Would you like to be able to provide invaluable nurse support to haematology and cytology cases in your practice? Are you able to consistently make high quality blood smears and examine them efficiently in the microscope?

The ever widening availability of in house haematology analysers have brought about a gap in knowledge of blood smear examination, which is essential for the reliable and safe use of these machines in the veterinary practice. Veterinary nurses can provide invaluable benefit to the veterinary practice by being able to perform an efficient blood smear examination, which can validate the in-house analysis, detect key abnormalities (that the machines can’t), and flag potential need for expert review. Nurses can also provide great help to perform cytological examination of lumps, bumps, organs, fluids, from collection to smear preparation to microscopic examination and/or submission to external laboratories.

The first half of the course (haematology) helps nurses to develop the necessary skills to prepare high quality blood smears, to perform optimal staining, to best setup the microscope for blood smear examination, and to carry out a systematic, highly efficient (3-5 min) blood smear examination in order to achieve the above mentioned goals. Strength and weakness of such analysers will also be discussed.

In the second half of the course top tips will be shared to improve aspiration technique to provide more diagnostic samples, and also new techniques will be taught. We will also discuss how to achieve good staining, and will work on microscopic skill development, which will help with efficiency during the use of a microscope.

The course is developed on a case based teaching approach, with the addition of videos and other materials provided to achieve the above goals. An active tutor-moderated discussion forum is also used to discuss any questions regarding technique, the study cases, specific topics in haematology and cytology, and even cases attendees see during the course in their practice.

Our goal is to provide many practical tips that can be used immediately in your practice for the diagnostics, and furthermore we will explore the specific nursing considerations of the patients requiring haematological or cytological testing.