A patient care report of a dog that had hemilaminectomy surgery to decompress the spinal cord

Abstract

This article describes the nursing care involved in caring for a spinal patient from the time of admission, pre, peri and post operatively. It highlights the importance of nursing care and treating each patient as an individual. Nursing interventions discussed include monitoring under anaesthesia, post-operative monitoring, bladder management and rehabilitation. An understanding of the importance of postoperative monitoring and rehabilitation is required to promote the patient's recovery in addition to being confident in different bladder management techniques.