Planned Approach and Implementation of Pharmacology Teaching in the Bachelor's Veterinary Nursing Programme in Sweden

Veterinary Nurses play a key role in handling drugs and perform medication treatments, thus pharmacological knowledge is essential. The veterinary nurses' role varies widely worldwide but does not include the prescription of drugs. Nevertheless, pharmacology is a complex subject within veterinary nursing education and for the registered veterinary nurse in practice. In this article, we describe and discuss the pedagogical questions "what, why, and how" of teaching pharmacology to undergraduate veterinary nurses implemented in the Veterinary Nursing programme in Sweden. The program has undergone vast changes with classes increasing from 40 to 120 students during the last decade. The progression in the program is presented as intended learning objectives, the teaching and learning activities, and the assessment tasks in each course concerning pharmacology. The procedure of several student-activating pedagogical methods is presented. The use of students' evaluations to assess the education, in line with student-centered education, is described. This information can be useful for veterinary nursing program directors, course leaders, administrators, or teachers considering undertaking curricular changes.