Being a vet performing euthanasia and end-of-life services can feel very difficult at times. It's not an area where we received very much training (if any) in vet school, and most of us have learned on-the-job in the isolation of our consultation room. We evolve our own way of doing things, and unfortunately learn the hard way sometimes, if things didn't go exactly according to plan.
For an area of practice, and a procedure that we carry out very frequently, there's little if any CPD out there that can help us to hone our skills. We might be unaware of the increasing focus on this stage of the pet's life with increasing evidence and insights. And if we unfortunately find ourselves at the heart of a complaint from an owner, it can feel isolating and overwhelming.
Compassion Fatigue
Add to that the stress of dealing on a very frequent basis with death and with the emotional load that goes with it. Our profession, as a caring one, comes with a high risk of compassion fatigue.
Arming You With the Current Best-Practice From End-of-Life Experts
At Compassion Understood, we aim to give you the skills, both clinical and compassionate, that will help you deal with clients and pets at this stage. We'll arm you with the current best-practice information from global research and end-of-life experts.
Quality of Life Assessments for Pets
As part of the course, you'll learn how to carry out quality of life assessments that will help inform both your and your client's opinion on the type of care that is needed, or critically, in judging 'the right time' to say goodbye. We'll give you templates for pre-euthanasia consultations, and protocols for pre-euthanasia sedation in various species. Critically, we'll provide training in compassionate communication skills, so you won't find yourself lost for words in giving comfort to owners around this time, and will help you understand fully what they need from you. We'll also help you to take care of yourself and give you strategies and coping techniques to help prevent compassion fatigue.
CPD Points and Certificate for Pet Bereavement Training
Everyone who completes and passes the course or components will be awarded with a Downloadable Compassion Understood certificate, and earn accreditation points which stay with you, even if you change practice.
You can read more about the content, course structure and number of CPD hours earned in our Courses pages.
