Plus-Hex CLINICAL
The Likert scale was used for the following statements :
1 . I had a lot of education about rabbit anaesthesia when training to be a veterinary nurse .
2 . I am confident at airway management for rabbits .
3 . I am confident about emergency protocols in rabbits .
4 . I am comfortable using different induction and maintenance protocols for rabbits .
5 . I am provided with specific equipment for rabbits within the practice ( e . g . V-gels ).
6 . I am confident at using monitoring equipment on rabbits .
7 . My confidence is improved when other staff are confident at rabbit anaesthesia .
8 . My confidence is improved by having good previous experiences at rabbit anaesthesia .
9 . I am confident at administering medications to rabbits ( e . g . SC , IM , IV , PO ).
Data were transferred to IBM SPSS Statistics 26 for bivariate statistical analysis , and p < 0.05 was considered significant . Non-parametric numerical data were presented as median ( range ), and Spearman ' s correlation coefficients ( SCCs ) were performed where necessary . Categorical data were summarised using stacked bar charts , number and percentage , and compared against respondents ' confidence in rabbit anaesthesia using the non-parametric Kruskal – Wallis and Mann – Whitney tests . Free-text data were manually examined and summarised thematically .
Results
Demographic information
The survey elicited responses from 284 RVNs ; their demographic information is shown in Table 1 . Only five respondents ( 1.8 %) were male , so sex was not included as a variable in statistical testing [ 37 ] . Most respondents had qualified through vocational training ( 49.3 %), worked at primary care practices ( 82.0 %), and had been qualified for ≤5 years ( 62.1 %).
Table 1 . Demographic information from the 284 respondents , including sex , training route taken to become an RVN , any additional training obtained , and the type of UK practice they were working in at the time of the survey .
Variable Categories Frequency ( n ) Percentage (%) Sex Female 279 98.2
Male 5 1.8
Training route Higher education a 134 47.2 Vocational training b 140 49.3 Before 1998 6 2.1 Outside of the UK 4 1.4 Years qualified c ≤5 175 62.1
Additional education obtained
Practice type currently working at
6 – 10 51 18.1 11 – 15 30 10.6 16 – 20 12 4.2 ≥21 14 5.0 None 231 81.3 Continuing professional development 21 7.4 Certificate or qualification d 32 11.3 Primary care 233 82.0 Referral 18 6.3 Both 19 6.7 Other e 14 4.9 a
Including FdSc and BSc degrees . b
Including Level 2 and 3 National Vocational Qualification and Level 5 Higher National Diploma . c
Two responses were excluded due to a spelling error in the year qualified , so the total is 282 . d
Including Diploma in Advanced Veterinary Nursing ( DipAVN ), City and Guilds Exotic Nursing Certificate ( CertVNES ), Postgraduate Certificate in anaesthesia and analgesia ( PGCert ), and Improve International Nurses Certificate in anaesthesia ( NCert ). e
Including charity practices , animal rehabilitation centres and emergency out-of-hours services .
Volume 39 ( 4 ) • August 2024
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