動物病院における動物看護職の存在
The Presence of Veterinary Nurses in Veterinary Hospitals
小嶋佳彦 小島動物病院アニマルウェルネスセンター 院長

Yoshihiko KOJIMA Director, Animal Wellness Center, Kojima Animal Hospital
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

experience, but we are gradually getting there. As wellI would like to talk about theas obviously needing to invest money in your people, I

importance of veterinary nurses instrongly feel that you need to devote time and love toveterinary hospitals from my personal

nurture them. It is our goal to create an even better

point of view. I believe it was in 2006

hospital for veterinary care including preventivethat an article appeared in the ʻNihon

medicine and health care.

Keizai Shimbunʼ newspaper
mentioned “government certification” for veterinary

It is important that a veterinary nurse is happy whilenurses. It may be an overstatement to say that thiscaring for animals. The satisfaction of employees,

article set things into motion to change the situation

customers, and management teams is a must. In mysurrounding veterinary nurses. In reality, progress takes

experience you cannot provide good animal care if any

time on site. I feel that those concerned need to ﬁnd a

one of them is lacking. The same could be said aboutcollective view regarding veterinary nursing.

any working environment.

This year in May, the Japan Veterinary Nursing

So, what is the deﬁnition of a good veterinary hospital?

Association (JVNA) held its founding general assembly -My conclusion is that you need more than justthe fruit of much eﬀort. I was impressed by the passion

knowledge of veterinary care or nursing. You also needwith which the new board members spoke at this ﬁrst

empathy. Yet, if you ask young graduates who havemeeting. JVNA members have since attended many

recently finished their veterinary nursing studies

conferences and zoology-related meetings where they

whether they possess empathy, they ﬁnd the question ahave been actively inviting people to join thelittle diﬃcult to answer. Looking back on my early 20ʼs,

association so as to increase membership and support.

I realize that I gradually began to understand anddevelop as a person thanks to my practice. It is throughMy practice is located in Niigata City, a medium-sized

experience that a veterinary nurse can develop as acity with a population of 810,000. My wife has her own

person and provide even better care backed by

office next door where she provides a counseling

empathy and understanding.

service for people.
Managing a veterinary hospital is the same as managing

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I would like to share my views as I reﬂect on my 30 years

any business. We can think of four scenarios. Theof veterinary practice. With my wifeʼs help, I began mybusiness could fail, foreclose, or be sold. Or it may enjoy

private practice while still in my 20ʼs. I spent the years

success. Of course, we all hope that it will be continued

up until my 40ʼs working in veterinary practice,by a successor, perhaps by a family member, a former

conducting research and studies, and attending

employee, partner or even a third party. To continue

conferences. During my 40ʼs, I made more effort toand succeed the practice smoothly it is necessary to

improve the management skills and quality of my staﬀ.

clarify the role of the veterinarian and the veterinary

Now that I have reached my mid-50ʼs, I am pleased tonurse. The four main jobs of a veterinarian are;say that my eldest son has become a veterinarian, anddiagnosis, surgery, prescribing medications, andmy eldest daughter, a veterinary nurse. Both of them, asprognosis. On top of that is ʻreliabilityʼ which, in itself, iswell as the other members of my staff, need more

not a job but it is an expected quality aspect. With thatWorkshop Ⅴ Animal Care ̶ Role of Animal Hospitals and Nursessaid, other than being reliable, a veterinary nurseʼs job

I believe that becoming capable is the result ofcovers everything else.

experience. It is not reasonable to expect perfection
from young people who are only 20, 21, or 22. I ask

So, what does a veterinary nurse actually do? Dr. Harathem to start the job with a sense of responsibility,

has already talked about some of the functions. Now, I

maintain a good work/life balance, and stay healthy.

would like to talk about this in the context of my own

The ʻwellnessʼ of my staﬀ is important, something whichhospital. Our nurses have to perform various tasks

is apparent in the name of my hospital.

which require knowledge and skill but I find that themost important job is ʻcommunicationʼ. Whether it isI have focused on animal care and nursing and we needface to face with colleagues, pet owners, salespersons,to increase awareness about the support provided byor over the phone, clear communication is not an easy

veterinary nurses. I feel we need to make the nature oftask. I often ask, “Did you explain such and such?”, and I

the nursesʼ work better known, the fact that their work

usually receive the reply, “Yes, I did.”. While I can

not only concerns animals but that it directly impacts

confidently be sure that the matter was indeed

on people, such as the issue of zoonosis, a topic about

explained, I feel that an explanation is not complete

which they also teach people. Lastly, but mostuntil the other party fully understands it. The many jobs

importantly, regardless of how skillful andinclude receiving patients, keeping a medications

knowledgeable any of us may be, I believe this job

inventory, running clinical tests, and giving advice onrequires a great measure of sincerity.

nutrition. I am aware that in some cases, nurses have toThank you very much.

administer anesthetics. Some veterinarians express
concern and I can appreciate this concern. However, inmany veterinary hospitals the nurses have to perform
such tasks to keep the practice moving. So it isimportant that the nurse has received appropriate
training. A nurse has to prepare for surgery, assist thedoctor, care for in-patients, clean the facilities and takecare of animals staying under pet hotel services. Thoughsome veterinarians feel that grooming animals or
helping with pet hotels is not part of their job, I feeldifferently. There have been cases where a pet isbrought for a stay or a shampoo and we havediscovered a skin condition that needs treating, or evena tumor. The experienced nurse is usually also
responsible for training younger nurses and interns. A
nurse may have to assist with in-house study sessions or
symposia organized by the hospital that are open to thepublic. Another point of interest is the increasing
number of older animals so veterinary nursing will beplaying a key role in the care of older animals. Of theanimals that come to my hospital, 50% are younger
than seven years old, 50% older. That would have beenunthinkable 30 years ago.
When supported by a capable veterinary nurse, theveterinarian can fully focus on treating animal patients.

Workshop Ⅴ Animal Care ̶ Role of Animal Hospitals and Nurses

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Workshop Ⅴ Animal Care ̶ Role of Animal Hospitals and Nurses