Veterinary nurses play a critical role in the animal health industry, caring for sick, injured and hospitalised animals, and contributing to day-to-day care of animals. Some of these daily activities include preparing patients for surgical procedures, providing support to animals and their owners before and after operations, assisting in the operating theatre as a scrubbed veterinary nurse, carrying out veterinary nurse consultations, administering medications and fluid therapy to patients, observing and recording patients' vital signs (temperature, pulse, respiration and pain), applying bandages to wounds and fractures, educating animal owners on nutrition and preventative care and providing basic behavioural advice. They also assist during emergency procedures, carry out a range of diagnostic tests in the practice laboratory (e.g blood samples, urine samples), take radiographs, dispense medication and demonstrate to owners how to use them, and support and manage teams. Veterinary nurses are therefore expected to develop public relations skills alongside acquiring animal health and care knowledge.

The BSc Veterinary Nursing programme at UDS is designed to produce veterinary nurses with the required knowledge and skills to undertake all the aforementioned activities meaningfully, thereby contributing to animal health and production. Students will be exposed to practical training alongside classroom work. To achieve this, students are placed with designated clinics throughout the country as part of their Third Trimester Field Practical Programme (TTFPP), and also during the long vacation, alongside the practical lessons organized within in the course of the programme, providing an opportunity to develop your knowledge and skills within a real-life environment. During the final year of the programme, students will undertake a research project on an area of clinical and/or scientific interest. This is a challenging degree programme that delivers a broad spectrum of learning, and offers a fascinating introduction to Veterinary Nursing.

The main objective of the Bachelor of Science Veterinary Nursing programme is to train Senior High School graduates and holders of Higher National Diploma from other tertiary institutions in Veterinary Nursing and animal health research. This will help increase accessibility of animal owners to animal health services and provide effective veterinary extension to livestock keepers and pet owners.