So Many Other Things

Mornings

Brudine Veterinary Hospital
Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT

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Staff arrive before Brudine Veterinary Hospital’s opening time at 8:00 am to tidy up, check on pets who stayed overnight and get the practice ready for what quickly becomes a relentlessly paced morning of admitting pets for surgery, consultations, doing rounds and performing operations.

 

Trainee nurse Claire Goodlock (left) and head nurse Stephanie Robertson start work half an hour before 8:00 am opening to prepare the practice. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

Pip spent the night in the practice on a drip after surgery the previous day. 20 December 2017. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

Nurse Kelsey Savage cleans out a cage for one of the animals who stayed overnight. 6 July 2018. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

Any pets who stay overnight are taken to the toilet first thing in the morning. When its Pip’s turn, he urinates continuously for more than a minute. 20 December 2017. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

Dr Deborah Williams reviews the day’s appointment schedule. Williams is the founder and co-owner of Brudine Veterinary Hospital. 20 December 2017. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

Regular client, Louise Dobson (right), drops Rubi off and chats with receptionists Kelly Haslop (left) and Sorrel Nation. Rubi is having an ultrasound to check for stones. 16 March 2018. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

 
 
I was very fortunate that we tried Brudine when I did need to see a vet. I was very impressed as it was a small practice back in those days. I had the opportunity to meet all the vets and build a strong relationship with Fiona [Dr Starr]. Over the past four years, I have seen the practice grow with more vets joining, yet it still has the same family charm it had when I first attended. I love the fact that everyone knows me and knows my dogs.
— Louise Dobson (client)

Head Nurse Stephanie Robertson admits Oliver for surgery to repair a torn Cranial Cruciate Ligament (CrCL), relating the necessary details to Oliver's owner, Xarlene Castro. 19 March 2018. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

 
 
I like to know that those owners are really happy with what’s going to happen with their animal that day. I like to know they are confident that we are going to do what their pets have come in for and that we are going to look after them.
— Head Nurse Stephanie Robertson
 

Nurse Chelsea Rose does a basic examination while admitting Lucy for day surgery (de-sexing). 22 March 2018. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

Diesel is a Shar Pei, a breed wary of strangers and prone to aggression. Knowing this means precautions can be taken by practice staff to keeping themselves and the animals safe during treatment. 2 January 2018. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

Ingè Eccles has brought in Kensie, a Shar Pei, with "Shar Pei Fever". One symptom can be amyloidosis, a build-up of the amyloid protein in the kidneys. There is no cure but blood tests are taken regularly and the drug, Colchicine (prescribed for Kensie) is used to reduce the frequency and intensity of amyloid protein build-up. 20 February 2018. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

Kensie waits for her blood test results. 20 February 2018. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

Wean, belonging to Brudine Nurse, Skye Longley, has been brought in very flat, not eating and with diarrhoea. She’s in very poor shape. 16 February 2018. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

Speed is essential when an animal won't stay still during x-rays. In these cases, it can be quicker for one staff member to forgo the step of wearing protective lead-lined clothing and trigger the x-ray machine from outside radiology while another staff member restrains the animal. However, this means they must stand well outside the x-ray scatter range as Head Nurse Stephanie Robertson is doing here. 16 March 2018. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

Head Nurse Stephanie Robertson mixes IV fluids with a combination of Morphine, Lignocaine and Ketamine (aka "MLK"). It's for a dog needing invasive orthopaedic surgery later in the day. 16 March 2018. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

 
 
I’m not really a sit-down desky kind of person. I’d be bored out of my brains; I’m a physical person.
— Head Nurse Stephanie Robertson
 

Head Nurse Stephanie Robertson checks in on Ween, who is in poor shape. 16 February 2018. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

Dr Jessica Winsall surveys the hospital board during rounds. 14 December 2017. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

Head Nurse Stephanie Robertson discusses a patient on the board during rounds. 9 March 2018. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

Head Nurse Stephanie Robertson (left), Nurse Chelsea Rose (middle) and Dr Grace Butler try to sedate Zac before surgery. Knowing Zac can be uncomfortable in these situations means they protect themselves and Zac using a muzzle and a towel. 9 March 2018. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

Dr Fiona Starr in consultation. 20 February 2018. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

Head Nurse Stephanie Robertson (left) educates Trainee Nurse Claire Goodlock. 6 April 2018. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

Nurse Kelsey Savage itemises a delivery of prescription food and other consumables. 20 February 2018. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

Dr Louise Grey in-between consultations in the customised small and exotic animal part of the practice. This separation from the other animals can mean separating what would in nature be prey animals from their traditional predators and, consequently, increase comfort for the latter. 21 March 2018. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

Dr Fiona Starr has come in on her day off to prepare for an invasive orthopaedic surgery later in the week. 15 March 2018. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

Nurse Ana Manuolevao (right) brings her one month old son, Laulelei, to the practice to introduce him to staff: Dr Deborah Williams (left) and Practice Manager Bri Smith (middle). Manuolevao returned to work in August, 2018. Brudine is supportive and flexible with staff having or raising children, which is also pragmatic: there are four times as many female veterinary services staff as males in the industry. 12 February 2018. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

 
 
What are we going to do, not hire females anymore? Then we wouldn’t have a business. We have enough trouble getting vets now!
— Dr Deborah Williams
 

Dr Fiona Starr and Nurse Kelsey Savage carry a labrador through the practice to radiology. 20 March 2018. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

Dr Fiona Starr in the middle of an orthopaedic surgery. 7 December 2017. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

 
 
 
 
Essentially, I picked Fiona at the get-go because she was keen to do the surgery that I was becoming less and less thrilled to do. But she also brought young enthusiasm to the practice. I encouraged the other staff - not that many when she joined us - to really dig into that enthusiasm and new knowledge she brought to the practice.
— Dr Deborah Williams
 

Nature's slow bullets. Not only do grass seeds stick to fur but, barbed as they are, they can pierce skin, travel through tissue and penetrate organs, sometimes fatally. 20 December 2018. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

Nurse/Groomer Maree Watt gives Charlie a trim. 1 March 2018. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

At Brudine, veterinary nurses like Kelsey Savage are involved in a wide range of the clinical aspects of service delivery. How much nurses can participate differs from practice to practice. 27 March 2018. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

 
 
 
During Brudine’s annual open day, clients said more-or-less the same thing to me:

‘I didn’t realise you had this many staff.’
‘I didn’t know the nurses were capable of all this stuff that they do.’
‘I didn’t realise how much you guys do out the back here.’
— Practice Manager Bri Smith
 

Dr Louise Grey examines Grizzly Bear. Grey grew up with rats and, disappointed with the lack of veterinary interest in treating them, has a passion giving care to small and exotic animals. 6 March 2018. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

 
 
I charge small and exotic animals like they’re a dog or a cat because they are as difficult if not more so, and because it’s required me to invest in an enormous amount of continued education, and I’m one of the vets in Canberra who understands these species and is willing to treat them.
— Dr Louise Grey
 

Bill Frost with Budgie, who is in to get a blood test under anaesthetic to determine whether she has the same virus that her partner, Ziggy, possibly died from a week earlier. 9 March 2018. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

Dr Fiona Starr palpates Annabelle who was brought in by her owner, Linda Parchi (right), and Linda's neighbour, Chris Foley. Annabelle had been anorexic for three days, was vomiting froth and had blood in her diarrhoea. She could possibly have been suffering a pancreatic episode, as she was prone to pancreatitis. She stayed in hospital overnight on fluids, was prescribed metronidazole and amoxycillin and fully recovered. 19 March 2018. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

Almost everyone in the practice has a pet, if not several. Nurse Skye Longley (left), has Wean who [at the time of photography] has a 10% chance of surviving what is most likely sepsis. 16 February 2018. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

Dr Grace Butler (left) is consoled by Nurse Skye Longley after euthanising a dog whose owner was deeply upset and had little time to both process the upsetting news and agree to euthanasia. 6 July 2018. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

 
 
There are some cases where it’s shit and you don’t want to do it, and you do get upset. I think that’s dependent on your client and their situation.
— Dr Grace Butler
 

Dr Deborah Williams (left), industry veteran, and Dr Grace Butler, new graduate. 12 February 2018. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

 
 
More and more people have pets and love them more as a support tool. At university, they are teaching young ones in vet science to do what they can and then send them to specialist. The drift to the GP/Specialisation model is going to make it really expensive for people. The vet industry going in that direction is going to make it hard for that little old lady, the pensioner. I can’t see that being good for the whole of society. How are they going to get best vet care, or any vet care if they can’t afford it?
— Dr Deborah Williams
 

Nurse Chelsea Rose takes paw prints from a recently euthanased dog. 6 July 2018. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

The paw prints will be sent with a card to the deceased animal's owners. 6 July 2018. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

 
Euthanasias are difficult, but I think it’s one of the most important parts of my job to try and make that as smooth and peaceful as possible.

There are clients that I’ve known for years and I’m really glad that I can be there to guide them through that final act and try and make it smooth for them.

And because they know me, they can have someone they know in that situation. I will even come in on days that I’m not there to do something like that.
— Dr Karen Viggers
To be able to end suffering is an unbelievable gift.
— Dr Arianne Lowe
The hardest thing is seeing people lose their animals. Knowing that there’s nothing more you can do to help. Knowing that these owners are going to go home now to an empty house.
— Nurse Kelsey Savage
 

Dr Jessica Winsall scrubs in. 22 March 2018. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

 
 
 

Head Nurse Stephanie Robertson monitors Lucy after surgery and waits for signs of wakefulness, like swallowing and licking, before she can extubate. That wait can sometimes more than an hour and a staff member must be present for the duration. 22 March 2018. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

Dr Gwen Shirlow calls an owner to discuss a case. 20 February 2018. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

Dr Gwen Shirlow takes advantage of a few free minutes to rest. She returned to work after a serious illness but has not completely recovered and goes home early. 31 January 2018. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.

Dr Fiona Starr begins scrubbing in. 7 December 2017. Brudine Veterinary Hospital, Ngunnawal Country / Charnwood, ACT.