The role of a Veterinary Nurse is vital for the practice. Our main job is to support the Vets, just as a human Nurse would assist a Doctor. The main difference between us and human nurses is that we do a lot more things and we don’t have to specialise in one specific area unless we choose to.
There are four main areas we work in on a day to day basis, theatre, ward, preparation and clinic. There are always at least two nurses in theatre and two in ward each day, one nurse in prep and one in clinic.
The main duties of the theatre nurses are to admit animals who are coming in for operations or procedures. During the pre-operative check, we take readings of a patient’s heart rate, their respiration rate and their temperature. We get contact telephone numbers for owners as they have to be contactable at all times. We also discuss the requirement of a blood test prior to anaesthesia or sedation. This is highly recommended in pets over the age of 7 to check liver and kidney function.
We then prepare and administer drugs in anticipation for an operation. These include sedatives and pain relief. All drug doses have to be checked by a Vet before being given as a safety measure. An intravenous cannula is inserted into the leg in anticipation of the Vet administrating the liquid anaesthetic. Nurses are highly skilled at inserting these cannulas as extensive training is given. Ambulance technicians are not even allowed to do this but paramedics are. That’s the level of skill required for this delicate procedure. When an animal is anaesthetised, one nurse monitors their vitals signs and the other prepares the operation site while the Vet scrubs their hands ready to gown and glove up for surgery.
The Nurse monitoring the animal continues doing so throughout the entire anaesthetic and until the animal is transferred to the ward for recovery when they hand over to the ward nurses. The second theatre nurse assists the Vet in their preparation by opening surgical gowns, gloves and kits for them. They are available throughout the procedure to get further equipment if required. Our theatre nurses alternate the leading role with each patient so they can be monitored continuously by the same nurse throughout their procedure. They will also be the nurse who discharges the patient later that day.
Owners are asked when their pet is admitted to call us about 1pm for a recovery progress report and to arrange a discharge time. This time depends on their recovery which is decided by the nurse who took charge of them during the procedure. During their discharge appointment, the nurse will go through all the aftercare required, talk the owner through what to expect and what to look out for and will let the owner know when we need to see their pet again.
Our ward nurses care for all our inpatients during the day as well as watch patients recover from their anaesthetics. They are always busy. They work together to monitor patients, give medication, take them out to the toilet when it’s appropriate and give necessary cuddles as often as possible. They liaise with owners through the day to keep them updated on their pets progress. Our ward nurses also have to take and run blood samples, put animals on drips, do physio with recumbent animals and groom them too. They also work out feeding requirements for each patient. Trying to encourage hospitalised animals to eat can be difficult and our nurses work really hard to make sure all their patients eat sufficient amounts to ensure recovery. Our work load varies every day.
Our prep nurse is there to assist the theatre nurses, the ward nurses and the clinic nurse when required. They can be asked to run blood samples or other samples to be tested in our laboratory, they take radiographs , assist with ultrasound scans and endoscopy, they may sometimes have to scrub in to assist the operating Veterinary surgeon during an operation and keep on top of the cleaning of instruments and sterilisation of equipment and drapes.
Our clinic nurse runs daily consultations along side the Vets. We run weight clinics, puppy and kitten juvenile checks, senior pet checks, clip nails, empty anal glands and so much more. The clinic nurse also helps the consulting Vets when required and help out on reception if a client needs some advice.
Veterinary Nurses do far more than most clients even realise. We are happy to help whenever anyone needs advice or assistance. Considering Veterinary Nursing isn’t even considered as a profession as of yet, we are more capable at doing more things than some human nurses. The BVNA ( the British Veterinary Nursing Associate ) is working hard to change our profession status.
Above is a photo of a few of our lovely nurses. We are very proud of our nursing staff and what we are capable of doing.