NEWS AND VIEWS
Wounds that never heal Veterinarian Stuart Bruere lifts the lid on
VETERINARY STAFF RECRUITMENT and retention is a common topic of conversation in veterinary practices right now. In the context of this column, I’m referring to all the staff who make up a veterinary clinic. In the past decade we have at long last acknowledged the subject of stress and how it affects our mental health and disproportionately high suicide rate. However, workplace bullying and abuse is rarely, if ever, included in the mix. To bring this to light, and after a broadcast on Australia’s Insight programme focusing on suicide and stress in the profession in that country, I added a post to the Massey University Veterinary Alumni Facebook page about my experience of being on the receiving end of workplace bullying and abuse during my lengthy career in New Zealand. The response via Facebook and numerous private messages clearly supported my contention that bullying and abuse is indeed a widespread problem in New Zealand veterinary clinics. It’s fair to say that many of the comments came from colleagues still working in practice, albeit struggling with remarks made many years ago – but sadly, other remarks came from colleagues who’d left the profession after deciding they were no longer willing to participate if workplace bullying was part of the territory. In the more than 100 comments and likes there wasn’t a single disagreement with my remarks and conclusions.
20 – VetScript September 2020
Workplace bullying is not well defined in law; it’s accepted as a series of repeated behavioural events that cause distress to the recipient (WorkSafe, 2020). There’s no particular time span, but it’s something that will happen over a period of months. During my career I’ve been subjected to workplace bullying and abuse on several occasions, with the behaviours displayed including shouting, overtalking, distraction
had asked me to velvet several wild caught stags, and one developed post-capture myopathy. The farmer rang me to describe the situation, and during the conversation became extremely aggressive and abusive. I genuinely feared for my safety and was extremely reluctant to visit the deer, who died soon after the phone call. It didn’t end there: the farmer decided to make a complaint to the NZVA (that’s how it was done until
BULLYING LEAVES YOU WITH A LACK OF SELFWORTH, FEELINGS OF BEING DISCONNECTED FROM YOUR WORKPLACE, EMBARRASSED AND GUILTY…
activities while I was talking, physical intimidation and unrelenting teasing. The less obvious ones included the bully being uncooperative, sulking and behaving in a passive-aggressive way. The effects of bullying are profound and can be very long lasting. Bullying leaves you with a lack of self-worth, feelings of being disconnected from your workplace, embarrassed and guilty, and can leave you suffering posttraumatic stress disorder. No matter how you try to rework the logic of an attack, there’s only one conclusion – the bully wants power and control. I recall a case early in my career of a deer velveting that went wrong. The farmer
about 20 years ago). I was invited to Wellington to explain my side of events to the reviewing committee, after which they gave me a thorough arse-kicking and told me to straighten myself out. I received no professional support from my work colleagues or the profession. The trauma was real, and its depth became evident to me three years ago when I retold my story to a colleague researching the emotional effects of bad clinical outcomes. The events had happened more than 30 years earlier, but describing them brought the emotions to the surface and I became tearful. The researcher was the first
