3 ways to Improve Culture and Reduce Compassion Fatigue in Your Practice

It’s undeniable that compassion fatigue and burnout are two of the highest-ranking issues working in the veterinary field.

Poor culture doesn’t fall far behind.

We’re constantly faced with the emotional toll of caring for sick and injured patients and distressed or grieving pet parents.

While it is essential to have empathy and compassion for the patients we care for, it’s equally important to take care of ourselves and support our teams.

Improving practice culture and team wellbeing is not easy and certainly doesn’t happen overnight.

Taking a step back to recognize the need for positive change in your hospital can help to:

• Decrease staff turnover & increase satisfaction

• Enhance your practice’s reputation

• Improve staff wellbeing & encourage work/life balance

There are lots of resources floating around about “how to improve team morale” and “what to do to prevent burnout.”

Many share advice like “set boundaries,” “focus on team wellbeing,” and “practice self-care.”

All of this is valid advice, but there’s a gap between what we’re being told and how to apply it.

So, let’s start to get a little more specific…

Here are three ways to improve culture and reduce compassion fatigue in your practice – AND – ways you can apply them.

1. Start with Good News!

Team culture significantly contributes to how you view and experience your work.

You can start to sway a more positive team culture by baking good news into the day.

Practices that start their day/shift with good news experience:

• Higher rates of engagement

• A better sense of team building, connection & community

• Increased emotional resilience

What type of good news are we talking about…

Choose your adventure here!

Good news could be related to work or professional development. (I placed my first urinary catheter yesterday!)

It could be something personal. (My partner and I just closed on our new house!)

It could be something that happened over the weekend or something they’re looking forward to. (I just booked a cruise for the end of the year!)

Or, good news can be sharing something new you’ve learned. (Yesterday, I realized that a group of geese is called a “gaggle”! Who knew?!)

What might sharing good news look like?

Good news can be sprinkled throughout your day wherever it makes the most sense to your practice. It doesn’t have to be lengthy or detailed—short and sweet will do the trick!

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Rounds: If your hospital does rounds at the start of each shift, ask each person to start by sharing good news before diving into patient updates.

• Team huddles: if your practice starts each day off with a team huddle, start the meeting by sharing good news! (Have a large staff? Consider asking for three volunteers each day to share to keep it brief)

• Whiteboard: don’t have daily gatherings with your team? Consider setting up a whiteboard in a common area (the break room, treatment area, etc.) and ask the team to write their good news at the start of their shift.

The Washington Post stated that 7/10 Americans suffer from negative news fatigue in their article “The Good News Effect. “

The article concerns what we often consume through news and social media.

While we can’t control what our team consumes through their many downloaded platforms, we can be intentional about bringing good news into their day.

Encouraging the brain to think about something positive, even during times that feel draining or overwhelming, can have a long-term effect on wellbeing.

2. Link work + Purpose

It’s a sad, common misconception that you need to be saving the world to feel like what you do is meaningful.

All too often, we hear phrases like “I’m just a receptionist,” “I’m just a Vet Tech,” or “I just work in general practice.”

We either lack pride or feel judged by our roles as if we have little value.

As veterinary leaders, we can help our teams (and often ourselves) flip the script.

Every role in the hospital holds value, and every person is important. It’s our job to empower our teams to take pride in their purpose.

How can we do that?

You can be creative with this one! Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Create a “why” or “purpose” statement: reserve a little time at your next team meeting to give the team 5-10 minutes of silence to think of and jot down why they come to work every day. What’s fulfilling to them? What inspires them? What impact do they feel they make to the hospital or veterinary community?

• Create Vision Boards: this could be fun for a team meeting or outing activity and can be done the old-fashioned way (paper, magazines, scrapbooking material) or digitally, using a free digital creative space or even a Pinterest board. Have the team build their “vision” behind why they love their jobs and how they hope to see it grow.

Tip: These activities can be done individually and as a team.

For example, you may have each team member create individual vision boards and then create a team vision board as a group. A personal vision board might include their goal to learn how to perform an ultrasound and some photos of their pets since they’re their inspiration.

The team vision board might include photos of favorite patients, getting that new intensive care unit for the treatment area, and getting AHAA Certified.

3. Scraps in the bucket

Do you have a pulse on your team’s culture and overall happiness at work?

It can be challenging to gauge, especially in hospitals with a large staff or multiple departments.

Can’t I send out a survey?

Sure, surveys are undoubtedly helpful.

But what if you could get a pulse on how many good days the team experiences vs the not-so-great ones in a fun and interactive way?

Here’s an idea you can try:

Most hospitals have abundant scrap paper (even in the era of trying to go “paperless”). Why not put it to use, even after it’s been used?

• Put two buckets in a common area (near the lockers, breakroom, or the hospital’s exit in the back).

• Label bucket 1: I had a good day!

• Label bucket 2: Tomorrow will be better (or “I’ve not had a great day”, or simply “bad day”).

• Have the team crumple a piece of scrap paper and toss it into one of the buckets before they leave.

This can be a fun way to determine whether your team has more good days than bad or vice versa overall.

Don’t have a lot of scrap paper laying around?

First of all, bravo! Feel free to use an alternative. Some practices have used things like ping pong balls.

One practice got creative, buying two rubber dart boards and extra darts (the ones that won’t destroy the walls, of course) and placing them in the breakroom.

One was labeled “I had a great day” and the other “I had a bad day”.

All these activities can help foster a positive work environment, nurture team building, and bring a little fun into the mix.

Reducing compassion fatigue and improving culture isn’t a “one size fits all” solution; it requires an intentional approach and a gentle reminder that we’re all in this together.