What does a Ward Nurse do?

1. Take over from night team

It all begins early at 7am, when the night staff hand over the patients to the nurses in their allocated wards. All the patients are walked out and weighed, and their demeanour, temperature, respiratory rate, and pulse rate recorded. Intravenous catheters are checked, flushed, and redressed, the patients are examined, and bandages, wounds and neurological status assessed.

2. Doing the rounds

Morning rounds follow, with Ward Nurses accompanying the Clinician to discuss each patient and prepare a plan for the day. These discussions between nurse and clinician are vital to assess a patient’s progress so we can continue to tailor our care to the patient’s needs. Phone calls are also made to owners to update them on their pet’s condition.

3. Morning medication & mealtime

Time is spent to encourage patients to eat. Nutrition is an essential part of a patient’s recovery and special effort is made to ensure patients are receiving their daily requirements with medication being administered as prescribed.

4. Building relationships, building familiarity

It’s important that every animal under our care feels as relaxed and happy as possible in the ward environment – and it’s important that owners are happy and relaxed too! Our nurses build positive relationships with both owners and patients. At Southfields, we put the emphasis on treating every patient as an individual – doing all we can to meet their own unique needs.

5. A vital routine

As the morning goes on, we may have to perform various important blood tests and a range of other procedures – including the care and maintenance of equipment such as drains and catheters. Patient enrichment is vital, particularly for those that are either unable to move or are undergoing a longer course of treatment. For those patients that are mobile, regular walks take place – with physiotherapy performed if required.

6. The late shift

At 11.30am, the late shift begins, when the evening nurses prepare patient kennel sheets for the following day. Our morning nurses hand over to our evening nurses, discussing in detail the care each patient has required that day. Our high standards of care are continued by the evening nurse, who then hands over to the night nurses in rounds at 8pm.

To find out more about the different roles within our Nursing team, visit –  southfields.co.uk/services/nursing 

To join our team and view all of nurse vacancies visit – southfields.co.uk/join-our-team/nursing