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Veterinary Work+Life Balance

Insights

Making The Myth A Reality

When we say Balance we aren’t talking about holding a puppy in one arm, a medical chart in the other and a capped syringe between your teeth…

We’re talking about finding a Work+Life Balance that allows you to thrive in every aspect of your life. People who are drawn to being Veterinarians and pet care professionals have an innate desire to help others, pet parents as well as their pets. You aspire to make life better for so many by providing a great quality of life for our pets. While your motivation is noble, and to be admired, it also sets you up for Work+Life Balance issues. For pet care professionals like Veterinarians, Veterinary Nurses, Veterinary Technicians and Hospital or Practice Managers, setting boundaries can be a huge challenge.

Work+Life Balance definition: the amount of time you spend doing your job compared with the amount of time you spend doing other things you also enjoy
Matt Lee

You already know that by dedicating your life to the well-being of pets then working 9-5 is not very realistic. It’s not uncommon for Veterinary professionals to put in long 10-12 hour days on a regular basis. There is always one more thing to do, whether that means completing a patient record on a procedure you did first thing in the morning, or calling a client to check on a patient you saw days earlier or one last quality check as you prep for surgery. Juggling all these varied tasks, all equally important in their own way, can eat away at the morale and the overall mental health of Veterinarians and Veterinary support team members alike.

After work, many Vets or Vet Nurses will field calls, texts, emails and social media questions about their friends and family’s pet’s health too. It’s not uncommon for a Vet to get a call from a friend in the middle of the night seeking advice. Each time a question is asked our dedicated Vet friends provide helpful guidance, regardless of the impact these requests may have. Sound familiar?

Many Veterinarians will say they don’t mind and are happy to help. And it’s true, they probably don’t mind and are happy to help. But as we all know the more you chip away at something, the quicker it will fall. As a pet care professional you love what you do, and you should. The work you complete is important. It provides comfort to animals and humans alike. But that doesn’t mean you should stop caring for yourself.

In the end, although you know that you are responsible for establishing a Veterinary Work+Life Balance that allows you to thrive, many of us don’t notice until it is too late. So, it’s time for an Intervention and here are some practical tips to help you get started on establishing your own Work+Life Balance…

Establish boundaries

It’s okay to work late, once in a while. And it’s okay to help friends and family with their pet-related questions. What’s not okay, is doing those things ALL the time. Establish how late you want to stay at work, and keep that schedule. No more fourteen hour shifts, no more “I just need to finish one more thing before I go.” In reality, much of the work you are doing can wait another day. If you are too inundated with clients, speak to your Practice Manager or Hospital Owner about adjusting schedules. Discuss with them how cutting back on patient visits by one or two will be better for the practice in the long run as Vets will be better rested and likely to be more productive. Let your friends know that you are not free for advice on Fridays through Sunday night, barring a real emergency. It may be hard to establish boundaries, but in the long run you’ll be glad you did.

Make use of your smart phone’s smarts

Take a 30 minute crash course from your niece or watch a YouTube video on how to control and manage your smart phone notifications. Set your self a work “window” and then program your phone to switch off all email and text notifications outside that window, and also only allow texts and social media contacts from a small circle of close friends (who don’t have a pet). One of the easy ways to help you to start establishing the boundaries mentioned earlier is to use your phone’s alarm. Set an alarm for 30 minutes after your shift if due to finish. When it goes off, if you are still at work, Go Home…and if you are already on your way home, well done, and take a moment to savor your first steps towards genuine Work+Life Balance.

Practice self-care

Besides being a Veterinary professional, what else do you love to do? Find time to read a little each day, paint, draw, hike, watch a movie – “me time” might sound selfish initially but will reward you with peace of mind in the longer term. Connect with the things that fill your soul for a just a little each day and you’ll see in no time, that you feel more balanced and relaxed. Think about learning to meditate – it really does help.

Have a good laugh

Bad days at the clinic are par for the course. You can cut back the stress and pain of those days with a good laugh. Find a comedy podcast to play in the treatment room. Find a book of jokes and randomly recite one to the team. Go see a stand up comedian. And yes, even Dad or Mom jokes work.

Take your lunch outside

Every day thousands of Veterinarians, Nurses and Technicians chomp down their sandwiches and salads in-between seeing patients, whilst swapping out bandages, or before prepping for surgery. You scarf your food down without taking a breath to enjoy what you are doing. Stop that. You need to take a break; lunch is a perfect conduit for that. You need to take thirty minutes or an hour, and adding in a fifteen-minute walk around the block could be exactly what you need to get your head back in the game. Plus, the fresh air is a great mood lifter.

Book a holiday

Believe it or not, you are not irreplaceable and your hospital will survive without your being there for a week or three, but it will have less chance of surviving if you end up leaving through exhaustion, stress or even self harm. Choose a location you have always dreamed about and a friend or life partner to travel with, book it and prepay it 100% with no cancellation policy so that you just have to go. By taking a travel buddy and parting with your money in advance it will make it really, really hard to cancel.

Learn to say No

Having highlighted some Work+Life Balance tips and techniques earlier, we left the most important one to the end. You must learn to say No. And it’s really hard for Veterinary professionals who by your very nature, always want to help and never like to disappoint. Regrettably, that also puts you in a position that others take advantage of or exposes you to fatigue and over-work. If your invited to your second cousin’s 30th birthday party that is after 4 long-day shifts it is OK to say no, same as when that college room mate asks for your help in studying for their advanced surgery qualification or those more and more frequent last-minute calls to pick up an extra shift. That doesn’t mean that you have to say no always – but start with once a week and work up to a level you are happy with. No?

In  conclusion…

Now is the time for you to become a master of your Veterinary Work+Life Balance. It won’t be easy. And you’ll have many setbacks. But in the end it’s critical that you set boundaries to keep you sane and working in the industry you are so passionate about.

The industry needs you, not only to provide great Veterinary care, but also to nurture and mentor the next generation of Vets, Vet Nurses and Practice Managers. But to retain your sanity and your well-being, and to ensure you stay in the industry doing the work you love, it’s time for some self-applied tough love…and to make time to love yourself by finding some all-too-elusive Work+Life Balance.

Why You Need To Love To Learn

Guest Post

Getting the most out of your veterinary Continuing Education (CE) / Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

Author: Dr. Justine Lee, DACVECC, DABT, CEO, VETgirl, LLC.

As a C student, I never thought I’d be the CEO and co-founder of VETgirl, the #1 online veterinary Continuing Education (CE) / Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in North America.

20 + years ago when I graduated veterinary school, we didn’t have email. Or social media. Or online reviews. Since then, technology has blossomed. And that’s why I created VETgirl – to be able to provide clinically relevant, practical online CE/CPD that you get from the comforts of home.

Because what I realized as I practiced was that we veterinarians have time poverty.

As a mom, time – especially to myself – is something that is a rare commodity and I always feel guilty when I have to spend time away from my family for my professional job.  Online interactive CE makes it SO much easier for me to find the time to learn when I can and having a vast library of knowledge in the form of archived webinars and podcasts, also allows me to learn and pick up things I’ve missed.  VETgirl truly provides clinically relevant CE delivered by high quality and knowledgeable speakers and makes it convenient for me to learn – VETgirl member

As a blossoming Veterinarian, I didn’t have time to read my veterinary journals, class notes, or textbooks. I came home exhausted after working long days in the clinic and was ready to crash – I didn’t want to take the time to learn! Trying to develop your veterinary skills while working on medical records and while keeping up on CE/CPD was hard! Where did one find the time while trying to achieve “work-life balance?”

So, I wanted to create a learning platform that allowed veterinary professionals to utilize technology to their advantage to help them learn. Because as veterinary professionals, we need to continue to learn to improve our quality of medicine.

So, why is it important that you continue to learn in veterinary medicine?

Before you know it, you’ll be 5 years post-matriculation from veterinary school or veterinary nursing school. Then 10 years. Then 15 years. It flies by!

And with that, comes the newest veterinary updates out there. New drugs. New parasicitides. New diseases (we didn’t learn about feline pancreatitis when I went to vet school!).

That’s why you need to love to learn in #vetmed.

So, what are the best ways to learn?

  1. Podcasts I listen to 1-2 hours of podcasts a day, and often find myself learning about different topics that I never would have been interested in otherwise. That’s why I created our VETgirl podcasts to be short and sweet (typically ranging from 5-25 minutes long) on the newest updates in veterinary medicine. What I found was that my pile of veterinary journals was stacking up in my office, and once a year, I’d dump them into my recycling bin. So, to save you some trees, the VETgirl team combs through the important veterinary published literature and makes them into educational soundbites for you … because I know you don’t have time to read your journals.
  2. Online veterinary CE There are lots of way of getting CE / CPD online nowadays. Check with your clinic about subscribing for a TEAM membership, so your whole hospital can learn together. This is important to improve quality of care and keep up to date on procedures and education. Make sure the CE provides a large variety of content for your whole team – for veterinarians, veterinary nurses, customer service representatives – and in different areas/topics. VETgirl recently expanded to over 100+ hours of new content a year in areas of small animal, large animal, leadership, veterinary technician/nurse, and more! You also want to find a source that also provides educational content in other ways – such as “how to” videos, so you can learn how to perform a procedure and get some “remote help!”
  3. Veterinary conferences I’m still a big believer in attending live veterinary conferences. Not only is it a good way to connect with colleagues and old friends, but wandering the exhibit hall is a great way to see what new products and resources are out there. If you’re looking for a veterinary job, make sure your new employer covers enough CE / CPD funds for you to learn in-person at a conference and online! Sadly, most veterinary nurses don’t often get a stipend, and they need to learn too… which is why a VETgirl TEAM membership for online CE may be more cost effective and a must-do for any veterinary clinic.
  4. Textbooks I’ll admit, I buy limited textbooks nowadays. Typically with textbooks, they take at least 2 years to write, edit and publish in the print version. By the time they finally reach the consumer, new information may be out there.  I also find that unless it’s in a bulleted format, I don’t have time to read long chapters on a disease. So, flip through a textbook to see if you would utilize it in your clinic. These are definitely great resources to have in your hospital, but I don’t keep a spare library at home, as I’m too exhausted to read when I get home after a long day in the veterinary clinic.
  5. Journals Peer reviewed veterinary journals are the best way of staying up to date on the cutting edge research updates that are being released. That said, I just don’t have time to read my print journals anymore. In fact, to help reduce my carbon footprint, I’ve changed to just subscribing to the online version… so I don’t feel badly when I recycle them.

When in doubt, find a clinically relevant, practical source of veterinary continuing education / CPD that you are going to utilize. It’s so important that we continue to love to learn, as it’s the best way for us to keep our skill set and quality of medicine up to date!

About The Author

Justine Lee is the founder and CEO of VETgirl, a subscription-based podcast and webinar service offering RACE-approved, online veterinary continuing education. When not reading journal articles, lecturing internationally, exercising, and working at the clinic,  she’s hiking or fulfilling her inner-foodie. Previously, she was the Associate Director of Veterinary Services at an animal poison control center in Minneapolis (2009-2013) and on faculty at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine(2003-2008).