Devonshire June July 16

The Old Vet’nary
by Ken Watson
The Veterinary Nurse
a friendly, family practice
have always had the greatest
I admiration for veterinary nurses;
overworked and underpaid, but
they never complained and came
to work eager for the day ahead
and the envy of their peers who
had such boring jobs. At least
that was so in my day. One time
a fire inspection officer asked
one of my staff what she would
do in an emergency and she
pointed out that her day was one
long emergency, and so it was in
Plymouth.
In my years at Sidmouth there
were no nurses. A yard man was
deemed sufficient. Plymouth was
a professional shock. There were
four girls employed and they did
everything, kennel work, clipping,
routine hospital work and assisting
with ops. We called them surgery
girls. Two were mainly occupied
in clipping. Almost everyday they
turned out 8 major poodle clips,
Cowboys, Lambs and Lions, for this
was the era of the Poodle. They
would also turn out Spaniel and
Sheepdog clips and baths. Now
if you don't know anything about
dogs. Both would also cope with
the considerable paperwork for
the department. The other two
girls, more junior, would clean
the boarding kennels and cattery
whose numbers, I might add, would
make most modern establishments
look amateurish. The whole set-up
was almost medieval. There was
even sawdust on the floors.
I soon set about trying to modernise
and improve their working
conditions and give incentives for
their hard work, but I think they
really looked upon my efforts
with amusement. Yet, despite all
this, the girls of Plymouth went
crazy for the job. When I decided
we needed more staff I foolishly
advertised in the local press. We
were overwhelmed by applications,
over a hundred. I never did that
again.
Then the veterinary profession
decided to regulate the situation
and create qualified veterinary
nurses. It was a simple system. The
trainee, male or female, had to have
3 O'levels and a job at a recognised
'Wilson'
...Providing the highest standards
of professional veterinary care
OPENING TIMES
Monday - Friday: 8.30am - 6.30pm
Saturday: 8.30am - 12.30pm
Consultations by Appointment
EMERGENCY SERVICE
For out of hours veterinary attention
or advice please ring 01752 700600
PLYMOUTH
01752 700600
Burnett Road, Manadon,
Plymouth PL6 5BH
IVYBRIDGE
01752 690999
Cornwood Road, Woodlands,
Ivybridge PL21 9JJ
Part Time Clinic at Yealmpton
agricultural college in Maidenhead,
paid by Devon County Council.
This did wonders for those who
had never been away from home,
until some sort of wit of a councillor
decided the money should be
spent in Devon and insisted we
by Richard Woodward
It gave me great pleasure to see
the change in these youngsters,
many of whom had problems. I
employed one, a Geordie, who had
difficulty in stringing two words
together, but after two years she
was a self-confident young woman
and married an up and coming
young man. The head nurse at
my practice has now been in that
position for some 25 years, but
when she first worked for me
she made 3 attempts to get her 3
O'levels. I still remember the group
discussion with her fellow staff to
decide whether to give her the third
chance. You should see her today.
Poodle clipping I can assure you this
was a prodigious output. But that
was not all, because one of them
would break off and run, yes run up
to the quarantine kennels to give a
dog its exercise break. The other
would do the same for boarding
training centre where they would
undergo practical and theoretical
training for two years and then take
an exam. My practice was one of
the first centres and we topped
off the 2 years by sending our
trainees to a 6 month course at an
used Bicton. Not far enough from
home, as it was getting away from
home which gave the most benefit.
They would come back transformed,
and I almost always kept their job
open for them.
Not all were successful. One, having
settled her sexuality, left to become
a traffic warden and found her place
in life. Another came from medical
nursing but had, to her great regret,
to give up and return because she
could not manage on the money.
When I lay in recovery after my
first cataract op, she passed by and,
recognising me, brought me a very
welcome ham sandwich. It takes a
person with distinct characteristics
to make a good veterinary nurse
and these are not always academic.
When I set up my own laboratory, so
that I could often see a case in the
morning and produce a diagnosis
and treatment by the afternoon,
I was amazed how young school
continued on page 96
mydevonevents 93