Courtney Waxman

Purdue University, Veterinary Nursing Program Instructor, West Lafayette, IN USA

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Kirby's Rule of 20: the veterinary nurse's critical patient checklist part 4

In the critical care setting, insult to the musculoskeletal and integumentary systems occurs from traumatic injuries. These wounds can be caused by many external factors and their classification takes...

Kirby's Rule of 20: the Veterinary Nurse's Critical Patient Checklist Part 3

The renal system (comprising the kidney, ureters, bladder, and urethra) is responsible for many functions that help maintain overall homeostasis. Its roles include fluid regulation, hormone...

Kirby's Rule of 20: the veterinary nurse's critical patient checklist part 2

Blood pressure is another assessment of cardiac function because it is reflective of appropriate cardiac output and systemic vascular resistance (Schumacher, 2016). Cardiac output refers to the...

Kirby's Rule of 20: the veterinary nurse's critical patient checklist part 1

Fluid balance refers to a state of total body water (TBW) homeostasis (Kirby and Rudloff, 2017). Physiologically speaking, the body's fluid compartments are divided between intracellular (ICF) and...