GETTING THE ON CALL VET TO COME DOWN!

RE: GETTING THE ON CALL VET TO COME DOWN!

Mark Hedberg — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 08:51:11 GMT

[quote user="amy quinn"]

Thanks for your advice, unfortunately the vets in question are not the most approachable and have in the past made a nurses life a misery due to a complaint. We have had a locum complain about this issue so i'm hoping now that they may take this more seriously.

[/quote]

Your nursing team lets the vets think they run the place? That's a dangerous precedent, our nursing team had us vets WELL trained! :D

RE: GETTING THE ON CALL VET TO COME DOWN!

Sal the 1st — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 19:27:41 GMT

RE: GETTING THE ON CALL VET TO COME DOWN!

Alison Clare Hickman — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 17:27:52 GMT

Nice one Sal, here's my answer...ooops - foot slipped! hahahahah!

RE: GETTING THE ON CALL VET TO COME DOWN!

Sal the 1st — Mon, 14 Dec 2015 19:43:54 GMT

I once worked with a vet who refused to come downstairs until the footie finished and was told to just give a dog some dom/torb according to weight and put in a few sutures.

Not entirely sure how it happened ?, I might have got a bit over excited at the prospect of being allowed to do some suturing instead of all those inpatient checks/meds that I should have been doing - but somewhere along the line the plug sort of 'fell off' the telly

RE: GETTING THE ON CALL VET TO COME DOWN!

amy quinn — Mon, 14 Dec 2015 19:29:56 GMT

RE: GETTING THE ON CALL VET TO COME DOWN!

Mark Hedberg — Mon, 14 Dec 2015 14:12:38 GMT

Just as an interesting comparison, while I cannot comment on a specific situation, when I worked in practice in the UK, the boss did the OOH exactly backwards to the usual scenario; the vet had the phone/pager, and if there was anything you couldn't handle alone, you called the nurse in. I always rather liked this approach (ok, maybe not at 3am sunday), as I'd always had the phone in my previous job in Saudi anyway; the only difference was actually having a nurse on call, rather than me on my own.

Amusingly, while the nurses often got a little annoyed when newer vets called them in for trivial stuff, they liked and yet didn't like being on call with me.

Why? Well, I'd been doing sole charge before then for about 3 years so most of the trivial stuff I handled myself; when I did ring a nurse to come in, it did mean that the patient's head was falling off or something similarly disastrous and I needed help ASAP. So they couldn't relax on my on calls either!

This tended to avoid any issues with diagnosis and prescription; because the vet was on the scene and could make the decisions that the nurses might not have been legally allowed to or perhaps not comfortable making.

RE: GETTING THE ON CALL VET TO COME DOWN!

rreid91 — Mon, 14 Dec 2015 13:55:49 GMT

Yes, legally as a register veterinary nurse you will be held accountable if any treatment administered has an adverse effect. I understand it can be frustrating and disheartening if a patient is in pain but we are not allowed to administer drugs to the patient just because the vet phoned and said it's "ok", even if they give detailed instruction and you follow it to the T. You can place I/V caths, triage, TPR etc and even make up the medication and have it ready to go. But until the vet is on sight it cannot (legally) be given. I advise you speak directly with the on call vet you are having the issue with first, as I believe it is always best to try and resolve the issue yourself out of respect for the other party (let them know it really bothers you) and if it does not improve take it up with management.

I hope this helps.

RE: GETTING THE ON CALL VET TO COME DOWN!

Tania Ford — Mon, 14 Dec 2015 12:51:14 GMT

In this situation I would always get the vet on duty to speak to the client - whether it be in person or on the phone. I have known many reluctant on call vets, so have always put the ball back in their court. So long as the owner is aware your instructions have come from the vet, legally you are not responsible, as you have been instructed to do what they request. It may sometimes be necessary to admit an animal and then get the vet to ring them when they are back at home, to discuss tx options. Getting an OOH written protocol is a good idea, as everyone - vets and nurses will be 'singing from the same hymn sheet'. Speaking to management would also be a good idea, as the vet concerned will - hopefully be questioned about their reasons for not seeing a triaged patient.

Good luck with this one as i can fully understand how frustration on call vets can be sometimes!

RE: GETTING THE ON CALL VET TO COME DOWN!

Kim Rathbone — Sat, 12 Dec 2015 20:32:29 GMT

Agree with Sal the 1st, you need to say something.

RE: GETTING THE ON CALL VET TO COME DOWN!

Sal the 1st — Sat, 12 Dec 2015 17:31:03 GMT

speak to your management and get it in writing that the responsibility is with the vet