Canberra Veterinary Emergency Service is transitioning to an Open Hospital concept. Whilst we have always encouraged clients to visit their pets, we would also love our owners to be more involved in their pet’s clinical journey. This may mean being present for ultrasounds or blood draws or their non-invasive procedures.
We absolutely encourage you to visit your pet during their stay in our hospital. The benefits that come from a visiting owner are truly remarkable! During our admission process we would like you to be involved as possible with your pet’s care during their stay.
If your pet is hospitalized and you would like to visit, please call to set up a time for visitation. Pet’s miss their owners whilst they are in hospital so we encourage visitation; by calling ahead, we can arrange time for our veterinarian to discuss your pet’s condition and progress. We ask that you limit your visit to 30 minutes, so our wonderful team can allow other pet parents to visit.
It is also important to have clarity about expectation and conduct during visitation time.
We are an Emergency and Critical Care hospital and function just like a human Emergency Room and Intensive Care Unit. This means we treat a range of conditions, and function within a high-stress environment, which can be quite confronting at times. Spending time within our hospital can expose you to situations that you may find distressing, including medical and surgical procedures that may need to occur without warning. Our team will do our best to support you, however, we need to rely upon you to advise us if you are not comfortable at any time.
Our highly skilled veterinary professionals are responsible for multiple patients and clients at the same time. This means they may not always be able to spend long periods of time with you and your pet whilst you are visiting. We will always do our best to answer your questions, but we need to prioritize patient care, which means you may be spending extended periods of time alone with your pet if they have been identified as stable. This also means they might be not able to answer all of your questions or action all of your requests.
Just like in a human hospital, our clinical team needs to perform regular checks and treatments on our patients, and although we will allow you to be present as much as possible for these checks, there are times we may ask you to move aside, step away or even move to the waiting room. This is always based upon the best clinical care of your pet – the whole reason why you are here.
It is essential that you follow any directives given to you by our team – this is for the safety and medical care of all clients, patients, and team members in the hospital. We treat many different conditions in our hospital, and there are many ‘normal’ interactions that can have detrimental effects on patients with certain conditions. For example, giving food to a patient with tick paralysis, or getting them excited, can genuinely threaten their life. All directives that we may give are done in the best interest of your pet and their recovery. We are not a particularly large hospital, and there are times when we may need to limit the number of clients visiting at any time.
We expect all team members and clients to always behave respectfully during their visit. Visiting clients must not interact with other patients in the hospital whilst visiting their own pet – as this can result in detrimental effects on their condition. We request you respect their family’s privacy and do not ask questions about their condition.Children must be always accompanied by a responsible adult, and they are expected to follow the same behaviour guidelines.
All visiting clients are to be, and remain fully clothed, including wearing closed footwear, at all times. We are an inclusive workplace; discrimination of any form will not be tolerated. Following these guidelines and acting with kindness and respect always will allow us to work together to provide the best possible care for all our patients and clients.
The only time we will discourage you from visiting your pet is if your presence stresses your pet significantly enough to be detrimental to his or her health or if your pet or another animal is undergoing a surgical or critical procedure. We also discourage visiting your pet during our hospital rounds which occur twice daily. Our team can discuss the best time for you to visit your pet on admission or by calling our team on 02 6225 7257.