I have an emergency
Name: Tess Taylor
Title: Registered Veterinary Nurse
How long have you been a veterinary nurse?
I have been a veterinary nurse for four years.
What is the most rewarding thing about this career choice?
The most rewarding aspect of this career is to able to help pets lead happy and healthy lives whilst also supporting owners and meeting their expectations.
What’s the best thing about working at Village Vet Garden Suburb practice?
The best thing about working at Village Vet Garden Suburb is my team! I have a very hardworking and dedicated team who are all extremely passionate about their roles.
What does an average day involve for a veterinary nurse at your practice? What type of treatments and care does this include?
The average day involves preparing our day patients for their procedures, this includes taking blood samples to run in house, placing catheters and starting them on intravenous fluids. After this we would set the rooms up ready for the procedures, ensuring all equipment is safe, clean and in working order. During the procedures we monitor the anaesthetic ensuing that our patients remain stable throughout. After the procedure we recover our patients making sure it is a safe and speedy recovery. Other duties involve nursing consultations, assisting the vet with his consults, preparing medications on request, maintaining stock and practice cleanliness.
How has your role progressed within the practice?
I started working at Village Vet almost two years ago, this was my first role as a head nurse. Since then I have completed training in order to support me in this role and have also taken on my first student as a clinical supervisor.
How has your role changed during the pandemic?
My role was fairly similar in terms of the duties I had to for fill, however, there was added pressure due to an increase in work load as a result of the increase in puppies and kittens obtained throughout lockdown. We also had to keep clients outside of the practice, so consultations, admits/discharges and all duties involving client communication had to be carried out outside of the practice, this slowed down the time taken to carry out each task and therefore had a knock on effect.
What single most important thing has helped you through these challenging times?
Through these difficult times having a positive and supportive team was what I felt was most important as it helped to avoid stress levels building throughout the practice.
