The influence of a fast-track service on case flow and client satisfaction in a high-volume veterinary emergency department

Microorganism colonization of peripheral venous catheters in a small animal clinical setting

OBJECTIVE

To compare the incidence of microorganism colonization of peripheral venous catheters (PVCs) placed in the Emergency Department (ED) to those placed in a routine preoperative setting. The relationship between catheter tip colonization and patient urgency (as assessed by triage priority) was also evaluated.

DESIGN

Prospective, observational study from January 2021 to October 2021.

SETTING

Emergency room and clinical areas of a large, urban, tertiary referral center.

ANIMALS

Three hundred dogs and 94 cats with a PVC in place for a minimum of 24 hours were enrolled in the study.

INTERVENTIONS

None.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

Two hundred and eighty-eight PVCs were placed in the ED and 106 were placed preoperatively. The overall colonization rate was 10.4% (41/394). Sixteen bacterial and 1 fungal genera were cultured. Eight of these bacterial genera (25/51 [49%] bacterial isolates) were resistant to at least 1 antimicrobial class. Twenty-nine of 288 (10.1%) catheters positive for colonization were placed in the ED, whereas 12 of 106 (11.3%) were placed preoperatively. There was no association between microorganism growth on catheters and clinical area of catheter placement. There was also no association between ED patient urgency and positive catheter tip culture. No significant risk factors were identified predisposing to colonization of PVCs.

CONCLUSIONS

The overall incidence of microorganism colonization of PVCs in this study population was equivalent to, or lower than, previously reported in veterinary literature. There was no statistical difference between the catheters placed in the ED and those placed for routine surgical procedures. Patient urgency did not affect the incidence of positivity of peripheral catheter tip cultures.

Veterinary medical student perceptions of companion animal primary care as a career choice over an academic year

Despite companion animal primary care being the most common career choice for veterinarians, relatively little is known about students' perception of this career choice. In this study, the authors examined students' (233 at Time 1 and 119 at Time 2) perceptions of careers in companion animal primary care and whether perceptions changed over the course of an academic year or differed by year in veterinary school. The study was conducted by an online questionnaire sent to the student email listserv and the results analyzed by Mixed ANOVAs for each perception outcome. The study concluded that a majority of veterinary students have companion animal primary care as their preferred career choice and have a positive perception of it as a career choice. This positive perception increased over the course of an academic year, but did not differ significantly by year in school. First year students had a decrease in perception of level of training over time. This study sets a baseline for students' perceptions of companion animal primary care as a career choice at one college of veterinary medicine.