Education

A compassionate journey part 4: self and team care

One study revealed that between 16–85% of healthcare workers based in various fields experience compassion fatigue (IAAHPC, 2014). More specifically, the results of a survey conducted in the United...

Unravelling dominance in dogs

During the second half of the 20th and early part of the 21st century, the prevailing theory regarding the social behaviour of the domestic dog was that, when living in groups, canine social...

A compassionate journey part 3: the client experience

Client satisfaction is critical to the sustainability of a veterinary practice. Satisfaction is defined as meeting or exceeding client expectations by the customer's standards or perception (Ackerman,...

Veterinary nursing uniforms: their role in infection control

While in human nursing there are guidelines on the use of PPE in the PPE Regulations 1992 (RCN, 2012) this does not cover uniforms. However it is clear that for a significant part of a shift there is...

Modelling compassionate veterinary nursing care – eight steps towards a more compassionate approach to patients, their owners and oneself

There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that compassion is not some ‘woolly add-on’ we can afford to dispense with in our hectic, resource limited times: it is the creator and hallmark of...

A compassionate journey part 2: the pet's passing

Veterinary professionals have reported having had little training on euthanasia at veterinary school. Comments include:.

Preserving the ‘passion’ in compassionate nursing care

Veterinary nurses want to be able to care for their patients with humanity and give patients the same kind of care they would want for their own companions. For many staff, such a desire may have been...

A compassionate journey part 1: preparing for and nearing end-of-life

One of the authors recently experienced the loss of her elderly and much loved dog. When calling her clinic to cancel her pet's vaccination reminder, she was asked in a brisk tone, ‘and the animal's...

The chronic illness management plan

The role of the veterinary nurse within the veterinary practice is clearly explained by Orpet and Welsh (2011) who discuss both the role of the veterinary nurse, and the associated responsibility...

A cancer diagnosis — what now?

Clients need time to adjust to the idea that their companion may have a terminal illness. Chun and Garrett (2007) suggested that small ‘sound bites’ work well when advising an owner that there may be...

Legalities of treating wildlife in UK veterinary practice

The Wildlife and Countryside Act (WCA) is still the main piece of legislation covering the protection and management of wild animals and plants in the UK. There have been several amendments and since...