VETERINARY NURSE AWARENESS MONTH
Hi everyone. I hope you are all well and coping with the lockdown. Over at Vitality VP I have been very busy marking dissertations which has been interesting to learn new thoughts and ideas on vet physio techniques. It also means that I have had little time to get bored.
May is Veterinary Nursing Awareness Month and although I may have hung up my scrubs I still have a very close connection with nursing. After all, if it where not for nursing I would not have become interested in vet physio. Vet Nursing month is so important as I don’t think the public truly understands our role because most of our work is carried out behind the scenes. Fortunately this seems to be changing, when I first went into practice clients would ask me if I was going to train to become a vet but happily this happened a lot less now.
Vet nurses play a vital role in practice, without us I think a vet practice would just fall apart. We do not just cuddle animals (although this is a very important part of the job) we are highly trained professionals. So much so that some vet nurses are now working in ICU units across the country monitoring patients who are being treated for coronavirus. To sum up what a VN does in practice here are a few of the roles we undertake daily:
- Caregiver
- Providing specialist nursing care to sick patients
- Pharmacist
- Nurse consults
- Advice giver
- Phlebotomist
- Anesthetist
- Administer medication
- Midwife
- Radiographer
- Dental Nurse
- Dental hygienist
- Client Support
- Bereavement councilor
- Theatre nurse
- Scrubbed assistant
- Specialist Cleaner
- Isolation nurse
To me the most important role is being your pets advocate and angel. I have watched over countless animals as they sleep under anaesthetic keeping your beloved pet safe. I have held their paw when they have been in pain and feeling poorly but their parents can’t be with them when they are too poor to be at home.
I have celebrated all the little wins of their recovery and the biggest of all is when they are well enough to go home. Sadly I have also been the last loving arms to hold many animals as they peacefully leave this life and shed a tear for them and you even though you may not see this. To me this is what it means to be a vet nurse and I am proud of the profession I joined and continue to be a part of.
So please celebrate your vet nurses, not just this month but thought the year. We are here for you and your pet through the good and the bad times and remember we are all this profession because we love animals and care for every pet we see as if they were one of our own.
Finally for all the veterinary staff who are putting their health and welfare on the line for your pets: Thank you so much you all doing an amazing job and providing a vital service my love and respect to you all.
