In a caring profession such as veterinary medicine, you spend much of your time every day giving. It's difficult to be an
endless reservoir of caring, and ultimately, you and your team members will need to replenish yourselves. Simply put, you
must care for yourself to effectively care for others—for pets and their people.
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Whether you're the practice manager or a concerned team member in the practice, planning an educational team meeting on this
topic can help you safeguard the wellbeing of your co-workers, boost the level of service you offer, and even keep valuable
team members in the profession. Let's look at some of the tools you can use to plan an effective team meeting on this topic.
Understand compassion fatigue
Lunch and learn tools
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First, it's important to understand what compassion fatigue is—and isn't. To start an effective team meeting on this topic,
begin by defining the condition, just as you would explain a serious medical condition in a pet. For a good definition that
explains how compassion fatigue is different from burnout, consider using the video "Compassion fatigue: A serious issue for
the veterinary team," featuring Katherine Dobbs, REV, CVPM, PHR. (See the sidebar, "Lunch and learn tools," for a complete
list of tools for this meeting as well as additional resources.) Then ask team members what questions they have about compassion
fatigue.
At this time, it's a good idea to print out "FAQs: Compassion fatigue," a Q&A with Serena Wadhwa, PsyD, LCPC, CADC, an expert
on stress, burnout, and compassion fatigue in Chicago. Make sure every team member receives a printed copy and review the
questions and answers together.
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