Tag: Stress
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Roper, Logan and… Janey?
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If you follow me on Instagram you will be aware that I have been at home nursing Joey with a badly fractured leg. Eight weeks in (at the time of writing) and he’s healing well, but it has been far from plain sailing. I have had to revisit some of my clinical nursing skills to…
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When is a dog not a dog?
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Every vet has their niche, speciality or personal interest. I think I’m slowly finding that mine may be located somewhere in the gastrointestinal (GI) system; as the daughter of an endoscopy nurse I like to think I’m following in the family footsteps. I was really enjoying my lectures on the topic until we reached the…
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Temporary catheters in obstructed FLUTDs: buying time with a blocked cat
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Obstructive feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD) is a common presentation in both general practice and emergency settings. Every clinician has his or her own approach to treating and managing a cat with obstructive FLUTD signs. Working in an emergency setting, once I have confirmed an obstructed bladder via palpation, I focus on trying to…
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‘Big change starts small’ – working together to improve mental well-being
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Much has been written about the impact of working during COVID-19 on the mental health of nursing staff. Intensive therapy unit (ITU) nurses have consistently reported a range of symptoms of PTSD, having had to manage up to four or five critically ill patients who really necessitated one on one care. Ward nurses have struggled,…
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Isoflurane and oxygen: the dangers of 2 and 2
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It is a common practice to place all patients on 2% isoflurane and 2l/min oxygen flow rate, but blanket isoflurane saturations and oxygen flow rates can be dangerous. Without a doubt, the majority of patients seem to do just fine at these levels; but every patient is different, and simply placing all patients on 2%…
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Summer hazards for beach dogs
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The recent hot weather has been fabulous in many ways – my Scottish skin has decided to tan, I’m sea swimming most days and I’m back in my archive – roll on a summer of fun and vet history. But there is a blot on the landscape that causes my RVN brain some stress during…
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Blood smears – make them a routine test
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Blood smear evaluation is an often overlooked, but very important, aspect of an in-house haematology. With the advancement in haematology analysers that can now detect reticulocytes and even band neutrophils, some practitioners are beginning to rely solely on the numerical data alone in evaluating the patient’s blood. The art of blood smear interpretation is on…
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Blue dog and Blackfish
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For the second post in my self-imposed “communication month”, I have a Netflix-based idea. I finally watched Blackfish as I’m working my way through my playlist on the app. If you’re unaware, this is a documentary concerning the capturing of wild whales and cetaceans, and keeping them in captivity to perform for the public. Blackfish…
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A Christmas cheer
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This year has had, at least from my peculiar and very Western perspective, a peculiarly narrative structure; specifically, the classic narrative structure of a disaster movie (although at times it has felt more like a 10-season box set). It started, as many good stories do, right at the start of the year with dark rumours…
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Pandemic puppies
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It is with much mirth they read the many comments that the childbirth explosion after the first lockdown will be made up entirely of first-borns. Parents, exhausted from home schooling, smirking at what is to come for those who did not have to be a 24-hour entertainment centre seven days a week for their children…