Veterinary Nursing Awareness Month Day 29: The ABC of Veterinary Nursing; Airway, Breathing and Circulation. These are the 3 main areas that Vet Nurses are taught to assess when looking after our patients, especially in an emergency situation such as an animal brought in after a road traffic accident. They are also essential if a patient has a problem under anaesthetic. Thankfully this is rare but any emergency is a time of high pressure and can involve many people working together to save the life of one patient. The A . B . C . checklist used by Veterinary Nurses prioritises assessment of a patient in an emergency situation: A – Airway: We must always ensure the patient’s airway is free from obstruction. This involves opening the patient’s mouth to see if there is anything blocking the airways, or ensuring that the anaesthetic tubing is not kinked and preventing vital oxygen getting to the patient when they are under a general anaesthetic. B – Breathing: Ensuring that the patient is breathing; this may involve removing any obstruction covering the airway to enable them to breath. Nurses are also trained to intubate a patient (placing a tube into the patient’s airway) which maintains a patent airway for them. They can then connect this to an anaesthetic circuit which means they can breathe for the patient if they are not breathing on their own. This is called Intermittent Positive Pressure Ventilation (IPPV), which nurses are trained in. C – Circulation: Veterinary Nurses are trained in cardiac massage to ensure the heart is pumping blood effectively around their circulatory system if the patient goes into cardiac arrest! In less severe situations they are also trained to place patients on intra-venous fluids which help to maintain the blood pressure of the patient and support the circulation – vital if a patient is in shock. Thankfully emergencies are relatively rare. However, the Frean & Smyth Nursing Team make sure they are always ready for an emergency and will practice setting up all the equipment needed and working as a team. These mock emergencies often involve our clinic teddy elephant seen here in our photo! We are delighted that he has survived yet another ‘emergency’! All joking aside, the intensive training vet nurses receive, along with the mock emergencies help to ensure that during a real emergency the Frean and Smyth Nurse Team shine through. By working closely with both the Veterinary Surgeons & Reception teams they save the lives of our precious patients!
Posted on: Thu, 29 May 2014 15:09:54 +0000
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