LEADER’S RESPONSE TO COMPASSION FATIGUE AND BURNOUT IN VETERINARY MEDICINE SALLY RYAN, DVM - CEO OF VETERINARY LEADERSHIP SERVICES and has over 20 years of experience as a senior leader and ER veterinarian for a multi-site emergency veterinary organization In this 1 hour webinar, Dr. Sally Ryan reviews the causes of burnout and compassion fatigue which veterinary professionals may face and how this negatively impacts employees and the organizations they work for. She helps to identify practical and e ff ective strategies, on both the personal and the leadership level, for preventing and responding to this in the veterinary workplace.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
1 BURNOUT is the physical and emotional exhaustion that employees can experience when they have low job satisfaction and feel overwhelmed and powerless. It a ff ects employees in all professions and is a common problem in workers in the United States and is not just unique to the veterinary profession. It occurs over time and is cumulative. Burnout results from a mismatch between expectations and reality in 6 key areas, workload, control, reward, communication, fairness and values. There are typically 12 stages of burnout, and not everyone goes through all the stages or in this particular order: • Excessive drive or ambition • Pushing yourself to work harder • Neglecting personal care or needs • Displacement of conflict • No time for non-related work needs • Denial • Withdrawal • Behavioral changes • Depersonalization • Inner emptiness • Depression • Mental or physical exhaustion or collapse The signs and symptoms of burnout mimic those of depression with physical, behavioral and emotional manifestations.
AMA), as well as personal risk factors (gender – females predisposed, exposure or past history of traumatic situations, personality type, social support at home/work). Signs and symptoms of CF are similar to burnout with these key di ff erences (and both can coexist or CF may exist without burnout): • Anger/irritability • Emotional exhaustion • Decreased ability to feel empathy or sympathy for self and others • Changes in worldview Prevention and treatment of both burnout and compassion fatigue are very similar and both need to involve a personal approach on behalf of the a ff ected employee and an organizational approach from leaders/ employers. Leaders lead best when they are healthy and healthy organizations require healthy employees! Being proactive about recognizing, preventing and responding to burnout and compassion fatigue benefits everyone in the workplace. LEARN MORE
Why should we care? The e ff ects of burnout not only a ff ect the individual going through it with physical and mental illness, relational challenges and decreased performance and productivity, but can a ff ect others with negativity and toxicity in the workplace and ultimately leading to absenteeism or even leaving the workplace all together. 2 COMPASSION FATIGUE ( CF ) OR SECONDARY TRAUMA is the profound emotional and physical exhaustion that helping professionals and caregivers can develop over the course of their career, often referred to as the “cost of care” or an occupational hazard of the profession. It involves the gradual erosion of hope, compassion and empathy for oneself and for others and is similar to burnout but more unique and specific to caregivers. Why are veterinary professionals predisposed to CF? Their risk factors include their work ethic/personality style, personal stressors (e.g. large student loans, trying to raise a family), growing complexity of the veterinary business, highly stressed/demanding clients, strength of the human/animal bond and moral injury when doing things that don’t align with our values (e.g. euthanasias, discharging patients
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