human V animal medicine

[Cussypat1974]

an odd post perhaps.....

yesterday I had a minor procedure done in hospital. it was fine. i was fascinated as had studied this procedure in theory but never seen it done. a junior doc was trying God love her, and messed up a few times. I didn't mind a bit as I have been in her position, as a vet nurse student. it is soooo nerve wracking!
Her supervisor, the consultant doc, was watching her closely and correcting her BEFORE she made mistakes (as it should be!). BUT..... what I found interesting was that the NURSE came in after them and actually sorted me out! she removed the rubbish INCORRECT dressing put on by the student doc and unspotted by the consultant, and did it all again, properly! i mean, the docs hadn't even put steristrips on me lol! just basically whacked a band-aid on?!? i needed pressure dressings and different dressings to be removed at different times over the next week lol. Nurses rock!
the other thing that struck me was the preparation...... if doing the same procedure on a cat or dog, we vet nurses do a FULL SURGICAL prep. the student doc just gave me one wipe with skin disinfectant. i bet she did it wrong. she also seemed to have no clue that putting formalin INSIDE the patient's body was a bad idea! the consultant stopped her of course!

anyhoo..... he didnt watch her doing the prep...... so if \i get a massive infection, my post here will be in the lawsuit lol! i am pretty sure \i am immune to everything at this stage though. It was just interesting...... and I now dont know if it is standard to do a full prep for this procedure with humans or not. I would imagine that it SHOULD be, as you are entering a body cavity which is sterile and should be kept that way!

[bobbys girl]

You'd think so wouldn't you! But it seems that as medical treatment for animals has improved by leaps and bounds, medical treatment for humans is going back to the dark ages.

While watching Super Vet we were saying the Op's he does seem expensive - but compared to the human equivalent they are quite cheap.

[Cussypat1974]

Well, I actually checked with my lecturer, and this procedure (a core biopsy, which was done on me just as a precaution, I am not at all concerned) DOES NEED a full surgical prep! That entails five wipes with skin disinfectant (can be many more with animals if they are dirty though, but you'd expect a human to be muck free eh?) plus a spray with isopropyl alcohol. It is because they have to nick the skin (tiny incision) to stick the biopsy needle in. I have no I faction but that is more down to me having antibodies to pretty much everything at this stage lol!

What is FAR more worrying is the fact that this girl didn't know that formalin is carcinogenic. Even to HERSELF... I mean..... If she touched that instrument off the formalin and then inserted it back into my boob, I would have gone in with no cancer, but would have CAUGHT cancer from her poor technique!

As vet nurses in my college, we are taught to know this stuff, but she honestly seemed to have no clue...... Maybe it is because vets don't HAVE to take students, and some stop taking them after a bad experience. Maybe vets are more afraid of being sued as they are small businesses? Not like public health services? I dunno...... I can also say..... Hand on heart...... That there are few people I would trust with the care of my husband or my animals. I HONESTLY believe that vets are FAR better than human doctors, so finding a vet that cares and that can communicate with you is TOP PRIORITY. Same with doctors but I just think they are generally rubbish lol.

It is just interesting that us nurses are better trained in basic hygiene than the docs eh? As nurses, the vets always warn us about "filthy vets" who chuck sharps around and generally don't take due care. That is OUR job, and it is VITAL to the recovery of your animal!

[bobbys girl]

Mum trained as a nurse and when we were old enough she returned to nursing. There was another nurse on the ward the same age as mum. They spent most of there time following doctors on their rounds, waiting for them to finish with one patient and saying 'would doctor like to WASH HIS HANDS now?!' It was a dermatology ward and you can imagine what they were dealing with! This was long before the hand cleansers at every ten feet!

At one point, when a junior doctor got on his high horse the other nurse told him, 'I have a son at home about your age, and when he talks to me like that, I box his ears.'

[MarkB]

About 6 years ago I had an umbilical hernia repair at QEQM Hospital in Margate. The junior doctor came to do my bloods. He made such a botch of it that there was blood all down my pale grey trousers and on my shirt and all over my arm. He grabbed a couple of swabs and smeared it around my arm. When the nurse came she went mental. She cleaned me up and said that he needed to learn to do it properly!

[Cussypat1974]

I kinda feel for the junior doc taking bloods, cos I have only ever done it on models and dread the real thing! Animals don't tend to keep still either!!!!!!! But as a nurse, he SHOULD have cleaned you up because blood is the PERFECT medium for bacterial growth and infection!
Nurses rock basically, and I can't wait to be one!
In veterinary, vets are trained to take samples and interpret the results..... They are NOT trained to carry out the actual tests. That is the nurses job,nor an external lab. It is also crucial as if the test is processed wrong the results are skewed and the diagnosis and treatment are wrong..... One slip on the chain can end in disaster...... Scary stuff!