Advanced Veterinary Nursing (Perioperative Nursing and Patient Safety)

Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health care providers by their approach to patient care, training, and scope of practice. Nurses practice in many specialties with differing levels of prescription authority. Many nurses provide care within the ordering scope of physicians, and this traditional role has shaped the public image of nurses as care providers. However, nurse practitioners are permitted by most jurisdictions to practice independently in a variety of settings. In the postwar period, nurse education has undergone a process of diversification towards advanced and specialized credentials, and many of the traditional regulations and provider roles are changing.

The perioperative period, (not to be confused with peroperative period - during the course of the operation), is the time period describing the duration of a patient's surgical procedure; this commonly includes ward admission, anesthesia, surgery, and recovery. Perioperative may refer to the three phases of surgery: preoperative, peroperative, and postoperative, although it is better used for the first and third of these only, that is "around" the time of the surgery. The goal of perioperative care is to provide better conditions for patients before operation, (sometimes construed as during operation,) and after operation.

Safety is the state of being "safe" (from French sauf), the condition of being protected from harm or other non-desirable outcomes. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk.