Patient Care Nurses

A day in the life of our Patient Care Nurses

It all begins early at 7am, when the night staff hand over the patients to the nurses in their allocated wards. All the animals are walked out and weighed, with recordings made of the following:

• Demeanour
• Temperature
• Respiratory rate
• Pulse rate

Next, intravenous catheters are checked, flushed and re-dressed, with the animals examined and bandages, wounds and neurological status assessed.

Doing the rounds

Morning rounds follow, with Patient Care Nurses accompanying the clinicians to discuss each patient and prepare a plan for that particular day. These discussions between nurse and clinician are vital to assess the patient’s progress so we can continue to tailor our care to the patient’s needs. Phone calls are also made to owners to update them on their pet’s condition.

Morning medication and meal time

Time is spent to encourage patients to eat. Nutrition is an essential part of a patient’s recovery and special effort is made to ensure patients are receiving their daily requirements with medication being administered at prescribed times.

Building relationships, building familiarity

It’s really important that every animal under our care feels as relaxed and happy as possible in the ward environment – and it’s important that owners are happy and relaxed too! Our nurses build positive relationships with both owners and patients. At Davies, we put the emphasis on treating each and every patient as an individual – doing all we can to meet their own unique needs.

A vital routine

As the morning goes on, we may have to do various important blood tests and a range of other procedures – including the care and maintenance of equipment such as drains and catheters. Stimulating the animals is vital, particularly for those patients that are either unable to move, or have been hospitalised for a while. And, for those animals that are mobile, walks will take place around this time – with physiotherapy performed if required.

The late shift

At 12pm, the late shift begins, when the evening nurses prepare patient kennel sheets for the following day. Our morning nurses hand over to our evening nurses, talking about each animal and discussing in detail the kind of care that’s been required that day. Our high standards of care are then continued by the evening nurse, who then hands over to the night staff in rounds between 7.30pm and 8.00pm.

Watch our Patient Care Nursing video

See the Patient Care Nurses at Davies Veterinary Specialists in action.

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/s_XS_BB9y3g

Download our infographic

Click here to download our infographic on the role of a Patient Care Nurse.