Features

Bias - while we commonly associate the word with newspaper headlines and political campaigns, it also plays an important role in healthcare - but how? Bias describes a cognitive process - it helps us to get stuff done. But, in the context of care quality it also has drawbacks, let’s look at a scenario to explain this a bit further.

Jane was driving home from Betavets and thinking about the interview she had just been to. She wondered why she felt so pleased.

Jane almost didn’t go. She had had an interview at Alpha Vet Hospital yesterday and thought no one else could possibly compete with what they had to offer.  

After morning rounds Sam, a student veterinary nurse begins working their way round the ward giving their patients their morning treatments. Sam’s first patient is Barley a lovely 5-year-old cocker spaniel who is recovering after enterotomy surgery two days ago to remove a corn on the cob that had become a foreign body. Over the past few days Barley has been recovering well and returning to the affectionate, playful, waggy tailed dog that his owners love. This morning Barley is quiet; he doesn’t greet them as he normally would and is uninterested in his breakfast, curled up in the corner of his kennel. Sam is worried that Barley is deteriorating. Having been introduced to Early Warning Scoring sheets at university, they grab the one stuck to the wall near Barley’s kennel and begin a thorough assessment.

Martin shifted in his chair as Jen walked into the office. They briefly made eye contact and smiled.
‘H, hello there.’
‘Hi,’ said Jen.
‘I, err, I just wanted to apologise for the other morning … my behaviour in theatre.’
‘Oh, no need, honestly Martin. It was a…’
‘No, it wasn’t good. E, everything was getting on top of me … I don’t know how to deal with it.’

As Jen walked into theatre her hands still dripping with soap, it struck her how unreal this all felt – there was Lucy the Rottweiler, on her back completely anaesthetised with a bright red tube sticking out of her mouth. There was Martin, the clinical director, his hair sticking up at odd angles, snapping on a pair of gloves. And finally, Selina the head nurse, wearing a cocktail dress and a pair of old trainers.

Lucy was nervous, it was her first day at her new job and as she sat waiting in reception to be greeted by the head nurse. She wondered if she had made a terrible mistake. Lucy had trained and qualified as a veterinary nurse at a small branch surgery where the team offered excellent care and compassion. In return she had enjoyed working with loyal and friendly clients. She knew just where everything was and how everything worked. She loved her job. But Lucy also loved learning and wanted to specialise in emergency care, so she applied for this job; from today she would work in a 24 hour veterinary hospital as an Intensive care unit (ICU) nurse. She was delighted when she was offered the job and excited to start the next chapter of her career.

John is sweating; he feels unwell, and his blood pressure is so high that he can hear his heartbeat in his ears. Anxiously rubbing his hands together, he approaches the office of the clinical director. He softly knocks on the door and asks, "Hi Lisa, could I please have some advice?... I've really messed up!"

On the first Thursday of every month the team at Admiral vets gather to discuss challenging cases for an hour after work. They enjoy the opportunity to learn new tips on how to treat their more complicated surgical patients and solve medical conundrums whilst munching on pizza provided by the practice

‘Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable’ – Bondei proverb.

Tom is a vet on a mission - to improve antimicrobial stewardship in his practice. Lately it seemed that the cats in the local area were having a turf war and he noticed that a great deal of them were being prescribed long-acting injectable antibiotics, that were considered highest priority-critically important antibiotics (HPCIAs), for cat bite abscesses. Fair enough, he thought, it’s easily done when treating cats – clients like to avoid the sharp ends of animals. The more he looked, the more he found that all cats with cat bite abscesses (CBAs) had received some type of antibiotic.

At half past three Liz started to drink her first hot drink of the day. It was 15 years ago today that she had joined the practice, but it had never been as busy as it was now.