Nor'West News: October 17, 2017

4 Tuesday October 17 2017
Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
NOR’WEST NEWS
Your Local Views
Webb’s first day at
McMaster & Heap
Veterinary practice
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A VET
NURSE AT McMASTER & HEAP
Its early morning and the HOSPITAL nurse is
already hard at work, caring for her sometimes
numerous & varied hospital patients who have
stayed the night.
She cuddles & chats away to them
reassuringly as if they were her own!
Some soiled patients are sponge bathed,
while other patients are syringe fed. She checks,
untwists and flushes IV catheters, administers
morning medications, fresh food & clean
bedding is lovingly placed! All observations are
recorded ready for the “Vet rounds”, just as in a
hospital!
The Vets at McMaster & Heap rely heavily on
the expertise and thoroughness of our nurses
to inform us with regards to the patients in
her care. The vets check over their patients,
authorize blood tests or radiographs, change
medication or nutrition plans and update the
owners.
Then its back to the hospital nurse to care
for the needs of these patients over the course
of the day, updating the vet, speaking to the
family members involved and organizing
visiting times. Excellent time management skills
are required to triage the sick arrivals through
the day and care for the already sick and injured.
Note taking and recording of medications given
is of utmost importance.
Meanwhile the doors have opened & the
RECEPTION nurse is cheerfully assisting the
receptionist, greeting a continuous stream
of pets and their owners arriving for today’s
appointments & procedures!
She expertly multi tasks while answering the
relentlessly ringing phones-today she will take
a huge number of calls with a wide variety of
questions. She must use her problem solving
skills to know when it is OK for a patient to
come in later in the day, or if in fact it may
require a much more urgent consult time.
The SURGICAL nurse gets ready for her
busy day ahead. Patients start arriving at 8am
for admittance and some days we have 4
vets operating and a list of over 15 surgical
procedures to work through. Every nurse has a
vet assigned to them to allow continuity of care.
She will talk kindly & soothingly to each
patient while efficiently placing IV catheters
& obtain blood and urine samples to run
diagnostic tests for the vet. She then calculates
and administers her patients pre anaesthetic
medications as instructed.
Anaesthetic machines must then be checked
& the surgical room fully equipped for the
variety of today’s procedures!
Once everything is ready, she will assist the
vet in the patients induction and intubation,
before swiftly attaching all monitoring
equipment, as well as manual checks. Once
happy the patient is stable, she sterile preps the
Open 7 days
Cnr Hoon Hay & Coppell place
phone 338 2534, Fax 339 8624
e. mcmasterandheap@yahoo.co.nz
www.mcmasterheap.co.nz
patients surgical site. She closely monitors the
patient through the entire procedure, alerting
the vet to any subtle changes in the patients
anaesthetic depth, blood pressure and more.
She carefully moves the patient over to a
cosy recovery bed, where the hospital nurse is
waiting to continue the post operative care.
Evening consults are arriving & reception is a
hype of activity. Phones are ringing constantly
& owners are arriving to pick up their animals
from surgery & hospital.
The reception nurse expertly talks to owners
experiencing a wide range of emotions, from
extreme sadness, stress, anxiety, to those who
are excited or just plain relieved to be able to
see their furry friend once more. She goes over
the large variety of discharge information that
the vets & nurses have carefully put aside for
their patients.
The hospital nurse kindly talks to worried
owners who are visiting their pets and updates
them on the vets plan for overnight care.
She carries out her final rounds and ensures
everyone gets a cuddle goodnight!
She assists the vet in preparing any extremely
unwell patients that require transfer to the after
hours clinic.
At 7pm the last consult has finished, and
the doors are closed! The nurses may still
be buzzing around for another hour or so,
depending on today’s work load. Although
sometimes they are totally exhausted (&
covered in various unidentified stains & smells!)
they go home to their own pets with a big
smile on their face. They know each day they
assist the vets in making a huge difference to
animals lives by putting 100% of time, love, care
& knowledge to ensure each furry patient and
it’s owner has had the best veterinary service
and care possible!!
McMaster & Heap
New Christchurch
Central MP Duncan
Webb may be busy
finding his way around
his new office in
Wellington but the
former lawyer has
issues he wants to
tackle in his electorate
I am very proud and excited to be
the new member of parliament for
Christchurch Central.
The city has huge opportunities ahead
of it and I am looking forward to being
part of seizing them.
I think there are three simple things
we need to keep in mind when ensuring
that the city moves in the right direction:
People, homes, and incomes – and they
are all closely related.
We want to make sure that all of our
neighbourhoods and communities are
great places to live.
This will mean working at every level to
ensure they are safe and able to be enjoyed
by everyone.
Some things need to be addressed by
central Government – like providing a
comprehensive solution for those who are
without a home of any kind.
Others will require working with
the city council – like ensuring that
community hubs and shopping
centres are attractive, accessible and
usable.
Of course in the central city, we need
OPENING
NIGHT!
saT 21 sT OcTObEr
7Pm sTarT
to complete the people-focussed facilities
like the library and the metro sports
facility.
Homes are a really significant issue
in Christchurch, though perhaps in a
different kind of way than elsewhere.
One thing I would love to see and
encourage is genuinely affordable homes
within the inner city for a mix of young
people, families and older people.
That will be essential to making the city
vibrant and successful.
Great public parks, spaces and facilities
will assist with this – as will the new retail
and hospitality projects.
ADULTS $20 Seniors $10
FAMILY PASS $40
Children $5 Under 5yrs free
tHe tRuSteD nAme in fAbRicS
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apparel and upholstery fabrics”
BLENHEIM RD
HARALDS
ANNEX RD
(2 adults & up to
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DOUbLEDaYs rOaD KaIaPOI
INfOLINE 03 364 8833
www.wOODfOrDGLEN.cO.Nz
BIRMINGHAM DRIVE
47 Birmingham Drive, Middleton | Phone 338 7700 | Open Mon-Sat 10-4
47
MATIPO ST