Anaesthesia for Veterinary Nurses

Liz Welsh is a senior lecturer in small animal surgery at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies and has been actively involved in.
Table of contents

Details on the anaesthetic consent form may include: Several regulations are enforced to minimise the risk of exposure to hazardous substances and accidents within the workplace. The H ealth and S afety at W ork A ct This act states that the employer is responsible for providing safe systems of work and adequately maintained equipment, and for ensuring that all substances are handled, stored and transported in a safe manner.

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Safe systems of work should be written as standard operating procedures SOPs and be displayed in the appropriate areas of the workplace Figure 1. All staff should be able to identify hazards, know the route of exposure and the specifi c fi rst aid should an accident occur.

The Act divides drugs into three classes depending on the degree of harm 10 Anaesthesia for Veterinary Nurses Figure 1. Class A drugs or class B injectable agents are deemed to be the most harmful and class C drugs the least. The Regulations divide controlled drugs into fi ve schedules that determine the nature of the control.

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The Regulations cover a wide range of drugs, of which only a few are in regular use in veterinary practice. Schedule 1 drugs, for example, LSD, are stringently controlled and are not used in veterinary practice. Codeine and other weaker opiates and opioids are also Schedule 2 drugs. An opiate is a drug derived from the opium poppy while an opioid refers to drugs that bind to opioid receptors and may be synthetic, semi - synthetic or natural.

Separate records must be kept for all Schedule 2 drugs obtained and supplied in a controlled drugs register.

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These drugs can only be signed out by a veterinary surgeon and the date, animal identifi cation details, volume and route of administration must be recorded. The controlled drug register should be checked on a regular basis and thefts of controlled drugs must be reported to the police.

Schedule 2 drugs must be kept in a locked receptacle, which can only be opened by The Role of the Veterinary Nurse in Anaesthesia 11 authorised personnel Figure 1. Schedule 3 drugs are subject to prescription and requisition requirements, but do not need to be recorded in the controlled drugs register. However, buprenorphine is required to be kept in a locked receptacle.

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It is recommended that other drugs in this schedule such as the barbiturates pentobarbital, phenobarbital and pentazocine should also be kept in a locked cupboard. The remaining two Schedules include the benzodiazepines Schedule 4 and preparations containing opiates or opioids Schedule 5. Specifi c h azards Compressed g as c ylinders Anaesthetic gas cylinders contain gas at high pressure and will explode if mishandled.

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Anaesthesia for Veterinary Nurses, 2nd Edition

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Includes bibliographical references and index. There is an increasing number of specialist referral hospitals, and the speciality of emer- gency and critical care has blossomed in the United Kingdom.