Dutch veterinary nurses’ scope of practice: an exploratory study

Abstract

Background: Many benefits are available to organizations, team members and patients through effective interprofessional collaboration within a healthcare team. In order to be effective as a team, it is important that team members are able to work to their full scope of practice. There are prevalent assumptions that veterinary nurses in the Netherlands do not work to their full scope of practice. Underutilization as well as inappropriate utilization of veterinary nurses within veterinary practice might be present. To date, there is no published research supporting this theory. Aim: The aim of this study was to explore Dutch veterinary nurses current scope of practice as perceived by veterinary nurses and practice owners, and highlight differences compared to their intended scope of practice. Material and methods: A literature study was performed to establish Dutch veterinary nurses’ intended scope of practice. To explore veterinary nurses’ current scope of practice, a qualitative (interview) and quantitative (questionnaire) analysis were conducted among both veterinary nurses and practice owners in the Netherlands. Results: Both veterinary nurses and practice owners acknowledged that knowledge and skills of (their) veterinary nurses were not optimally utilized. Both groups also reported that officially prohibited activities were delegated to nurses. Reluctance to delegate and lack of clarity around legislation/educational preparation were identified as possible barriers to effective utilization. Conclusion: Results suggested that Dutch veterinary nurses do not work to the full scope of their practice. Compared to their intended scope of practice, veterinary nurses appeared to be underutilized. They also performed activities that were outside their scope of practice. By further addressing underlying reasons (barriers) of why veterinary nurses do not work to their full scope, it is expected the gap between current and intended scope of practice can be reduced.