthetic plan for the cardiac compromised patient.

This course consists of four (4) Real Time Sessions of ninety (90) minutes each, supplemental library materials, interactive message board discussions, a mandatory end-of-course test, and may include online multiple choice quizzes (after each Real Time Session). Successful completion (scoring 80% or better) on the end-of-course test is required to earn a certificate of completion for the course.

*To learn more about the requirements for earning a CE certificate, please refer to Receiving Your CE Credit and Course Completion Certificate.

Upon completion of this course, the participant should be able to

• show an understanding of normal cardiac anatomy, function and physiology.
• demonstrate knowledge of the various common cardiac diseases presented to a small animal facility.
• outline a pre-anesthetic patient assessment and plan, including anticipated anesthesia and procedural problems that may occur in the anesthetized cardiac patient.
• apply knowledge of anesthesia, analgesia and support drug therapy that the veterinarian may prescribe for the cardiac patient undergoing anesthesia.
• design a monitoring plan to ensure the safety of the cardiac patient while anesthetized.
• interpret data from monitoring the cardiac patient under anesthesia and use this information to further ensure patient safety due to complications that may arise during a procedure

Course Materials: Course materials will be available in the course library prior to each Real Time Session.

Required Textbook(s): There is no required textbook for this course.

About the Instructor:
Katy Waddell has been in the veterinary field for 42 years in small animal, mixed animal, specialty referral practices, 24/7 facilities as well as in academia and as an author. Katy currently works with the Anesthesia Service at Texas A & M University and is responsible for providing nursing care and student instruction for this service. She also is the staff liaison/mentor for multiple student organizations providing wet labs. She lectures and promotes education to veterinary technicians to improve patient care and advocacy on a local, regional, national and international basis. She is the proud recipient of the Texas Veterinary Medical Association 2013 Veterinary Technician of the Year Award.

Course Outline:
Week 1 (Real Time Session July 14): Cardiac Function
Content: As a building block to form a solid foundation for the understanding of cardiac diseases and dysfunctions, this Real Time Session will cover the normal cardiac form and function including cardiac anatomy and physiology.

Week 2 (Real Time Session July 21): Common Congenital Cardiac Defects
Content: This session will cover congenital cardiac defects seen in our canine and feline patients. The patient status will allow the technician anesthetist to anticipate potential complications while developing a safe anesthesia plan and troubleshooting the anesthesia and recovery period. We will discuss the actions and application of drugs commonly prescribed by a veterinarian and their role in safely managing these patients

Week 3 (Real Time Session July 28): Acquired Cardiac Diseases and Their Challenges
Content: These cases are probably the most common to present to our facilities in need of anesthesia support for diagnostics or interventional procedures. This session will cover the most common acquired cardiac diseases, potential complications and methods of providing safe anesthesia.

Week 4 (Real Time Session August 4): Case Scenarios for the Cardiac Patient
Content: This final session will consist of cardiac anesthesia cases that the class will work through step by step to help the participant troubleshoot issues that may occur with patients with cardiac compromise. The instructor will share information on case management from developing an anesthetic plan with their veterinarian and following the patient to the recovery period for patients with both congenital and acquired cardiac disease.

CE Credits: 6

Tuition: $120 ($108 early bird special if enrolled by June 23, 2015)

* Students currently enrolled in and taking at least 2 classes or 5 units at an AVMA accredited or CAAHT approved Veterinary Technician Program may be eligible to receive a 50% discount off the regular rate for this course (upon verification of student status).
*To ensure participants are ready and prepared for classes, enrollment will close at 5pm ET on July 14, 2015, or when the maximum number of participants is reached.
*For more information on how online CE works, see the Participant Resource Center.

To Enroll:
  

1. Enrollment qualifications: VIN CE courses are open to VIN member and non-member veterinarians. Veterinarians enrolling in a VSPN CE course must be a VIN member. Veterinary support staff must be a VSPN member to enroll in a VSPN CE or a VIN CE course open to VSPN member enrollment.
2. Each enrollee must be able to receive emails from @vspn.org and @vin.com addresses. Email is our major form of communication with participants; personal emails are highly recommended rather than clinic/hospital email addresses.
3. Each person is individually responsible for his/her own registration. To ensure that all information received is secure and correct, please do not enroll for a course on behalf of another individual.
4. For further assistance call 800-846-0028 ext. 792 or email VSPNCE@vspn.org. Please include the course title, your full name, and contact information in your correspondence.

*Note: "This course is approved for 6 continuing education credits in jurisdictions which recognize AAVSB RACE approval; however participants should be aware that some boards have limitations on the number of hours accepted in certain categories and/or restrictions on certain methods of delivery of continuing education." Call VSPN CE at 800-846-0028 ext. 792 for further information. (Attendees are encouraged to check with their licensing jurisdiction(s) for information regarding recognition by their board).

Course withdrawal and refund policy: A complete refund of the paid course price will be issued when your withdrawal request is received prior to the listed start date of the course. If you wish to withdraw after the start date please contact the VSPN office 800-846-0028 ext. 792 to discuss eligibility for a pro-rated refund.
* Note: To ensure rapid handling of your request for withdrawal, we recommend that you call the VSPN office at 800-846-0028 ext. 792.

*For more information on VSPN's upcoming CE courses, check the VSPN Course Catalog.

Charlotte Waack, RVT, CVT
VSPN Director/VSPN CE Interim Director

VSPN CE Services: VSPNCE@vspn.org
800-846-0028 or 530-756-4881; ext. 792
or direct line to VIN/VSPN from the United Kingdom: 01452 226154
or direct line to VIN/VSPN from Australia: 02 6145 2357

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