HOW TO SURVIVE AS A VETERINARY TECHNICIAN AMY NEWFIELD, CVT, VTS (ECC)
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6 RECOGNITION OF STRESS Technicians work in stressful work environment. It is a labor intensive and an emotionally charged profession. Technicians are constantly helping others. They help clients, pets and their coworkers. Unfortunately, they often drop the ball when it comes to helping themselves. You cannot survive in this profession if you do not help yourself. Burnout and compassion fatigue are two different things which may be causing you not to survive in this profession. Burnout is a cumulative process in which the individual slowly lacks empathy for a particular situation and is due to an increase in stress or workload. The individual often has feelings of anger and does not care about their work as much as they use to. They watch the clock and know exactly how many minutes are left in each shift. If they see a mess, they walk over it rather than stopping to clean it up because they simply have stopped caring due to burnout. Compassion fatigue is an emotional strain from the consequences of traumatic events such as a stressful case or event. An individual experiencing compassion fatigue may have nightmares about a particular event, be more emotional or think about a particular event if something triggers it. Perhaps they poured their heart and soul out over a tragic case of a young dog that was hit by a car. After a week of trying to save the dog it died. That technician can still show empathy to other patients, but
Taking care of yourself while on the job is equally important to taking care of yourself after. Even if you work long shifts and the clinic is very busy you must stop to do the following: eat, stay hydrated, go to the bathroom and laugh. Failure to do these things will result in exhaustion and misery. It does not take long to do any of those things and taking a few minutes to do one of them will make you happier in your job. A happy technician equals better care to clients, pets and coworkers. Equally important is living a good lifestyle when you get home. Getting a good night’s sleep, eating well and working to stay healthy will keep you performing better at your job. LEARN MORE
may be more emotionally invested, cry if they see the same breed of dog or not want to work with a hit by car for some time. The two syndromes can be experienced together. 6 RECOGNITION IS THE FIRST STEP Realizing that you need a vacation or a break from work for a few days is important. Talking to your manager, coworkers or a professional will help as well. If you have been in this business long enough you have a good chance of experiencing one or both of these things. Everyone has different coping mechanisms and it’s important to find yours. Besides burnout and compassion fatigue the simple nature of the job can play as toll on an individual.
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