Objective

• To discern what nursing steps need to be taken in order to fulfill patient needs and mitigate current or future problems.

What to Include

Interventions are defined as nursing and prescribed medical actions carried out by the veterinary technician (VT) to resolve the patient’s problems and care for the patient’s needs.

Similar to problems and needs, interventions can also be classified as either medical (DVM prescription) or nursing (VT). They may be exclusively nursing in nature or integrated with the actions of other members of the veterinary care team.

Interventions may involve the following:

• providing professional support to the DVM/VMD
• executing appropriate steps of hospital protocol/standard operating procedure (SOP)
• performing commonly accepted nursing and husbandry practices
• maintaining the patient’s comfort.

List and number interventions according to which problems or needs they address. Intervention 1, therefore, should correspond to Problem 1.

Example “Interventions” List

The following is an example of how interventions may be recorded. This list is a continuation of the mastitis cow care plan, and the numbered interventions correspond with the problems and needs listed in the previous section.

Note: In emergency situations, the VT may be required to take action immediately, without a written plan. However, in less urgent contexts, planning and recording interventions are important aspects of providing appropriate care.