Trigger warning: suicide & self-harm
Our profession is rewarding, yet incredibly demanding. We bear the weight of patients, pet parents, co-workers, and our own internal experience. When your work involves immense passion, it’s easy to give so much of yourself away caring for others.
It is incredibly important that we commit to honoring the mental health of our colleagues and committing to caring for ourselves.
Female veterinarians are 3.5 times more likely to die by suicide than the general public, and male veterinarians are 2.1 times more likely. Only 26% of veterinary support staff say they’re doing mentally “well.” 83% of veterinary professionals report having anxiety. 95% of veterinary employees report being emotionally exhausted at work.
Meaning the vast majority of our workforce is coming into work stressed, anxious, burned out, browned out, or bored out.
“When I was a practice manager,” Danielle Grimley, CCO at Vet2Pet remarks, “I went to a conference where the speaker pointed out that our standard for a ‘good day’ in vet med is when ‘nobody died, nobody cried, and everyone went home on time.’”
Not exactly a breeding ground for employee engagement, positivity, and flourishing.
Vet med is in a mental health crisis - and we must be intentional in our support of our people.
Culture is the single strongest strategy in supporting the wellbeing of our people. We dove deep into this in The Ultimate Guide for Awesome Culture in Veterinary Medicine.
3 Ways to Honor Your Veterinary Staff’s Mental Health
1. Focus on togetherness
“The best way to honor mental health is by putting their staff first,” Shena Humbert, Founder at Not Another Vet Nurse explains. “[It] will not only help the individual, but in turn, it will help the clinic. Having a healthy mentally sound employee will allow them to perform at their absolute best, therefore improving patient care. This will help cultivate a positive veterinary atmosphere for both employees and clients.”
Togetherness was the #1 reason veterinary professionals thought their team culture was “good.”
And it’s the #1 thing veterinary professionals think needs to change to make their culture better.
Are you investing in team building? Social gatherings? Team cohesiveness?
When people care personally about the people around them, they’re more productive, kinder, and more empathetic to one another — making your practice a safer, and more healthy place to work.
2. Compensate your people better
Cost of living has gone up 7% in the last 12 months. Without at least the security of a living wage, your employees’ mental wellbeing will struggle to flourish.
On Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, basic needs (like food, rest, shelter, and safety) are a fundamental need for all humans. Without them, we fail to develop the rest of our needs, including things like belonging, self-esteem, and reaching our full potential.
This is why compensation has a direct link to mental health. Compensating your people well and being sure they’re financially secure provides your team with economic safety and security — allowing them to focus and grow as employees.
And, often, mental health care is not included in base health plans (consider offering mental health solutions in your benefits package!). As a profession that often deals with trauma, compassion fatigue, and high-stress situations, we must encourage and improve access to care to comprehensive mental health care to our staff.
3. Lead with compassion
“Fighting stigma, creating open, honest dialogue, and providing access to resources creates a safe and compassionate culture,” Darlene Bos, Executive Director of Not One More Vet notes.
There will be bad days — in and out of the practice. By leading always with a sense of compassion and true care for your staff, you’re helping them get their needs met, and come to work mentally healthy and secure — ready to take on the shift.
This also means showing yourself compassion.
“We are so good at bending over backward to care for our patients,” remarks Danielle. “We go above and beyond to make our clients’ lives easier. But for some reason, we struggle to devote the same, consistent energy to ourselves and invest in our own health without feeling guilty, selfish, or lazy. This comes from a false perception that our needs are not as important as our patients, clients, coworkers, or the business.”
When you take care of your needs first, you’re then able to do the same for everyone else in your life — staff, peers, family, friends, and clients.
Check out the section on vulnerability & compassion in The Ultimate Guide for Awesome Culture in Veterinary Medicine.
Collaborate on an article with us! (Email hey@hound.vet for details.)