Veterinary Nursing

Description of the field 

Veterinary nursing science is defined as the science that creates knowledge about relationships and actions to promote the development of animals’ physical and mental health. Veterinary nursing science includes preventive measures for health, treatments, nursing and monitoring in case of illness, alleviation of pain and measures for increased well-being throughout the animal's life. Adapting to the animal in question, its owner and the context of the situation is an important part of the process. Providing advice and support to animal owners as part of the nursing process, ethical positions, and management and communication in nursing work are included in veterinary nursing science.

Research in veterinary nursing contributes to developing and improving evidence-based and sustainable animal health care. The purpose is to increase our knowledge in practice, theory and method with the goal of developing care structures that promote health and well-being in animals and create a safe care setting with a good working environment. Research is conducted for the well-being of animals, both patients and healthy animals.

Research in veterinary nursing science encompasses topics such as rehabilitation, healthcare hygiene, clinical nutrition, perioperative and perianesthetic care, and veterinary nursing projects that include various One-Health aspects. 

Current research

Veterinary nursing and One Health

The project "U Can Move" investigates how the interaction between the dog owner, the dog and their shared living environment can produce synergistic health effects for both humans and dogs. Research focuses partly on how the dog can be used as a motivator for increased physical activity in the owner, but also on psychosocial aspects linked to dog ownership and to spending time in green spaces. The project aims to identify factors for a well-being life, which can ultimately be applied to other groups - even for those who do not own a dog.

The project “Better compliance and health with low stress handling of dogs” investigates ways to assess dogs’ stress and how they can be trained to experience less discomfort and enable effective diagnosis, treatment and aftercare. This is to help owners to implement treatments using low-stress handling. Such knowledge has the potential to greatly improve animal healthcare and benefit the entire dog population.

Projects focusing on epidemiology in veterinary nursing include various aspects of factors that affect health, recovery and longevity in animals with a clear veterinary nursing focus. For example, the effect of nutritional supplements on the gut microbiome of racehorses, parasite occurrence and control in horses, cat owners' knowledge of dental health and prevention of dental problems, investigation of nutritional supplements on the gut flora of dogs, and agreement between measurement methods for hair determination in dogs.

Clinical nutrition 

Clinical nutrition includes feed-related treatment and/or advice for healthy, sick, injured and overweight animals of various ages. Research in veterinary nursing focuses on the development of new or refined methods for bodyfat assessment and muscle assessment, but also on why some animals consume too little or too much energy.

Perioperative and perianesthetic veterinary nursing

The research focuses on strengthening patient care, before, during and after anaesthesia and surgical procedures. With a veterinary nursing perspective, we can further develop our knowledge about how to preserve and promote patient health and well-being during this critical period. Research includes the development of methods for improved assessment and treatment of pain as well as new techniques and methods for monitoring patients.

Rehabilitation

Rehabilitation includes validation of diagnostic methods and evaluation of treatment methods, aimed at diagnosing and treating musculoskeletal problems and pain. It also includes preventive methods for preventing injuries and disease, as well as physical activity for the young, old, overweight or injured animal.

Healthcare hygiene

Research in healthcare hygiene focuses on evaluating the effectiveness of cleaning and disinfection of surfaces and equipment in animal healthcare, as challenges with cleaning and disinfection are seen in many other sectors such as the food sector and human healthcare. An important and long-term part of the research is collaboration in animal healthcare to implement different methods of cleaning and disinfecting, with the goal of reducing the spread of infection and antibiotic use.