How to use Processing — FAQ
What this tool is for, and how to run a Processing shift with it start to finish. Tap a question to expand.
What's the point of this tool?
Instead of waiting until day 5 for a routine PE, this report pulls every animal in shelter that's still awaiting its vet exam / health check — so we can pick up illness earlier, start things like gabapentin sooner for stress, and get surgery booked sooner after the due-date-out, which shortens length of stay overall.
Step 1 — generating the report in ShelterMate
- ShelterMate → Report → Vets → In Care Inventory
- Region: Cranbourne. Shelter locations: All
- For dog PE: change status to Awaiting vet exam / health check
- For cat PE: keep status as All, but change sub-status to Awaiting veterinary exam
- Group by Region and Shelter for both
- Include fields: turn on Due date out; remove Vet notes
- Click Generate report
Step 2 — bringing it into the tool
Download the report as an Excel file, then on the Shift List tab upload it here. Every animal on the report appears in the list automatically, sorted by room and then by due-date-out — the ones due soonest show first within each room.
What does the 🔴 next to an animal mean?
Its due-date-out has arrived (or already passed) — that's a priority check for today, not a routine one. Do these first before working through the rest of the room.
Step 3 — examining and exporting
Work through each animal's exam as normal. Once you've finished an animal, use Register to Word & Excel so it's counted. If you go back and change notes on an animal you've already registered, click Refresh on its note, then register it again — otherwise the export still holds your earlier version. The Incomplete tab shows a running count of what's still not registered, and the Completed tab everything that is — including "not able to examine" ones, since you did reach and register those.
Registering a new medication chart
If you've started a new medication that needs its own printable 14-day chart, type it into the Plan box (e.g. "Amoxyclav 250mg: give 1 tablet orally BID for 5 days") and click + Register medication chart. Review the parsed drug/dose/frequency/route before saving — nothing is guessed silently, so fix anything it couldn't confidently read. Every chart registered today (from this tool, Sick & Injured, or Surgery) collects in one place — open Medication Charts from the Shift Tools hub to select and export them as one Excel workbook, one real 14-day sheet per animal.
Printing medication charts
Ask a nurse or the admission AA to print the charts and collect the medications. Print on the Cranadopt printer, drawer 2 (yellow paper).
When should I export?
Export your notes at 12pm and 4pm each day. That gives the admission AA enough time to enter your notes and update statuses in ShelterMate, and gives nurses time to collect and give medications before end of shift.