Vet Times

Tag: RVN

  • Materialism in practice

    Materialism in practice

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    As a locum, there’s an element of impostor syndrome as you walk into a new practice. This practice is paying a higher rate for your services, you had better perform and make your rate worth it. You want them to want you back. You want the practice to say: “They’re expensive, but they’re worth it.”…

  • Radiograph exposure

    Radiograph exposure

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    Nurses are usually great at radiographic technique, with the flip side that vets are often poor… if you find rules of exposure confusing, then a simple tip is to think of it like toast: overcooked toast burns and goes black. If your KV is set too high for the area being imaged, the film will…

  • A fair wage for fair hours?

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    Reading up on the legislation regarding working hours and the national minimum wage (NMW) I discovered that, if you work extra hours unpaid and that takes your average wage below the NMW limit, your employer is breaking the law. That said, and with the NMW only recently reaching £6.70 for over-21s, I can imagine there are situations where…

  • Doc Hollywood

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    We live in troubled times – economically, politically, and socially. This blog being mostly focused on veterinary matters, I’m going to turn my attention to the most animal-relevant of society’s many questions, which is this: How did the Americans get so good at telly? Like many right-minded people, my wife and I have become addicted to…

  • Venusians, Martians and abscesses

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    Despite my continued annoyance at the non-appearance of hoverboards, the 21st century is truly a wonderful time to be alive. Contrary to the repeated attempts of 24-hour news channels to make us believe otherwise, many of us live in more tolerant and less violent societies than any of our ancestors. Men and women are now considered equals,…

  • Is our perfectionism making us ill?

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    My name is Jo and I’m a perfectionist. Perfectionism is a big part of who I am. I am grateful to that facet of my personality for many of my achievements, but I can see it has also caused issues in my personal and professional life. I read comedian Jon Richardson’s book It’s Not Me, It’s You about his…

  • Selfish morality

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    Willow, my faithful (if neurotic) lurcher, is usually good company on our walks. We have some great conversations – I talk, she listens. We have covered many topics over many miles: who was the best Star Trek captain (Kirk, obviously), why we have seasons, why were the 1980s the best decade for music – but…

  • OSCEs are over… so, what’s next?

    OSCEs are over… so, what’s next?

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    The big summer OSCE extravaganza is over. For many nursing students it’s just a wait for results and then it’s “RVN time”. For those who need to resit (and it’s never that many), the focus returns to exams. But what do you do if you’ve passed and suddenly have all this free time on your hands? You’re qualified.…

  • Uniform policy and infection control

    Uniform policy and infection control

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    I must admit to being a little surprised at how few practices insist on staff changing out of uniform to travel to and from work. As part of a multimodal approach to infection control, and to maintain a professional image, I believe it essential that staff only wear their uniform when on practice premises. Stay…

  • Informed consent: so much more than ‘sign there’

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    All too often, I hear colleagues (vets and nurses) asking a client to sign a consent form by saying “sign there”, without further discussion. A variant of this is the admitting nurse assuming the vet who advised the procedure has discussed consent with the owner. For consent to be valid it must be “informed” consent. Informed means if…