6pm - 10pm

The first thing I do on arrival at the clinic is to hold rounds with the Host Practice nurse that is on duty; they will discuss the inpatient's nursing requirements with myself and transfer the care over as required. I then work my way through our post and answer phone messages and call clients back as required. Along with the duty veterinary surgeon the first few hours are usually spent catching up on inpatient treatments, and 'opening' our clinic to receive its own patients. We normally see our highest volume of clients at this time, from minor ailments (the emergency nail clip) to road traffic accidents and GDV's. We will receive transfer of patients from our member practice clinics that require intensive support overnight. It is important to the clinic that we do this to the highest standard as this is what the client remembers, so we make sure that we keep the owner informed of the patient's progress at every opportunity.

10pm – 12am

"You need to like the variety and the 'not knowing' to enjoy emergency work, as you can never be sure of what the next phone call will bring or predict what's going to happen next!"

This is when myself and the duty vet catch up on the patients we admitted earlier in the evening. As we don't have a receptionist in the Edinburgh Clinic, the duty vet and I have to answer all the calls and offer the best advice we can give. 99% of the time the best advice is to make an appointment with the duty vet, which may or may not lead on to admitting animals for further investigation of the condition, or for surgical procedures.

Because we are a small clinic my job is very hands on. As the nurse, I can be doing anything from taking blood samples to placing intravenous catheters to monitoring patients pre, during and post operatively. The duty vet is always willing to help out when we are busy and I have often seen them cleaning out kennels whilst I am placing a bandage on recovery.

It is quite normal for the duty vet to consult constantly for the first couple of hours. Whilst they are consulting, I will be answering calls, making appointments and speaking to the clients we have seen on a face-to-face basis. This is a good chance for the client to ask any further questions they may have, and I am more than willing to take 10 minutes to explain the planned care, reassure them they have done the right thing by bringing their pet in, and that we will do our very best for their cat, dog or rabbit.

It is not unusual for the clinic to get a small rush of calls between 00.00 and 01.00 from owners who have been worrying about their pets all day, and can't face leaving them overnight!

12am – 2am

Depending on the night, I usually take this period to perform the day-to-day management and paperwork tasks which underpin the running of the clinic, whether it is placing orders, completing insurance forms or even just cleaning up from earlier on in the night. That said, this can also be a very exciting timife of night – as most cases that come in at this time are the genuinely 'cannot-wait-til-morning' type. Just like the collapsed cat last night! - the owner had found him in their garden and thought he may have been hit by a car.

2am – 9am

"Working for Vets Now gives me the flexibility to have a great working life, as well as a fantastic personal life!"

The early hours of the morning are usually the quietest in terms of incoming calls – after all, most sensible people are fast asleep in their beds! This time is spent catching up on inpatient requirements and administering medications. This is often the time that the critical surgical cases are recovering and need intensive support, and one-on-one nursing. If we are quiet, then I get the chance to catch up on a little TV viewing, read the veterinary journals or a flick through a gossip mag, etc.

Come 7am we start the morning ward rounds, from cleaning out the inpatients and giving fresh bedding to feeding and medicating as required. The Host Practice start work at 8.30am. By this time, we like to have all our private member practice patients discharged and away home to recoup or collected and transferred to the member practice for further treatment. We then do our morning ward round with the host practice and handover their patients for the day. At the end of my shift I ensure that our phones go back on to the Host Practice's answer phone. 

9am – 6pm

My daytimes vary a lot. Most days I go home and sneak to bed for a few hours, much to the delight of my cat Fraggle!! I then get up just after lunch time and go to the gym before coming back home, relaxing and eating my evening meal, before heading back into the clinic to start all over again.

Because I work longer shifts than a regular veterinary nurse (15 hours), I have more spare time on my hands. As I often work 5 shifts in a row, this means I cover my 75 hours over 5 nights rather than 10 days. This is fantastic for my lifestyle as I have a horse so I can spend quality time with him without rushing around. I am also Chairman of Edinburgh and District JAC and Vice-Chairman of Lothian and Peeblesshire District of Young Farmers, so my job at Vets Now gives me the time to fulfill my roles to a high standard. I can even take 3-4 day breaks every second week!

As Senior Nurse, I spend some of my time off either at meetings or visiting our member practices across the Edinburgh region, to catch up on how life is going outside the clinic. I also meet up with the Senior Vet on my time off, though we usually manage to have our meeting over coffee and cakes!