Nursing Consults - Proposal
Our aim is to offer nursing clinics and consults to our clients to benefit the clients, animals, nursing staff and the clinic as a whole.
Nursing clinics are run by nursing staff to further the education and understanding of clients and also to manage the ongoing health of our
patients.
Our nursing clinics are divided into three categories; Preventative Healthcare, Condition Management & Diagnostic Sampling
Examples of areas of preventative
healthcare:• Flea and worm
treatment• Vaccinations• Neutering• Behavior modification
These are defined as subjects of which nurses can educate our clients in. These are not necessarily areas of which we are changing or correcting but areas that we can inform our clients to prevent health and behavioral issues in the future.
Preventative
Healthcare
These consults would be follow up from a consult with a vet where the animal was diagnosed with an ongoing medical condition that requires professional management and assessment.
Examples of Condition
Management• Diabetes• Obesity• Dental Disease• Administering Medication
Condition Managemen
t
Examples of Diagnostic Sampling• Blood sampling• Urine sampling
Vets can utilise the nursing clinics and consults by having qualified nurses take diagnostic samples from patients.
The results could then be passed on to the vet who would diagnose and make a plan for the animal
Diagnostic Sampling
Benefits to Clients and Patients
Clients• We would be furthering the
education and understanding of medical conditions and the management of them
• Clients have the opportunity to ask any questions they were afraid or forgot to ask the vet
• Builds a great rapport between clients and the clinic
• Being educated prevents health issues that lead to expensive bills and a stressful time.
Patients• More trips to the clinic means
a positive socialisation and happier experience
• Management of health conditions leads to a better and more comfortable lifestyle for the animal
Benefits to YOU• Consults and clinics are bringing in more income• Better rapport between clinic and clients• Good experiences had by clients at the clinic will lead
to positive word of mouth which in turn will lead to more clientele
• Our clients will be educated on preventative healthcare which leads to less consults with vets on conditions that could have been avoided
• Clients are happy to visit the clinic resulting in healthier animals – which is why we are all here isn’t it?!
Everything you need to know!
The logistics of the nursing clinics are temporary. Once we have had a few consults and received some feedback from our clients we can make some
tweaks to ensure this will be efficient and effective for as much of the time as possible.
Where? The consults will be held in the second consult room, as this is used primarily as a back up to the vets it will be available the majority of the time
When? Nursing clinics can be held in the afternoons. This is when the busiest part of the day has finished, the vets have completed their surgeries and nurses have had time to prepare for consults. We will have 3 late evenings where the clinics run until 5.30 – 6.00pm to ensure the clinics are available to clients that can not make it during the day.
Cost? The price for the nursing consults should depend on the purpose of the visit.I think the standard consult cost should be $15, any additional services such as diagnostic sampling or specific condition information sessions could be $15-$20
and more…Time? We should stick to our normal consult time of 15 minutes. If a client needs more time than that we can book out a double appointment at no further cost.
Who? We will have one nurse in charge of the clinics so all staff have someone to report to and the clinics are all being overseen with the same management ideas. All nurses will take part in the nursing clinics. Nurses with particular areas of expertise or interest can be responsible for relative appointments. Nurses with less experience or knowledge on specific subjects can sit in on consults.
Relax.. You don’t need to plan a thing!
Informing the people
We want our clients to be aware of the service we are offering. To ensure this:
• Advertise on the clinic website and within the clinic using flyers
• Information passed on by staff when talking to clients.
• When vets diagnose an ongoing health condition that can be managed by a nurse or we can educate the owners on the condition, we ask the vet mention to the client that we do offer this service and they should make an appointment with a nurse.
Weeks: 1 2 3 4 5 6
Training all staff in
areas we will be
covering
Advertising for parasite
control, neutering
and vaccination information
clinics
Begin clinics as
advertised- gather
feedback after each first clinic
Make changes
according to the
feedback received
Begin staff training for
weight loss, dental
and geriatric clinics
Begin new clinics –
continue to monitor
feedback
Introduction of Nursing consults – A Timeline
Weight Loss Nursing ClinicsPatient is diagnosed as
obese or overweight after
consult with Veterinarian.
Schedule appointment with
Nurse Client comes in for nurse consult to implement plan for weight-loss;
target weight, timeframes, diet,
amounts to feed. Above is clearly explained
Client brings patient in monthly for weigh in and discussion about
progress
Nurse and vet discuss a specific diet plan for patient
Once end date has been reached final assessment nurse consult takes place. If target weight has been reached, animal begins maintenance diet as calculated and directed by nurse. If target weight has not been reached, schedule appointment with vet to
follow up and look at other possible causes for the obesity.
Dental Care Nursing ConsultDental care consult booked with nurse
where nurse assesses dental status of
animal, discusses dental disease and options available. If
necessary refer to vet for dental surgery
Veterinarian conducts dental surgery on animal.
Discharge appointment with
initial nurse where we implement ongoing dental diet. Advise
amounts and frequency of feeding
as calculated by nurse.
Follow up nurse consult booked 6 months post dental surgery to assess the teeth and effectiveness of dental management diet, discuss any concerns client may have. If effective, nurse
advise to continue diet and book consult in 12 months
time for check up.If ineffective, refer to
veterinarian for assessment.
Thank you for taking the time to consider supporting nurses in this step in our career development.
Please feel free to flick back to slide 6 for a reminder as to how this will hugely benefit you and
your business!