In-your-House RVN CPD Service

21/05/2025

Very thrilled to have been asked to speak for the BVNA (The British Veterinary Nursing Association) again at a regional event organised by the lovely Joy Shutt. This promises to be a great day of learning and I'll be there geeking out with my co-lecturers, whom you'll agree, are amazing nurses!

Book your ticket here:
https://bvna.org.uk/events/

12/04/2025

Very thrilled to have been invited to speak on one of my most favourite subjects by The Webinar Vet 😍

Join me chatting all things ECG on April 22nd!

This lecture focusses on understanding the cardiac conduction system, how the ECG is made, what is normal and identifying some of the most common (and urgent!) arrhythmia

12/03/2025

This will be very worth it!

𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗖𝗣𝗗 𝘄𝗲𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗡𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗶 𝗚𝗿𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗕𝗩𝗦𝗰 𝗣𝗵𝗗 𝗗𝗩𝗔 𝗗𝗶𝗽𝗘𝗖𝗩𝗔𝗔 𝗠𝗥𝗖𝗩𝗦

This recorded CPD webinar covers the ways that you and your practice can improve your anaesthesia safety with minimal disruption, through the use of checklists.

Who doesn't love FREE CPD; who doesn't love a CHECKLIST?😊

https://subscriptions.improveinternational.com/vet-tech-anesthesia-a-lesson-with-nicki-grint-access

26/02/2025

If you can block it, go for it! 🙌💪

Local anaesthesia techniques block sodium channels in nerves, preventing nerve depolarisation and thus blocking nociceptive responses to the central nervous system (Grubb and Lobprise, 2020).

Intratesticular blocks can be used in cats undergoing castration; a 25g needle is inserted into the caudal part of the testicle facing the spermatic cord, and a local anaesthetic is injected until the testicle feels turgid.

This has several advantages, including providing multimodal analgesia, reducing the need for volatile agents and their associated side effects, and lowering pain scores after surgery.

Moldal et al. (2013) investigated the effects of intratesticular and subcutaneous lidocaine on cats undergoing castration. They found that cats most commonly reacted to traction on the spermatic cord as shown by an increase in mean arterial pressure and heart rate; however, cats in the local anaesthesia group had significantly lower increases than those in the control group. Yay for pain relief!




Go loopi for bupi here with The Zero Pain Philosophy: https://www.zeropainphilosophy.com/post/basics-of-local-anaesthesia

Let’s get Lit:
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1467298716303476
-https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7196681/

04/01/2025

I do love lecturing ❤️😁 Any insight from the amazing Courtney on how to be better is invaluable! Got my ticket! 🙌🤓

Is 2025 going to be a milestone year for you? Are you stepping on a congress stage for the first time to share your passion with your peers?

If you are new to presenting, allow me to be your cheerleader - The buzz that comes with presenting is incredible, and I want you to feel it both before and after you step on stage!

I went through every emotional rollercoaster while preparing for congresses, had panic attacks minutes before going on stage, and wondered if everyone learnt anything or hated me completely at the end of my session. But now you can’t hold me back from all the excitement, and it has taken me years of trial and error to get there.

Join me on Monday, March 10th, 2025, at 7.30pm, as I share some of my tips, tricks, do's and don'ts. I am not a qualified coach in this area, but I have been in your shoes before, and I want to share my experiences in the hopes that they will help you.

This event is free and will be recorded, with a link provided to those who register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/congress-cheerleader-my-tips-and-tricks-for-a-standout-session-tickets-1128900916029

03/01/2025

Interesting.....🤔🤔👌😁

It's time to DITCH coupage!

The concussive action thought to remove mucous so the patient can cough it up is often ineffective and can actually contribute to causing pneumonia.

If the patient is standing when coupage is performed gravity will cause the mucous to move downwards towards the ventral chest where it will settle and be a potential cause of pneumonia.

In an unconscious patient or a patient on their side the mucous will pool on one side creating hypostatic pneumonia.

The best way to support a respiratory patient or recumbent patient is to enable them to stand at intervals throughout the day to enable them to take full lung capacity breaths increasing cardiopulmonary output.

Research:
RVC podcast episode - 6
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7114575/
https://www.theveterinarynurse.com/.../the-forgotten

Manning AM, Rush J, Rudnick Ellis D.
Physical Therapy for
critically ill
veterinary patients. Part
1. Chest by Physical Therapy. The Compendium.
June 1997: 675-688.
Pouzot-Nevoret C, Magnin M,
Barthélemy A, et al.

Effectiveness of
chest physiotherapy using passive
slow expiratory techniques in dogs
with airway fluid accumulation: A
randomized controlled trial. J Vet
Intern Med. 2021 May;35(3):1525-
1535.
Pouzot-Nevoret C, Goy-Thollot I, Billet D, et al.

Evaluation of a
new chest physiotherapy technique in dogs with airway fluid
accumulation hospitalized in an intensive care unit. J Vet
Emera Crit Care (San Antonio). 2018 May;28(3):213-220.
Chopra SK, Taplin GV, Simmons
DH, et al.

Effects of hydration
and physical therapy on tracheal
transport
velocity.
Am
Rev
Respir
Dis.
1977
Jun;115(6):1009-14.

There also many papers in human medicine about the contraindicated use of coupage in unconscious and intubated patients.

THERE ARE NO VETERINARY PAPERS PROVING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF COUPAGE ON REMOVING MUCUS

24/12/2024

Merry Christmas everyone! What a year it's been!! 🥴

I'm looking forward to 2025 with some exciting developments in my day job (new hospital opening).

I'll be trying to share some more of what I'm doing here and remembering that "no" is also part of my vocabulary and I shouldn't take on too much 😅

29/11/2024

Loving this delve into the literature by my amazing colleague and friend! The pitfalls of atipamezole.....knowledge is power! 😁💪🙌

To follow up on the previous post on medetomidine, how about its antagonist, atipamezole? Specifically, consider its use in bradycardic and hypotensive patients under general anaesthesia.

Remember that medetomidine is a potent alpha-2 receptor agonist that causes dose-dependent sedation and analgesia. The advantages include reliable sedation, analgesia, muscle relaxation, and anxiolysis. Negative cardiovascular side effects include bradycardia, related arrhythmias, hypertension, and (up to) a 50% reduction in cardiac output.

This percentage can be frightening, as can monitoring a patient with bradycardia. But should we rush to treat the number? What is the blood pressure like? Are you rushing to antagnoise the medetomidine under anaesthesia and not considering the effects it will have? Spoiler.. it can make things worse. The heart rate may increase, but the blood pressure may not. Take a look at the literature we have found (for both IV and IM administration):

- The NOAH compendium says “a transient hypotensive effect has been observed during the first 10 minutes post-injection of atipamezole hydrochloride.”
- Vainio (1990) found “atipamezole significantly increased the medetomidine-depressed heart rate, respiratory frequency and arterial PO2. The drug also transiently decreased the mean arterial blood pressure.”
- “Attention should be paid to temporary hypotension in cats anesthetized with isoflurane” when atipamezole was administered after a medetomidine, midazolam and ketamine premedication (Kamohara et al., 2021).
- Zatroch et al. (2019) found that “atipamezole administered IM at half the volume or the same volume as dexmedetomidine was ineffective at increasing pulse rate or cardiac output in anesthetized cats that received dexmedetomidine. However, atipamezole caused short-lasting but severe arterial hypotension.”
- Martin-Flores et al. (2017) evaluated “the cardiovascular effects of low-dose atipamezole administered intravenously to isoflurane-anesthetized cats receiving dexmedetomidine,” and in their cats that were hypertensive, it reduced the blood pressure by ~40%, and “ If this magnitude of decrease in blood pressure occurs when atipamezole is administered to cats with lower blood pressures, as could easily happen if blood pressure is not monitored, clinically important arterial hypotension could ensue.”

So, instead of always reaching for atipamezole for patients under anaesthesia, consider the following standard steps to treat hypotension: decrease volatile agent > treat any bradycardia (after 20-30 minutes of dex/medetomidine administration) > consider a fluid challenge or colloid therapy if appropriate > administer vasopressors or intropes. This is reflected in the 2024 AAHA Fluid Therapy Guidelines.

Let’s get Lit:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31034277/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34704354/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC385445/
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1098612X17722265

28/10/2024

My workplace are putting on their last in-person CPD event for 2024. If you're in the Cheshire area this is a nice way to spend an evening learning some stuff, sharing some nice food (included) and supporting a charity. All for £30!

Come, join ☺️💖

***IN-PERSON CPD EVENT!!!***

Announcing our last CPD event for 2024!! Booking is open NOW and will close on November 19th.

This time, Rachel will be discussing the ins and outs of feline respiratory patients. The good, the bad and the phlegmy 😷😸

📆Date: Thursday 21st November
⏰Time: 7pm for food, 7.30pm start. Approx. finishing time 9-9.30pm
💵Price: £30 for vets and nurses, £15 for students (plus platform fee)

We are back to our lovely original Cheshire venue of Goostrey Home And Leisure , Goostrey Lane, Goostrey, CW4 8HE. The amazing and delicious afternoon tea and hot buffet will be available along with those usual beverages. There is plenty of on-site parking here.

We are championing Dogs for Autism once again and all profits will go to this charity close to Rachel's heart ❤️

We sincerely thank VetPlus for sponsoring this event and enabling this to go ahead 🙌🫶

TO BOOK: Please head to our website www.jsvc.co.uk/cpd to book tickets.

QUESTIONS: Either send us a DM or email [email protected]

07/08/2024

Literally CANNOT WAIT for this 😍

29/06/2024

AND new RECOVER guidelines!

Objective After the 2012 Reassessment Campaign on Veterinary Resuscitation (RECOVER) CPR Guidelines, this is an update of evidence-based consensus guidelines for Basic Life Support (BLS), advanced l...

29/06/2024