Is Your Bucket Empty?

Now is the time to refocus so that more of us can thrive instead of just survive. Is Your Bucket Empty?

Fall in MIssouri is my favorite time of the year. The leaves turning and weather cooling is truly beautiful. It’s also a time when we can appreciate all the diversity within veterinary medicine in Missouri. Fall is traditionally a time in small animal practices where business eases up a bit as families get their kids back to school. In production and large animal practices things are just really getting busy. I think this juxtaposition is what makes practicing in Missouri so unique. The fall and this new ”slow down” or “speed up” in business offers a perfect opportunity to reflect on our practice’s wellness efforts. The pandemic was challenging and veterinarians were called upon in unprecedented ways. From public health, to food supply protection, to research, to vaccine development, and to the incredible boom in the demand for companion animal care services: veterinarians have been stretched. As always our profession is made of resilient, creative problem solvers who rise to the occasion. Perhaps you are feeling tired, burnt out, or you’re noticing your staff is tired, or the staff is dwindling to a skeleton crew. Now is a great time to reflect on personal and team centered wellness. The pathway to healthy veterinary businesses is healthy veterinary professionals. Are you taking good care of yourself? Are you an example your staff can learn from? Is your bucket empty? Or leaking? Now is the time to refocus so that more of us can thrive instead of just survive. Client complaints and aggressive client interactions have been reported in many customer service related industries. Veterinary medicine and flight crews being among the top professionals who have responded to national surveys with a 4-5 fold increase in aggressive client interactions. This will fuel burn out, staff turnover, and financial losses. Does your practice have a plan in place to mitigate the risk and turn them into opportunities? I’ll share a few ideas I have heard from teams in the trenches. Many practices have initiated a client conduct agreement which new clients are asked to sign. This agreement dictates that the client veterinary relationship is one of mutual respect and communication. Setting boundaries clearly may help the entire staff cope with these challenges. Other clinics have instituted a no tolerance policy for threatening statements or actions, including those on social media. MVMA’s Well-being Task Force created code of conduct flyers (Page 26). You can print them from the website at www.movma.org/page/codeofconduct. One clinic shared with me they are debriefing once a week their challenging client conversations. They are teaching better communication and coping skills in real time. This level of communication review and rehearsal is what sets a successful practice apart from a superstar practice. One small suburban area shared with me practice managers got together and exchanged ideas and struggles: They then rallied together to work not as competitors, (there seems to be more than enough business for most of us), but as partners: leveraging the abilities of all the clinics to share the load and allow each clinic to close for a weekend and let staff have extra time away. We must all “Walk the walk”. We cannot pour from an empty or damaged bucket. Encouraging wellness behaviors in staff members may help slow the rapid exodus in paraprofessionals and help recruit new ones. Ideas shared with me include: offering discounted gym memberships, yoga coupons, coupons for meal delivery etc. Encouraging days off be really “off”, making exercise, rest, eating right, and staying hydrated priorities. I mean who among us hasn’t had a day when we didn’t stop to eat, drink, or go to the bathroom. What if we changed this paradigm a little? This used to be a badge of honor we wore proudly: perhaps if we honored being truly healthy and happy we could make that our new normal? Take some time this fall too, in the words of my mentor Dr. Fred Bendick, “ Sharpen your axe”. Refocus on your well being and that of your staff. Reach out to classmates and colleagues. Share ideas, share experiences, share support. We may be a small profession, but we are powerful beyond measure when we work together. Abby Whiting, DVM MVMA Wellbeing Task Force