Medical Nursing Podcast | CPD for Veterinary Nurses

In episode 110 of the Medical Nursing Podcast we're sitting down and talking about something we're often afraid to mention - and that's quality of life. 
Not end of life, not euthanasia, but quality of life. An often misunderstood term, and one we need to normalise. Because the truth is, quality of life is the ultimate goal every single one of us have for every single one of our patients, every day. We make a bigger difference to it than you realise, and the evidence to back that up is VERY clear.
So we are going to get into the evidence today. We're going to look at what the research really says about which factors most influence quality of life in our patients with chronic conditions, whether that's diabetes, CKD, osteoarthritis, chronic enteropathy, or other long-term diseases. And we're going to explore how we, as veterinary nurses and technicians, can make a difference to this.
Resources mentioned this episode:
📲 Feline Musculoskeletal Pain Index: https://painfreecats.org/the-fmpi/
📲 Canine Brief Pain Inventory: https://www.vet.upenn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/canine-bpi.pdf
📲 Pet Diabetes App (including QoL survey): https://www.rvc.ac.uk/clinical-connections/pioneering-pet-diabetes-app
📲 Quality of Life Assessment Tools: https://www.rcvsknowledge.org/resource/quality-of-life-assessment-tools/
📲 Vetmetrica QoL Assessment: https://www.vetmetrica.com/Auth/Login
---
Looking for medical nursing CPD?
📲 Get unlimited CPD inside the Library Club: http://vimn.thrivecart.com/libraryclub/
📲 Snag a webinar from the on-demand library: https://www.veterinaryinternalmedicinenursing.com/veterinary-education-webinar-library 
---
More free ways to learn with me:
📲 Grab the show notes and references from today's episode: http://www.veterinaryinternalmedicinenursing.com/podcast 
📲 Follow me on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/vetinternalmedicinenursing 
🖥️ Learn more about medical nursing: http://www.veterinaryinternalmedicinenursing.com 
---
This podcast does not replace a veterinary surgeon's advice, and its content is provided only for information. A veterinary surgeon must diagnose all conditions, and veterinary nurses and technicians must ensure they work within local legislation and regulating body guidelines at all times. Any products or treatments discussed are for information only and do not constitute endorsements of products or services.

In this episode, we're chatting about something every single one of us deals with, whether you're working in general practice, referral, or out-of-hours - and that's chronic kidney disease.
CKD is one of the most commonly-diagnosed conditions in our senior patients - in both cats and dogs. Despite how often we see this disease, our role as nurses in caring for these patients is often quite limited, and there's still a big disconnect between how we treat these patients in practice and what the evidence suggests about their management.
Today I'm bringing you an evidence-based overview of CKD, focusing on the International Renal Interest Society (IRIS) guidelines on its management. We'll explore why CKD is so hard to diagnose early - and why it's so important that we do - alongside how we can use things like staging to plan both effective treatment AND nursing care for our patients. So you can spend less time feeling like you're just watching CKD patients sit on fluids, and more time using your skills and truly advocating for your patients.
Resources mentioned this episode:
📲 Staging CKD: https://www.iris-kidney.com/iris-staging-system
📲 Treating CKD by stage: https://www.iris-kidney.com/iris-guidelines-1
📲 Early detection of CKD: https://www.iris-kidney.com/ckd-early-diagnosis
---
Looking for medical nursing CPD?
📲 Get unlimited CPD inside the Library Club: http://vimn.thrivecart.com/libraryclub/
📲 Snag a webinar from the on-demand library: https://www.veterinaryinternalmedicinenursing.com/veterinary-education-webinar-library 
---
More free ways to learn with me:
📲 Grab the show notes and references from today's episode: http://www.veterinaryinternalmedicinenursing.com/podcast 
📲 Follow me on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/vetinternalmedicinenursing 
🖥️ Learn more about medical nursing: http://www.veterinaryinternalmedicinenursing.com 
---
This podcast does not replace a veterinary surgeon's advice, and its content is provided only for information. A veterinary surgeon must diagnose all conditions and prescribe all treatments, and veterinary nurses and technicians must ensure they work within local legislation and regulating body guidelines at all times. Any products or treatments discussed are for information only and do not constitute endorsements of products or services.

In episode 108 of the medical nursing podcast, we're looking at a set of diseases we see all too often - feline lower urinary tract diseases.
Now I say diseases, plural, deliberately - because thinking of FLUTD as a spectrum of diseases, rather than a standalone condition itself, is one of the most important shifts we can make in how we approach it. 
I'm going to be bringing you the need-to-know information from the 2025 iCatCare consensus guidelines on the diagnosis and management of lower urinary tract diseases in cats, AND some really useful information from the 2024 AAFP intercat tension guidelines, because as you'll see, the two are far more connected than you might expect.
Over the next half an hour or so, we'll discuss how and why FLUTD occurs, how to stabilise and support obstructed patients, how to nurse cats with lower urinary disease, and how we can do more to support these patients long-term, both in and out of the hospital.
There's far more we can do with these patients than we might think, and by the end of this episode, you'll feel more confident managing these patients, and able to put more of your skills to use.
iCatCare Lower Urinary Disease Guidelines:
📲 https://doi.org/10.1177/1098612X241309176 
AAFP Intercat Tension Guidelines:
📲 https://doi.org/10.1177/1098612X241263465
---
Looking for medical nursing CPD?
📲 Get unlimited CPD inside the Library Club: http://vimn.thrivecart.com/libraryclub/
📲 Snag a webinar from the on-demand library: https://www.veterinaryinternalmedicinenursing.com/veterinary-education-webinar-library 
---
More free ways to learn with me:
📲 Grab the show notes and references from today's episode: http://www.veterinaryinternalmedicinenursing.com/podcast 
📲 Follow me on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/vetinternalmedicinenursing 
🖥️ Learn more about medical nursing: http://www.veterinaryinternalmedicinenursing.com 
---
This podcast does not replace a veterinary surgeon's advice, and its content is provided only for information. A veterinary surgeon must diagnose all conditions, and veterinary nurses and technicians must ensure they work within local legislation and regulating body guidelines at all times. Any products or treatments discussed are for information only and do not constitute endorsements of products or services.

In episode 107 of the Medical Nursing Podcast we're talking about probably the most common and frustrating nursing issue we encounter… but the most rewarding to fix - inappetent cats.
You know the ones - the ones who just won't eat despite you having tried almost every flavour, texture and variety of food, in every type of bowl, warmed, not warmed, where you've pretended to eat it first, and practically begged them. And being cats, they've just given you the 'look' and turned away.
I've been there, we've all been there, and we've all been frustrated by it. So what can we do about it? The evidence is clear that inappetence is something needing prompt and careful management, and we've now got clinical guidelines to help us with this.
So sit back, grab a cuppa and together we'll break down the 2022 ISFM Consensus Guidelines on Management of the Hospitalised Inappetent Cat, helping you get more of these patients eating, and use more of your skills while you're at it.
ISFM Consensus Guidelines on Managing the Inappetent Hospitalised Cat:
📲 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1098612X221106353 
---
BRAND NEW ways to learn with me:
📲 Get unlimited CPD inside the Library Club: http://vimn.thrivecart.com/libraryclub/
📲 Snag a webinar from the on-demand library: https://www.veterinaryinternalmedicinenursing.com/veterinary-education-webinar-library 
---
More free ways to learn with me:
📲 Grab the show notes and references from today's episode: http://www.veterinaryinternalmedicinenursing.com/podcast 
📲 Follow me on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/vetinternalmedicinenursing 
🖥️ Learn more about medical nursing: http://www.veterinaryinternalmedicinenursing.com 
---
This podcast does not replace a veterinary surgeon's advice, and its content is provided only for information. A veterinary surgeon must diagnose all conditions, and veterinary nurses and technicians must ensure they work within local legislation and regulating body guidelines at all times. Any products or treatments discussed are for information only and do not constitute endorsements of products or services.

In episode 106 of the Medical Nursing Podcast we're diving into the 2021 AAHA Nutrition and Weight Management Guidelines for Dogs and Cats, so you can focus on giving great care to your inappetent patients in practice, confidently, while using more of your skills.
Why? Because I promise you, there is so much more we can do to truly champion nutrition for all of our patients - and by the end of this episode, you're going to see how massive a role we play as nurses and technicians in this.
If you feel like there's more you could be doing to support your inappetant patients, or feel like placing feeding tubes is something you don't do enough, then this episode is for you. 
Resources mentioned in this article:
📲 https://wsava.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/WSAVA-Global-Nutrition-Toolkit-English.pdf
📲 https://jaaha.kglmeridian.com/view/journals/aaha/57/4/article-p153.xml
---
BRAND NEW ways to learn with me:
📲 Join the Medical Nursing Library Club
📲 Snag a webinar from the on-demand library
---
More free ways to learn with me:
📲 Grab the show notes and references from today's episode
📲 Follow me on Instagram
🖥️ Learn more about medical nursing
---
This podcast does not replace a veterinary surgeon's advice, and its content is provided only for information. A veterinary surgeon must diagnose all conditions, and veterinary nurses and technicians must ensure they work within local legislation and regulating body guidelines at all times. Any products or treatments discussed are for information only and do not constitute endorsements of products or services.