Elevating Veterinary Patient Care Protocols with ICU Cages

Picture this… Let’s call it scenario 1:

Rocco, a canine patient you’ve come to know and love, comes in for a routine dental.

After completing a pre-anesthetic exam and reviewing his recent lab work, Rocco was led to the treatment area for anesthetic induction and his dental procedure.  

His dental visit was thankfully uneventful. He had a basic cleaning and one minor extraction. He’s ready to move on to recovery!

As Rocco wakes up from anesthesia, he’s thermogenic (his body temperature is below average) and tachycardic (his heart rate is severely elevated).

As veterinary nurses attempt to intervene, Rocco’s anxiety increases, and he begins thrashing and vocalizing. Through the kennel door, one of the nurses notices the color of his tongue slowly change from bright pink to a light pale purple, and they attempt to administer oxygen.

Rocco’s responding fearfully and won’t allow the team to come close. The veterinarian, who’s already started seeing afternoon appointments, is pulled from a room to assist.

Let’s pause here…

A few red flags are going up:

1.       The patient is overly stressed and because of his fearful response, intervention, and treatment are delayed

2.       The Veterinarian is pulled away from appointments, causing delays for other patients needing care

3.       Clients are getting understandably upset due to extended wait times

The snowball effect continues…

So, let’s switch gears and take a look at scenario 2:

Rocco, who you know and love, comes in for his routine dental as scheduled.

The pre-anesthetic exam and labs look good – so he’s off to his procedure.

The procedure goes as planned. A simple cleaning and a single extraction. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

Rocco has been moved to the recovery area, where a temperature-controlled ICU cage awaits him. The warm environment helps slowly bring his body temperature back to normal.

The soft-close plastic doors reduce the unfamiliar noises of the hospital, helping keep Rocco’s anxiety at bay. With clear visibility, his veterinary team can keep close tabs on his progress.

After his swallow reflex returns and he’s safely extubated, the treatment technician uses the external control panel to turn on some supplemental oxygen for Rocco as he recovers.

After a short time, Rocco’s vitals are in a healthy range; he’s bright, alert, and ready to head home!

Although your hospital may not offer emergency or ICU services…

ICU cages still bring incredible value to patient care and staff monitoring in general practice.

They increase hospital workflow and efficiency by helping to reduce complications, minimizing unnecessary staff attention, and minimizing disruptions to the daily schedule.  

In our last scenario, having the ICU cages as part of their recovery protocol helped:

·         Improve patient recovery

·         Reduce appointment interruptions

·         Ease observation and monitoring

As time passes, more veterinary practices are investing in ICU cages to enhance their patient care protocols and elevate their standard of care.

Now more than ever, our furry friends are considered family members more than they are “house pets.”

The love and companionship they bring to our lives are unmatched, and as their veterinary care team, we have the exciting opportunity to provide a comfortable and safe experience.

Learn More about ICU cages - https://newvetequipment.com/intensive-care-unit

Maximizing Veterinary Patient Recovery with ICU Cages

Processes and Procedures: Achieving Optimal Outcomes for ICU Patients

In our ICU units, the primary objective is clear: to ensure our patients survive, recover, and return to their owners in the best possible health.

Given the critical nature of their conditions, this goal is often challenging, but by adopting strategic approaches and effective management techniques, we can significantly optimize patient outcomes.

Collaboration among veterinarians, veterinary technicians, and pet owners is essential to this process.

Establishing Objectives

The initial step is to define the desired outcomes and set clear expectations for all parties involved.

This may include goals such as reducing patient mortality rates, accelerating mobility post-surgery, or enhancing data recording efficiency.

These professional aims will differ from the clients' priorities, which typically focus on the pet's quality of life.

Early in the case, it's crucial to engage with pet owners to understand their primary concerns and objectives.

Whether their goal is to get their dog back to running long distances, encourage their cat to eat again, or provide palliative care for a pet in its final days, understanding these aims is the first step toward achieving them.

Staffing Appropriately in Veterinary ICUs

Effective management of an ICU hinges on efficiency, both among staff and within care procedures. Ensuring that an ICU is appropriately staffed is crucial.

Each team member should understand their role and perform their duties to the best of their abilities. Additionally, staff should be ready to assist colleagues when needed and prioritize their own physical and mental well-being.

Research in human medicine has demonstrated that nurses significantly impact patient outcomes and survival rates in hospitals. We can draw a parallel in veterinary medicine, recognizing that the expertise and efficiency of veterinary technicians are vital to the success of any shift.

A 2020 study reinforced this, examining errors and patient outcomes in three U.S. veterinary hospitals. It found that variations in veterinary technician staffing levels and experience directly influenced the occurrence of errors.

This underscores the importance of appropriate staffing in maintaining high standards of care and improving patient outcomes in veterinary ICUs.

Communicating Effectively in a Veterinary ICU

Effective communication is crucial in any team environment, but it is especially vital in a busy, fast-paced, and stressful ICU setting.

ICU patients often have complex, multi-factorial needs, making thorough and precise communication essential.

This involves not only verbal communication, such as running 'rounds' at the start of each shift, but also ensuring that paperwork—including hospital charts, medication charts, and owner consent forms—is meticulously maintained.

Small details, like checking off when a medication has been administered or highlighting a known allergy, can significantly impact patient care.

Ensuring legible handwriting and clearly labeling any symbols used can enhance accuracy. Assigning one or two people to oversee each case can help minimize discrepancies caused by communication errors.

Rounds are beneficial for keeping the entire team updated on the critical aspects of each case. However, detailed handovers should ideally occur directly between team members responsible for the patient to avoid potential miscommunication.

Learning from mistakes

Veterinary medicine is a volatile business and despite everyone’s best efforts, things can and will go wrong.

In order for the system to continue to function positively, it is vital that mistakes are not ignored or shrugged off – this does absolutely not mean that a blame culture should be encouraged, but means that any mistakes, or even near-misses, should be documented and learned from in order to ensure they don’t happen again³.

It is worth noting that these shouldn’t be limited to drastic events such as the death of a patient, but could be as simple as a set of blood results going missing.

An anonymous system is one common way to achieve this, by which the information is fed back to senior staff who then can relay it and any solutions to the team, with or without a staff meeting.

If members of staff have been involved in a difficult case or one with a negative outcome, they should also be encouraged to attend ‘debrief’ meetings in order to process the situation, and to help support their mental health.

This is much more commonly done in human medicine but should also be promoted within the veterinary field.

Having checklists and SOPs in place for situations such as drawing up drugs or dispensing medications, which center around one person ‘doing’ and another person ‘checking’ can help to reduce errors in dosing.

It is vital that training is also kept up to date and any new members of staff are trained in these protocols as soon as possible. 

Auditing

Carrying out clinical audits can help bring to light any potential issues and areas in which patient care or outcomes could be compromised.

An example of a clinical audit could be evaluating ICU patient temperatures after they have undergone an operation, to ensure they are being managed appropriately and are consistently within expected limits. I

f this audit was to reveal that maybe temperatures in the post-operative period are below the recommended range, it should prompt changes to be made to improve the situation, such as implementing the use of active or passive warming devices.

However, probably the most important part of this process is to re-audit after a certain period of time, to ensure improvements have taken place.

One model that summarizes this is the PDSA model – Plan, Do, Study, Act⁴. 

• Plan to carry out a change 

• Do carry out a change

• Study the results of carrying out the change

• Act to make any further adjustments

Post-event audits can tie in nicely with evaluating mistakes or near-misses in the practice and provide a structure to learn from. But again, there should never be any blame placed on any individual or group of individuals. 

Looking at the bigger picture

Veterinary medicine is constantly evolving, and we are discovering new and exciting methods to aid in our diagnostics and treatment of our veterinary patients.

However, sometimes, we need to take a step back and look at how getting the basics right can form a stable foundation on which to build a patient’s recovery.

Although surgery and drug therapy will make up a large proportion of the treatment an animal may receive, they are not the only things we have in our armoury to improve outcomes. 

Nutrition: The Foundation of Your Pet's Recovery

Proper nutrition is essential for the recovery of your pet, whether a cat or dog. Without appropriate and sometimes specialized nutritional therapy, other medical or surgical treatments may not reach their full potential.

The Benefits of Complementary Therapies

In addition to nutrition, complementary therapies like physiotherapy, hydrotherapy, laser therapy, and acupuncture have shown significant benefits for your pet's recovery. These therapies are effective not only for mobility issues but also for a range of other conditions.

Adopting a Multi-Modal Approach

Utilizing a multi-modal approach in treatment increases the chances of achieving our primary goal: ensuring that the pet survives, recovers, and returns to you in the best possible health.

Maximizing ICU Potential

The ICU is a complex environment but also one that offers immense opportunities. By leveraging the full capabilities of veterinary staff and medicine, we can transform dire situations into positive outcomes for your beloved cat or dog.

References

1. Curtin LL. An integrated analysis of nurse staffing and related variables: effects on patient outcomes. Online J Issues Nurs. 2003;8(3):5. PMID: 14656199.

2. Hayes GM, Bersenas AM, Mathews K, Lane WG, LaLonde-Paul DF, Steele A, Avellaneda A. A multicenter observational study investigating care errors, staffing levels, and workload in small animal intensive care units. J Vet Emerg Crit Care (San Antonio). 2020 Sep;30(5):517-524. doi: 10.1111/vec.12991. Epub 2020 Sep 12. PMID: 32918379.

3. Quality improvement for patient safety and a better practice culture; Pam Mosedale and Mark Turner; The Veterinary Nurse 2022 13:4, 156-161 

4. https://todaysveterinarypractice.com/practice-management/measuring-patient-outcomes/

3 Reasons Why ICU Cages are Critical to Veterinary Recovery

Unsurprisingly, ICU (intensive care unit) cages have gained popularity in veterinary hospitals and are slowly being considered a standard part of inpatient care.  

The rate of pet ownership continues to experience steady growth, resulting in a rising demand for veterinary care and services.

Veterinary ICUs, specialty & emergency hospitals, and general practices have expanded hospital treatment areas to accommodate ICU cages and support the incoming demand.

Market research indicates that ICU cage popularity will continue to grow due to their crucial role in providing intensive care to ill, injured, or post-operative patients.

With a controlled environment for monitoring and supportive care, ICU cages are the ideal stress-free environment for patients to recover comfortably.

Let’s take a look at three main reasons ICU cages are so critical to veterinary recovery.

#1 Convenient Patient Monitoring and Supportive Care for Inpatients

• There is no “one-size-fits-all” approach to monitoring and supportive care, and it’s safe to say you can never have too much.

• Age, weight, disease process, pain profile, and other factors can vary the level of supportive care our patients need.

• To be cautious, monitoring should continue even after the patient is considered " normal.”

  ICU Cages offer:

• Soft, close, clear plastic doors for easy visual observation

• 3-1 lighting systems with adjustable brightness for exams, observation, and therapy

• Silent air systems for quiet oxygen therapy

• Built-in IV support and Nebulizer

#2 Comfortable Anesthetic Recovery

Since post-anesthetic recovery isn’t always straightforward, diligent monitoring can reduce the risk of complications.

Anesthesia (and surgical procedures) can profoundly impact a patient’s thermoregulatory system. Small changes in a patient’s body temperature can encourage recovery or harm cellular and tissue function.

Hypothermia following an anesthetic procedure is one of the most common complications found in canines and felines.

ICU cages use an active warming approach in a temperature-controlled environment, which reduces the risk of hypothermia and helps to increase recovery times.

#3: Providing the Best Standard of Care

Now more than ever, pet parents are willing to seek advanced diagnostic and treatment options for the best possible care.

With a growing awareness of advanced veterinary medicine, please ensure your practice has the best supportive equipment for your incoming patients.  

Your patients and clients deserve the peace of mind of knowing your practice offers housing geared toward safety and comfort.

This will allow your team to provide hassle-free observation and monitoring for each patient. 

Learn More - Veterinary ICU Standard Of Care - https://newvetequipment.com/blog/veterinary-icu-standard-of-care

Learn More - What Does An ICU Cage Unit Do For A Critical Pet Patient? https://newvetequipment.com/blog/what-does-an-icu-cage-unit-do-for-a-critical-pet-patient

Equipping a 21st century veterinary hospital with ICU

““Equip your veterinary clinic’s ICU with the latest in critical care technology. Our guide covers essential ICU equipment, from cutting-edge ICU cages and syringe pumps to multiparameter units and defibrillators. Ensure optimal care for your sickest patients with our top recommendations.””

ICU for the veterinary clinic

The intensive care unit (ICU), or critical care unit, is where some of our sickest patients end up spending much of their time.

With that in mind, it is important to ensure that your practice is equipped with appropriate equipment to help provide the best care for patients.

Whether you're starting from scratch or revamping an existing ICU, it's important to take advantage of everything on your shopping list. We have put together some 'must-haves' for bringing your ICU into the 21st century.

ICU cages

Cutting-edge care should also consider patient comfort, where ICU cages come in.

ICU cages provide a safe and sterile environment. These units can be carefully controlled to provide the right temperature and oxygen concentration for a whole array of patients and conditions, including:

• Newborns

• Animals with infectious diseases 

• Postoperative patients 

• Critical care cases

• Cardiopulmonary diseases 

• Elderly patient care 

A good unit also features easily adjustable lighting for patient monitoring and therapy.

Thanks to features like soft-close, clear plastic doors, these cages should allow patients to be safely monitored while reducing disruption. Built-in IV support, nebulization facilities, and silent air systems all help elevate the care of these patients further. 

Syringe pumps (syringe infusion drivers)

In addition to drip pumps (used for careful intravenous fluid administration), syringe pumps should also be featured in your ICU.

These can help ensure that constant-rate infusion medications are safely delivered, and they can also be used for intermittent dosing regimens. This all helps ensure accurate medication delivery.

A Crash Cart

A well-organized crash cart is essential for any ICU.

It should contain emergency medications such as epinephrine, naloxone, atropine, and dexamethasone, as well as key pieces of equipment such as a defibrillator and multiparameter unit (or individual monitors like a pulse oximeter and electrocardiograph).

At a minimum, it should also be stocked with intravenous catheters, giving sets, intravenous fluids, and tape. Your crash cart must be checked daily to ascertain whether anything needs replenishing. 

Defibrillator

While rigorous staff training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is essential for any well-run ICU, a defibrillator could help significantly in critical cases.

Defibrillators work by delivering an electric shock to the heart to “break” the arrhythmogenic cycle in cases of VF (ventricular fibrillation) or VTac (ventricular tachycardia).

Defibrillators have been shown to increase the probability of ROSC (return of spontaneous circulation) in crashed patients.

They could make all the difference when managing the resuscitation of a patient with a life-threatening cardiac arrhythmia.

Multiparameter units 

Multiparameter units can provide a wide range of information about your patient.

These units can observe vital signs like blood pressure, oxygen saturation, and electrocardiograms (ECGs). This information is essential for animals under anesthesia, during the postoperative period who are critically ill. 

Ultrasound machine

Ultrasound machines can provide a lot of information about the emergency patient. A point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) can be done at the patient's cage or as part of their initial emergency triage.

AFAST and TFAST (abdominal and thoracic-focused assessment with sonography for trauma, triage, and tracking) will benefit various cases.

This includes animals that present collapsed, with respiratory distress or with abdominal pain, or those that have experienced trauma.

Due to the valuable information that can be gleaned from these examinations, an ultrasound machine should be considered an essential kit in your ICU.

Mechanical Ventilators

Mechanical ventilation may be needed in highly sick cases.

These machines are vital to helping severely hypoxemic patients (PaO2 <60mmHg) despite receiving oxygen therapy, hypercapnic (PaCO2 >60mmHg), or at risk of impending respiratory failure.

Various machines exist, from essential ‘anesthesia’ ventilators to complicated human care unit ventilators. Your ICU would benefit from one of these machines to care for animals in extreme respiratory distress, which could include cases such as –

• Aspiration pneumonia

• Severe heartworm cases

• Congestive heart failure

• Intoxications

• Trauma cases

• Intracranial disease

• Suction machine

A suction machine is well worth having on standby in your ICU to help clear airways in cases of respiratory distress and to manage patients with temporary tracheostomy tubes. It also helps to improve the field of vision during a severe hemorrhage.

Glucometers 

Don’t overlook the basic glucometer!

Not only are these essential for helping to monitor your diabetics, but they provide crucial information for many of your other patients, too. Glucose monitoring in neonates is essential, as well as helping you to manage your toxicity patients (e.g. xylitol poisoning), animals with suspected insulinomas and those with malnutrition. 

Good lighting

Good lighting is essential when examining and stabilizing critically ill patients.

LED exam lights provide longevity, low heat emission, and high performance. The right light will be easy to clean and adjustable and should be designed to reduce shadows on the examination area.

Whether you go ceiling-mounted, wall-mounted, or floor-standing, the right light will make all the difference for your ICU.

Final thoughts

Hopefully, our helpful guide has helped you focus on your veterinary hospital's needs.

If you require help with some of the items on your shopping list, don’t hesitate to contact us!

We can provide an array of equipment, including intensive care unit cages, veterinary monitoring equipment, LED lighting, ultrasound machines, and more. 

What does an ICU cage unit do for a critical pet patient?

A Safe Haven for Healing: Understanding the Benefits of Veterinary ICU Cages

Care of the critically ill patient can be challenging enough as it is; makeshift oxygen tents, fluctuating room temperatures, and awkward nebulization systems can make it seem like a real uphill struggle.

Vet surgeons and vet techs who have access to the latest innovations in intensive care equipment can focus their time and energy on patients and treatment plans, instead of wasting it battling environmental undesirables.  

So, what are our requirements?

Oxygen Supply

One of the primary features of all our intensive care unit (ICU) cages is the supplementation of oxygen (O2).

Traditional flow-by methods are unreliable, in no small part due lack of patient compliance. With flow-by, not only is it difficult to quantify the amount of O2 being delivered to a patient, but it is also nearly impossible to track and measure the patient’s response to the gradual removal of said supplementation.

The user-friendly control panel on our ICU cages facilitates the delivery of precise proportions of O2 into a patient’s micro-environment.

These levels can be readily adjusted in a manner to suit the patient’s needs, who can be easily viewed and monitored via the clear-view cage doors. O2 concentrators can be utilized with our ICU cages for the highly economical creation of medical-grade O2.

Vet professionals can relax in the knowledge that certain safety functions are in place to protect patients. Not only will an alarm sound should O2 concentration fall below 20%, or carbon dioxide exceed 2000ppm, but they can rest assured that intelligent technology will automatically engage the external circulation of air in these circumstances, and therefore maintain patient safety.

Nebulization

For patients requiring nebulization, our ICU cages offer an extremely exciting feature. Environmental medical nebulization is an inbuilt function, removing the need for awkward, handheld systems that are poorly tolerated by pets, with the potential to induce stress.

What is more, the efficacy of nebulization is dramatically improved and can be achieved without disturbing the patient.   

Warming

Hypothermic patients benefit from our ICU cages through the gentle, reliable, and consistent application of warm air into their environment.

Burns from heat mats and microwaveable wheat bags need to be a risk no more. Instead, it is possible to accurately monitor and adjust environmental temperature at the touch of a button, for safe and effective warming. 

Quiet, calm, and spacious accommodation

Other benefits of ICU cages include the calm, and quiet environment that they create.

There are no clattering metal cage doors. Instead, soft-closing plastic doors make for a peaceful experience for critically unwell patients who may be stressed about their condition.

The impact of anxiety on compromised patients is no secret amongst vet professionals: we all know that it can interrupt and prolong treatments and therefore recovery. For this reason, our ICU cages feature silent air conditioning systems and a 3-in-1 light system.

White light is invaluable for times of patient assessment, whilst gentle, warm light is invaluable for general monitoring, and blue light is available for therapeutic purposes.

Our cages can accommodate larger patients than some since there is a removable divider. When the divider is in place, the control panel is capable of setting individual environmental conditions for each cage, resulting in tailored care for each patient.

Infection control

When a critical patient poses the additional challenges of being either infectious, or immunosuppressed, it can be tricky to know where to house them for their safety, or that of other patients.

Our ICU cages come into their own in these circumstances, with to state-of-the-art photo-hydro-ionization technology which continuously disinfects and deodorizes the cage. An internal air circulation system further bolsters the creation of a safe and sterile environment, reducing cross-contamination between patients. 

ICU cages can have been described as life-supporting pieces of equipment, and it is easy to see why. As veterinary professionals, we not only aim to not harm, but we also strive for the best standard of care when it comes to our patients;

ICU housing facilitates exactly this for many critically unwell pets including neonates, infectious patients, critical care patients, those with cardiopulmonary diseases, those with post-operative complications, as well as geriatrics.

Struggle with makeshift oxygen & unreliable nebulization? Our ICU cages offer:

• Precise oxygen delivery with alarms & safety features.

• Built-in nebulization for improved efficacy & reduced stress.

• Safe & controlled warming to avoid burns.

• Quiet environment with silent AC & calming light options.

• Infection control with photo-hydro-ionization & air circulation.

Ideal for neonates, infectious, critical care, & more!

https://newvetequipment.com/intensive-care-unit

Enhance Your Pet's Recovery with a Veterinary Smart ICU

When Does Your Patient Need the Extra Support of a Veterinary Smart ICU?

As a veterinary professional, your priority is always the well-being of your animal patients. For some, surgery, even when necessary, can be a risky and stressful experience.

That's where veterinary Smart ICUs come in, offering an advanced level of care and monitoring to maximize their chances of a smooth recovery. 

But when exactly should you consider utilizing this specialized unit? Here are some key scenarios:

1. Postoperative Care:

Following surgery, even routine procedures, some animals require close monitoring and specialized care. The Smart ICU provides a controlled environment with constant observation, allowing you to:

• Identify and address potential complications early: From pain management to bleeding risks, the ICU's advanced equipment and dedicated staff can intervene swiftly, minimizing setbacks.

• Deliver consistent, precise medication: IV drips, pain relievers and other critical medications can be administered accurately and continuously in the ICU, ensuring optimal effectiveness.

• Promote a comfortable recovery: Temperature control, oxygen therapy, and specialized bedding can create a soothing environment for healing.

2. Critical Care and Emergency Situations:

Animals experiencing severe illnesses, trauma, or life-threatening conditions need immediate and expert intervention. The Smart ICU is equipped to handle:

• Cardiopulmonary issues: Advanced monitoring of heart rate, respiration, and oxygen levels allows for swift action in critical situations.

• Infectious diseases: Isolation rooms within the ICU prevent the spread of contagious illnesses while providing specialized care.

• Severe injuries: From accident victims to animals requiring complex surgical procedures, the ICU offers the necessary equipment and expertise for critical care.

3. Special Needs Patients:

Young pups and kittens, geriatric individuals, and animals with pre-existing conditions require extra attention after surgery. The Smart ICU is ideal for:

• Newborn care: Providing warmth, oxygen, and specialized feeding support is crucial for fragile neonates.

• Elderly care: Monitoring vital signs, managing pain, and ensuring comfort tailored to their unique needs.

• Patients with chronic conditions: Offering a haven with specialized equipment and protocols to address their specific requirements.

Making the Informed Decision:

Deciding whether a Smart ICU is right for your patient requires careful consideration of the individual case.

Factors like the complexity of the surgery, the animal's pre-existing health, and potential recovery challenges should be weighed.

Remember, a Smart ICU is an invaluable tool in your arsenal, offering an extra layer of support and potentially improving recovery outcomes for your patients.

Don't hesitate to consider its benefits when faced with complex cases or animals needing specialized care.