Presented by Dr Riati Scarborough BVSc PhD Candidate, National Centre for Antimicrobial Stewardship
Antibiotics are a common type of medication used in veterinary clinics, and often pet owners may have an expectation that these drugs are required to treat their pets. However, deciding if antibiotic medications are absolutely necessary, and determining how to best communicate this to counter pet owners demands, is an important skill for veterinarian and forms part of good antimicrobial stewardship, so that we can all ensure that antibiotics and other antimicrobial medications remain an effective form of treatment for the animals in our care.
Veterinarian and antimicrobial resistance researcher Dr Riati Scarborough has compiled this comprehensive webinar overview explaining antimicrobial stewardship in which she shares useful advice on strategies for veterinarians to communicate with pet owners to mitigate their expectations about antibiotic medications for their pets.
As Dr Scarborough explains, communication is key when it comes to considering how to decline or delay antimicrobial use and keep pet owners happy. The goals of veterinary antimicrobial stewardship are explained, followed by highlighting how one of the biggest fears of veterinarians is that by not using antibiotics, that they will fail to meet the expectations of the pet owner, and also see a clinical deterioration in the patient.
In this helpful video resource, Dr Scarborough shares her research findings, and highlights how pet owners want their concerns validated and to be reassured of the appropriate management of their pet’s health. An important tip for communicating about antibiotic use, is to keep the language simple, and highlight that we want to preserve the efficacy of antibiotics for their potential future use for that pet if required.
This webinar will be of benefit to all veterinary clinicians, and it is another way in which the SVS Pathology Network is helping you to provide the highest quality care to your patients.
