Veterinary Nursing

There is a fantastic new section on 'high dependence nursing', which introduces a lot of new and upcoming nursing techniques. I believe that this section alone is essential for any VN who wishes to keep his or her skills up to date.

...an absolutely essential piece of kit for anyone involved with anything to do with veterinary nursing. Every practice should have one on its shelf for reference, every VN should read it to get up to date, and every SVN should have one to help them through the NVQ awards Jo Brown, Veterinary Nursing Times, June 2003
feels a daunting task, being asked to appraise a book when I have found the previous editions so valuable in my own education. I have used these books as a constant point of reference while training others.

The introduction of a new chapter covering 'High dependency nursing' maintains the content of the book in line with the occupational standards, and it is clear that great effort has been made so that the text remains current with the changes that have occured in the training of the veterinary nurse of late. The section addresses each body system, fluid therapy, pain control and nutrition required by critical-care patients. It clearly communicates the nursing requirements involved in these cases.

The chapter on legal and ethical aspects of veterinary nursing has been transformed from the former editions. With the recent changes in the profession's organisation and future self-regulation, the chapter introduces and gives a realistic approach to a nurse's responsibility and accountability. This is done in a clear and concise way for the student to comprehend.

Overall, I feel that this edition is easier to read than previous ones. Long paragraphs have been compiled into tables where possible, which I feel keeps the reader's interest and concentration.

In summary, 'Veterinary Nursing' still remains an essential text for every student, newly qualified and established nurse in practice. It is an invaluable, updated and expanded piece of equipment that every practice library will have in constant use. Emma Fysh, The Veterinary Record, November 2003
text is clear and simple and all relevant words are typed in bold to ensure their significance is recognised, these words are defined clearly and concisely. There is no waffle, the relevant information is there and easy to find and cross-referenced from the clear and concise index at the back of the book.'

'Arguably there is no better reference book available for veterinary nurses both student and qualified. The format of the book makes it easy to obtain information from, thus making it user friendly. Almost, if you like, an encyclopaedia for student veterinary nurses.' Vikki Lett, VN, Journal of feline medicine and surgery, December 2003
third edition of Veterinary Nursing provides many enhancements to previous editions. The editors have done well to address the changing needs of veterinary nurse training.

The improved layout and tabular format within many chapters provides a much clearer method of explanation and thereby complements the learning process.

Overall this is an excellent publication that continues to provide the essential source and reference material for all areas of veterinary nursing and should be on everyone's shelf, or better still, open on the desk! Carole Martin, DipAVN (Surgical) VN, Veterinary Review, July 2003
2003 edition of Lane and Cooper's Veterinary Nursing is a single volume
comprehensive coverage of veterinary nursing practice. This textbook and its
previous editions and predecessors have been the standard text recommended
by the TAFE Veterinary and Applied Science Centre in South Australia for its
veterinary nursing students for over 25 years.

The writing style is clear and precise with minimal use of jargon. My
students indicate that this text is easy to read and understand due to the
clarity of the written language. These features are in marked contrast to
many other current texts covering this broad subject area.

There are 26 chapters which cover the majority of the underlying knowledge
and competencies in the Australian National Training Package for Veterinary
Nursing. A welcome change in the sequence of the chapters in this new
edition is the inclusion of handling techniques and Anatomy and Physiology
in the preliminary chapters. With this as a basis more advanced topics are
introduced in the subsequent chapters with the final chapters dealing with
surgical nursing, critical care and helping clients with managing animal
death.

The chapters are broken up into sections with clear headings and short
paragraphs often containing dot points to assist learning or numbered
sequence steps to describe procedures. Illustrations consist of black and
white photographs or line drawings which are clear, uncluttered and relevant
to the accompanying text.

The only disadvantage for an Australian student is that the section dealing
with legal and ethical issues predominately provides a British and European
perspective to this topic.

Student nurses should find this book useful for the majority of their
veterinary nursing studies and an invaluable reference during their
subsequent nursing career.
Dr Lewis Vaughan. B.V.Sc (hons), Grad Dip Ed, TAFE lecturer in veterinary nursing, Veterinary and Applied Science Centre, South Australia, January 2004
must for the bookshelf of any veterinary nursing NVQ student or training provider Jo Masters, Veterinary Nursing, March 2004