A Day In the Life

Early shift today meant I was up at 7:00 in order to be at work at 8:30. I opened the practice, and got it ready for the day's work. The two vets came in before 9:00. One of the vets has a dog who has been having some health issues, so I helped her take a blood sample and got it ready to send to an external lab for some tests. Clients began arriving for appointments at about 9:00. I admitted one dog to be spayed,  weighed her, and got her settled in a kennel. A cat also came in for an operation, but the vet needed to check her over and have a chat with the owner before admitting her. I took payment from the clients who had come for appointments, dispensed medications when they were prescribed by the vet and gave the vets a hand when they needed an animal held still for an injection. Meanwhile, I got the operating theatre ready for surgery - a soft bed on the table; the oxygen turned on; the instruments and drapes ready; clippers and disinfectant for the incision site; mask, gloves and gown for the surgeon.
Meanwhile, a vet had admitted another dog to be hospitalised and put on fluid therapy. I set up everything needed to place a catheter in her vein. The head nurse came in for the late shift at 10:30. She won't be done until 7:30 tonight. Appointments were over by 11:00. The vet doing the surgeries today told me the drug dosages for the cat and the dog that were in for spaying, and I drew them all up into syringes. We gave the dog a sedative to help ease her into her general anaesthetic, then I held her while a catheter was placed in her vein. (Placing a catheter is one of the things I'll be taught how to do soon.) Then she was put under general anaesthetic, placed on oxygen, and prepped for surgery. The head nurse monitored her while she was under anaesthetic, and I went about getting things ready for the next operation.
While I was doing that, an owner phoned in a state of shock. He said he had just checked on his rabbit and found that his ear had been torn off! I got his name and told him to bring the rabbit straight to the clinic. The head vet examined the bunny when he arrived and admitted him straight away to be fixed up. A fox (they're everywhere in London) must have grabbed the ear when it poked out between the bars of the rabbit's cage. It was completely ripped off at the base of the ear, with no ear to be found anywhere. The poor bunny was being brave as could be, eating and drinking and acting happy, but that's just what bunnies do. As prey animals, they hide any sign of sickness or pain, or a predator would get them in a flash. That makes it really tough to tell if a rabbit is well or not. Anyway, I soon had the drugs drawn up for his anaesthetic and the vet and I set out to help him feel better.
When he was sedated, we clipped all the hair from around the wound - no easy task, as the blood was matted into the fur and dried.  Then the vet began cleaning and debriding the wound. She cut out any necrotic tissue that was there and applied a gel that will keep the wound moist and help it begin to heal. She decided not to put in any stitches at this stage, but to let the wound drain for a day or so before she does. We will keep the bunny in hospital for another day, at least. Meanwhile, the other vet and the head nurse had finished with the dog and had prepped and spayed the cat, as well as getting the hospitalized dog on fluids. As usual, all the animals woke up beautifully from their operations - no distress. We all helped clean up the operating theatre and prep room and then we nurses got to the usual tasks that keep the clinic running from day to day. We vacuumed, mopped, filed papers, ordered supplies, cleaned, did the wash, scrubbed and sterilised the instruments. We took turns having our lunches, and the vet took her dogs out for walks. Evening consults began at 5:00, with it's usual rush of taking payments and dispensing drugs. I headed out the door at 5:30. The cat and dog that had been spayed would go home later, having recovered fully from anaesthetic.
I had dinner with the Koalaman when I got home, then sat down to study for a test on muscles that's coming up this week at college.
And that's what a normal day is like for me.