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How to Face Compassion Fatigue
Take the life out of compassion fatigue, so it doesn't take the life out of you.
Compassion fatigue is a type of reaction to post-traumatic stress, and veterinary professionals are particularly susceptible to it. It's caused by exposure to multiple emotionally taxing events over time, such as euthanasia and grief counseling for clients.
Symptoms include emotional fatigue, apathy, lack of focus, anxiety, lack of confidence, hopelessness, and negativity. As a licensed psychotherapist who intimately understands the business of veterinary medicine, I have focused on how emotional distress manifests in veterinary professionals. Thanks largely to my friends at dvm360.com, this important topic has received the attention it deserves in recent veterinary news.
My conclusion: You must prevent compassion fatigue before it permanently impacts your happiness and your ability to provide the service you are passionate about.Here are three steps you should take:
- Identify it.
- Talk about it.
- Provide support.
Identify It
If a team member demonstrates a puzzling lack of appropriate empathy in delicate professional situations, s/he might have compassion fatigue. When suffering from this condition, people don't have any gas left in the tank and aren't doing things the way they used to. They no longer show that they are connected with their inspiration, such as healing pets. Here are some typical signs:
- Laughing or otherwise exhibiting a lighthearted response to death or drama
- Judging, being sarcastic, or withdrawing in response to traumatic events
- Using laymen's terms in lieu of clinical, respectful terms. For example: "Oh well, another one down the drain," or "I guess we'll be putting another one down tonight."
- Demonstrating lack of care for their own pets
Read this list of symptoms to test whether you are suffering from compassion fatigue yourself.
Talk About It
When people talk about their problems and let them out, something miraculous happens: The problems lose their power. Make it safe for your team members to talk about what's going on with them. Here's how to do it:
- Bring up compassion fatigue in your next staff meeting.
- Let your team know that many people in the veterinary profession suffer from compassion fatigue. It's not something to be ashamed of.
- Welcome discussion on the topic. Talking about compassion fatigue is the first step in overcoming it.
Provide Support
Once you know that compassion fatigue is impacting one or more members of your staff, you have to support them. It's the relational thing to do, and it helps the practice as well. These team members are losing their focus on clients and quality care. They become less and less productive over time. Here are some ways to provide support, as I suggest in this video:
- Make adjustments in schedules to ensure no one has to take on more than their fair share of euthanasia procedures or client grief counseling.
- Train more people on the team to take on these tasks.
- Recommend a pet-loss support group, or a grief-counseling group, where team members can discuss the multiple losses they have to deal with.
- Suggest piggy-backing off organizations available to those who work in human medicine, such as those for oncologists or end-of-life hospice nurses
- Locate therapists or counselors in your area willing to do pro bono work, or work at reduced rates, who may help people suffering from compassionate fatigue because they help animals.
- Consider starting your own support group.
For more information on compassion fatigue and its effects on veterinary professionals, read "The Burden of Care: Know the Risks of your Mental Health."
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Reducing Receptionist Turnover
Q:
Our turnover among the receptionists is awful. It seems like as soon as we get one adequately trained, the person quits and we have to go through the whole process all over again. The compensation and benefits packages we offer are competitive, so I don't think they are leaving for more money. What can I do as practice manager to hire better?
A:
Good for you for offering competitive salaries and benefits, and for
recognizing the need to improve your hiring practices moving forward. You are already ahead of the game!
High turnover impacts the profitability of your practice, takes up your
valuable time, and impacts the morale of existing employees. Everyone's performance suffers! So what do you do?
Hire not only for skills, but for a good fit with your practice values and culture. Have you identified your company values? If not, you've got to do it now or you'll keep losing people.
If you already have organizational values, design your interview
questions with the purpose of uncovering whether or not the candidate shares them. For example, if one of your company values is collaboration, ask behavior-based questions like:
- Describe a time when you cooperated with a co-worker to accomplish a task. What did you do?
- Describe a time when you wished you'd worked more collaboratively with others. What do you wish you had done differently?
See my previous articles on investing in your star performers and avoiding employee burnout for tips on how to make sure you keep the good ones.
Good luck!
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If you have a question you'd like Shawn to answer in a future issue of our newsletter, please reply to this email or submit the question via our website on our contact form. (We will maintain your anonymity.) Thank you!
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More of Shawn in Action on dvm360
Can't get enough of Shawn's awesomeness? There are dozens of videos, articles, and Q&A featuring words of advice from Shawn on the DVM360 website, including topics such as:
New content is added regularly, so be sure to bookmark the site!
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Shawn's Gigs
Here are Shawn's upcoming speaking and consulting engagements. For more information or to schedule services, call Cindy Oliphant at 888-759-7191, or email her .
June 2-3, 2015
Aquia-Garrisonville Animal Hospital
Stafford, VA
Consulting Engagement
JULY
July 25, 2015
Southeast Veterinary Neurology
Miami, FL
Private Speaking Engagement
Topic: From Good to Great in 6 Steps
July 29, 2015
Metropolitan Emergency Animal Clinic
Rockville, MD
Consulting Engagement
AUGUST
August 2-4, 2015
Long Island Vet Specialists
Plainview, NY
Private Consulting Engagement
SEPTEMBER
September 9-11, 2015
Louisiana State University
Veterinary Teaching Hospital
Baton Rouge, LA
Private Consulting Engagement
September 18, 2015
IVECCS
Washington, DC
Speaking Engagement
Topics: Calm, Cool, and Collected: Dealing with Conflict Like a Pro, Pathway Planning: How to Get Traction
September 27, 2015
Calgary Academy of Veterinary Medicine
Calgary Canada
Speaking Engagement
Topics: The 4 Social Styles Hard at Work, Service 201: How to Focus on the Client, and Creating Proven Process
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Contact Us
Shawn McVey, MA, MSW
Chief Executive Officer
Based in Austin, Texas
Phone: 888-759-7191
Fax: 888-759-7193
For information and scheduling, please contact Cindy Oliphant at 888-759-7191, or email her .
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