This year I was shocked to discover that I have a hypersensitivity to amoxicillin. It surprised me because I almost never take antibiotics, but when I finally needed to take some a few months ago, I had a violent allergic reaction. On thinking about it, I soon realized that I have come into contact with amoxicillin in veterinary practice thousands of times in my 20 year career. To my recollection, I had been careful to protect myself from unintentional exposure when handling this drug but had I been careful enough? Was my profession even related to my hypersensitivity? I’ll never know if I have done enough to protect myself but one thing is for hazard to me.
The obvious exposure to drugs and chemicals is one risk that we can’t ignore as many of us spend years in practice administering thousands of doses of medications and using a variety of chemicals to disinfect dozens of surfaces every day. Minimal exposure to these chemicals over a long period of time can pose significant risks to our health and even with protective gear we are still at risk for unintentional exposure. Additional risks can apply to staff members who choose intentional exposure. In my career I have known of several professional staff members in veterinary clinics who took to stealing and abusing pharmaceuticals and even with drug logs and locked cabinets, they still managed to carry on for some time before getting caught.
Exposure to drugs and chemicals is a risk to animals as well. Administering the correct medication, calculating the correct dose and delivering it via the appropriate route are all critical to our patients’ health. In the pharmacy we must ensure the medication is labelled correctly, stored properly and is not out-dated. Standard operating procedures are essential to protect staff and patients and good educational plans help when protecting our clients and less experienced staff. By adhering to these protocols, we are minimizing inherent risks of everyday practice. However, delving further into these risks reveals some sinister dangers we cannot afford to ignore.
This week I found out that a clinic nearby had recently been burgled. The lone veterinary nurse who was locking up at the end of the day was accosted by a man who demanded she give him drugs, specifically ketamine. She managed to convince him that she didn’t have a key to the drug cabinet but he got away and who knows where he might strike next. These types of scenarios may not happen frequently but when they do happen, they are significant, not only to the people who are involved but also for us as an industry.
In the situation above, the clinic thought they had security measures in place. They had the drugs locked up and the property had an alarm and a surveillance camera. However, this did nothing to immediately protect the staff member. Even with two nurses on staff, they may not be safe against a motivated intruder who is willing to bet that one of them holds a key to the drug safe.
As professionals, we hold a lot of responsibility in our hands. Our handling of pharmaceuticals affects not only our own safety, but also the wellbeing of our colleagues, clients, patients and the general public. Throughout the industry, there seems to be a false sense of security around animal drugs. Are we doing enough?
We hope you enjoy this issue of The Veterinary Nurse, and the CPD calender, which we are delighted to enclose. The Veterinary Nurseteam would like to wish you all a very happy and safe festive season, and a wonderful New Year. Thank you all for your continued support.