Being a part of the veterinary professional is a privilege. It is filled with purpose and perseverance. It can also be physically, emotionally and mentally painful. Love and loss are daily occurrences. Unfortunately, issues like empathetic exhaustion, burnout, mental health concerns, etc. have become serious and significant in veterinary medicine.
At Elanco we are dedicated to helping pets and people live longer, healthier and happier lives. The same can be said of the Veterinary profession. These professionals work tirelessly to help all the animals in their care, which in turn helps the pet owners and others who care for these animals.
Seeing a need to provide beyond just treatments for pets, the idea for the Betterinary Series was created with the goal to offer “treatments” to support the people in veterinary medicine. Wellbeing for the Human Beings in veterinary medicine is the charge of this initiative.
To promote wellbeing within the profession, I started The Betterinary Series in 2020 out of requests for and first-hand accounts of empathetic exhaustion (compassion fatigue). Having experienced some of this myself during my career, I saw the importance of sharing information on what happens to us as caregivers. It started with becoming certified in Compassion Fatigue and then going on to get other certifications in Positive Psychology, Mental Health First Aid and other associated topics relevant to wellbeing. All of that was then used as content for multiple Continuing Education approved presentations available to our veterinary customers virtually or in-person.
Feedback from attendees has been incredibly positive. No matter your role within the profession, we are all impacted by the job of saving lives. We are trained in how to give care to others but never taught (or seemingly allowed) to care for ourselves. If we can standardize self-care as an ethical imperative instead of stigmatizing it, the result would be a more energized, elevated and equipped professional who can experience the full meaning in their work.
One of the training courses that has become very popular is Mental Health First Aid. This 3-year certification is offered internally to Elanco employees and externally to our customers and partners. This training teaches you how to recognize and respond to someone having a mental health challenge or crisis. Whether it’s a client, a co-worker or self, we deal with mental health struggles all the time. Like self-care, we must be able to talk about this openly and honestly to appropriately help.
Here are some well-being treats:
1. It is OK not to be OK.
Our mental health matters. We can be our own worst critic. Our brains are wired with 5X more neurons for negative reactions than positive responses. Be kind to yourself. Acknowledge what you are feeling and thinking – no judgement. Reframe in a more positive way. Reach out and ask for support.
2. Prioritize Self-Care
Take time every day to do some activity that recharges, renews or refreshes your focus on self and service. It is especially important on those challenging days. Being a caregiver is about giving care and about caring about the giver (YOU).
3. Practice Resiliency
Resiliency is not about avoiding the negative things in life. Veterinary medicine after all is about sick and healthy animals. There are happy days and sad days. It is about learning from and moving forward from all of life’s experiences. Resiliency is an active, intentional, and ongoing process that teaches you to be energized (self-care), elevated (meaning) and equipped (skills, talents, mistakes) for whatever is next.
4. Embrace Gratitude
We can rewire our brains to be more positive. To do that, we must acknowledge the good in our lives, savor it. Gratitude is a simple way to see what is good in our lives and truly appreciate it. This simple act has been shown to increase happiness by 25%! Find 3 things every day to be grateful for, whether at home or at work.
5. Connect with others
Happiness shared is happiness squared. Sadness shared is sadness halved. Having positive relationships is key to our wellbeing. Know that you are not alone in what you are experiencing in veterinary medicine. Reach out to someone who is struggling. Ask for help when you need it. Hug your pet. Hug a patient.
Working in the veterinary field is deeply meaningful, but that doesn’t mean it comes without challenges. Remember that you are not alone and there are programs and individuals ready to help when these challenges arise.
If you are interested in finding out more about this program and other educational opportunities, contact your Elanco representative.
