The perfect nurse

RE: The perfect nurse

Arlo Guthrie — Wed, 24 Aug 2016 13:49:21 GMT

I've updated the survey questions - can I ask anyone who is responsible for hiring veterinary nurses at their practice to complete it, here:

http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/2996974/b16a5d7a9ddd

(and if you are not responsible, could you forward it to whoever is).

As with the vetsurgeon survey, I'll be sharing the results (together with the results of the jobseeker survey), hoping that it helps practices have a better understanding of what nurses find important, and vice versa.

RE: The perfect nurse

grumpyoldman — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 21:01:29 GMT

[quote user="Hannah Wynne Richards"]Not have a chip on their shoulders because they didn't have the brains to be veterinary surgeons.[/quote]

exactly .

RE: The perfect nurse

Arlo Guthrie — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 12:58:38 GMT

[quote user="Liz w"]Arlo, I think your list is lacking a bit in the animal care aspect. You can be good at nursing but you also need to care for the animals in an emotional sense.[/quote]

Hmm, how about:

Smart or tidy presentation
Likeable, affable, ready smile, sense of humour
Nursing/clinical skills and experience
Demonstrates empathetic / caring attitude towards patients and clients
Demonstrates desire to be part of a team
Punctuality
Good communication skills (both listening & responding)

RE: The perfect nurse

Liz w — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 12:12:04 GMT

Arlo, I think your list is lacking a bit in the animal care aspect. You can be good at nursing but you also need to care for the animals in an emotional sense.

RE: The perfect nurse

Alistair Graham-Evans — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 12:04:59 GMT

Keen observation of animal comfort and needs Well organised Common sense

RE: The perfect nurse

Arlo Guthrie — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 11:37:02 GMT

[quote user="Seadna "]

[quote user="grumpyoldman"]recently spayed with a post op complication involving laryngeal paralysis !![/quote]

Is this a joke? Because if not it's quite offensive.[/quote]

[quote user="Eilidh Corr"]I'm ashamed by some of the responses on this thread. [/quote]

I dunno about everyone else, but I saw grumpy's and DM's posts over the weekend, and thought: 'Isn't it obvious, of course they're written in jest (at least partly, in DM's case, because 'mini-vet is a serious point), though clearly not going to be to everyone's taste.

Anyway, coming back to the point, my list is now looking like:

Smart or tidy presentation
Likeable, affable, ready smile, sense of humour
Nursing /Clinical skills and experience
Demonstrates empathy with clients
Demonstrates desire to be part of a team
Punctuality
Good communication skills (both listening & responding)

RE: The perfect nurse

Bob Russell — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 11:02:56 GMT

Forget the misogyny and look for someone with a sense of humour!

That way non-PC 'sexist' comments do not cause offence, just a raised eyebrow or two! Sometimes the conversations here would make a porn star blush but I am not the one making them!

Good client handling, empathy towards others and a kind heart come with that sense of humour! Most of the rest can be learnt or retrained!

RE: The perfect nurse

Hannah Wynne Richards — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 07:49:26 GMT

Not have a chip on their shoulders because they didn't have the brains to be veterinary surgeons.

Wynne

RE: The perfect nurse

Alistair Graham-Evans — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 07:36:14 GMT

I'd like to add - respectful and considerate to all other staff and a sense of humour to the list!

RE: The perfect nurse

Stephanie Wellings — Sun, 21 Aug 2016 20:55:35 GMT

I would think nurses deserve to be judged on their ability to do their job (just as I, and the vast majority of veterinary graduates, would expect to be) rather than their likelihood of daring to exercise their right to maternity leave.

I think a good nurse should be organised and able to juggle/prioritise the hundred or so things that invariably demand attention during the average day in practice and make it all look seamless; be happy to speak up and share their experience but in a supportive way not a judgey way; and to be an advocate for the patient and the 'bigger picture'.

RE: The perfect nurse

Eilidh Corr — Sun, 21 Aug 2016 19:57:00 GMT

[quote user="Neil Wheadon"]Clearly I'm not alone. Honesty pushes us forward.[/quote]

Of course, and that's a pretty dreadful experience. I don't think I said anywhere that nurses are all perfect - there are good and bad in all professions. I do object to the sort of nasty, misogynist stereotyping that there has been in this thread though. Demonstrating total disrespect for a whole group of professionals is very different to sharing one bad experience, and I see no justification for comments on their appearance and reproductive status.

RE: The perfect nurse

svn — Sun, 21 Aug 2016 19:35:28 GMT

[quote user="Neil Wheadon"]

Last year I worked with a nurse that took a call, diagnosed the problem, wrote a differential list on Rx works and then told the client what I was going to do when she was seen. This involved 36 hours hospitalisation for fluids and blood tests as the dog had eaten chocolate, to a client who had very little money

I saw the client and ascertained that the dog hadn't in fact touched any chocolate and even if it had it was 12 hours ago and was a tiny amount. I admitted the dog to spare the nurse as she was a permanent member if staff, on the pretext of observation.

Result, she went ballistic, E Mailing the vet who was on holiday saying I'd undermined her. It has been my one and only bad experience of a veterinary nurse to whom I have enormous respect.

Clearly I'm not alone. Honesty pushes us forward.

Neil

[/quote]

That is awful behaviour from the nurse, we are not allowed to diagnose, she was breaking the code of professional conduct!

RE: The perfect nurse

Neil Wheadon — Sun, 21 Aug 2016 19:27:48 GMT

[quote user="Eilidh Corr"]I'm ashamed by some of the responses on this thread. Demonstrating that exactly the sort of misogynistic dinosaurs many of us optimists try to convince ourselves aren't running the profession are alive and well.[/quote]

There are 2 comments here that could be construed (hopefully my mechanic one wasn't one of them)

David Mills stated mini vet

Result, she went ballistic, E Mailing the vet who was on holiday saying I'd undermined her. It has been my one and only bad experience of a veterinary nurse to whom I have enormous respect.

Clearly I'm not alone. Honesty pushes us forward.

Neil

RE: The perfect nurse

Hannah Wynne Richards — Sun, 21 Aug 2016 16:29:08 GMT

You know my reply to that!

The current social security system is a massive experiment in dysgenics ( if there is such a word) Just glad I'm unlikely to be around when the consequence of bribing the unfit to brat eventually comes home to roost.

Wynne

RE: The perfect nurse

grumpyoldman — Sun, 21 Aug 2016 15:43:58 GMT

Joking aside : some of my nurses are definite JVP material , but they stay because they do not like that model. I saw an add recently, in a local paper for a new V4P venture that was extolling the virtues of a male RVN who was being referred to as Dr like his business partner, who was an MRCVS , I have seen this before ,previously thought it was a typo error ,but it turns out the edges are being eroded and deliberately muddied in some places. The article was Describing his consultation skills and forays into minor surgery dentistry and the noble arts of anal sac emptying and nail clipping. I was wondering if my Collie Brian could be Dr Brian vets dog ?.

I have to take the wider view on maternity leave ,it drives me mad particularly the accrual of paid holidays whilst off. Thanks for that Mr Blair, genius. However my DipRVNs are bright smart young women with a good work ethic and its important that they do have chlidren in order to counteract the downward negative selection pressure the world of benefits and single Neets have on the population as a whole. In short nice people need to out breed the garbage.

RE: The perfect nurse

Hannah Wynne Richards — Sun, 21 Aug 2016 11:47:41 GMT

On a serious note, a post-menopausal nurse is a definite advantage, as pregancy can have a dreadfully disruptive effect on a small business. Luckily, VN training has been around for long enough that some nurses have gone through the stage in which pregnancy is possible.

Wynne

RE: The perfect nurse

Seadna — Sun, 21 Aug 2016 09:51:23 GMT

[quote user="grumpyoldman"]

[quote user="Seadna "]Is this a joke? Because if not it's quite offensive[/quote]

Yes a bit , although if mute they are less inclined to lurk about exchanging tittle/tattle with the other gargoyles and more likely to get on with things. I should add that being small and slim is a bonus because they have less time off with sickies and fit in and clean the cages better than large plump ones that do not bend well in the middle . Have fun xxx.

[/quote]

Ah, I see now. You're trolling. How mature and helpful of you. Carry on

RE: The perfect nurse

grumpyoldman — Sat, 20 Aug 2016 22:25:26 GMT

[quote user="Eilidh Corr"]I work in an extremely traditional mixed practice. We're just not arseholes to our colleagues.[/quote]

No, you will just wait until they are out of earshot.

RE: The perfect nurse

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Sat, 20 Aug 2016 20:46:44 GMT

[quote user="Hannah Wynne Richards"] True empathy for the patients[/quote]

That's the one.

And true nursing ability.

Understanding of business principles and marketing principles, monumentally unimportant in a candidate. Such things, as far as they might be necessary, can always be taught bit by bit later.

RE: The perfect nurse

Eilidh Corr — Sat, 20 Aug 2016 19:15:45 GMT

[quote user="grumpyoldman"]your free to slave away with the employers of your choice (those terribly nice PC chains etc[/quote]

I work in an extremely traditional mixed practice. We're just not arseholes to our colleagues.

RE: The perfect nurse

grumpyoldman — Sat, 20 Aug 2016 19:12:28 GMT

[quote user="Eilidh Corr"]I'm ashamed by some of the responses on this thread.[/quote]

Well you do not have to read them and your free to slave away with the employers of your choice (those terribly nice PC chains etc) , my nurses earn up to 28k per year for a 40 hour week ,2 for twenty years ,2 for 12 years several others between 5 and 10 ,we have no staff turnover , they say what they think we discuss it and then we decide I was right, they know where the ovarid is if they need it. keep smiling xxx.

RE: The perfect nurse

Eilidh Corr — Sat, 20 Aug 2016 18:51:56 GMT

I'm ashamed by some of the responses on this thread. Demonstrating that exactly the sort of misogynistic dinosaurs many of us optimists try to convince ourselves aren't running the profession are alive and well.

I work with some truly excellent nurses, and what makes them so good is their experience, their clinical judgement, the ability and willingness to put their hand up and say "I think this is wrong" and their work ethic. They're respected and very valuable, nay, essential members of the team. It is intensely disappointing that people of their calibre could be dismissed in the way nurses have been on this thread. It would be half forgivable if the comments were even slightly funny, but they aren't.

RE: The perfect nurse

grumpyoldman — Sat, 20 Aug 2016 15:15:08 GMT

[quote user="Seadna "]Is this a joke? Because if not it's quite offensive[/quote]

RE: The perfect nurse

Seadna — Sat, 20 Aug 2016 14:49:07 GMT

[quote user="grumpyoldman"]recently spayed with a post op complication involving laryngeal paralysis !![/quote]

Is this a joke? Because if not it's quite offensive.

RE: The perfect nurse

grumpyoldman — Sat, 20 Aug 2016 09:38:55 GMT

recently spayed with a post op complication involving laryngeal paralysis !!