Professional Self Care and burnout
The Veterinary Profession as with many medical professions has huge levels of stress attached, and if not managed effectively can often lead to Compassion Fatigue which is also commonly known as Burnout.
If a Medical Professional does not practice "self care" this has a flow on effect to not only their staff but also to their clients, commonly affecting the level of service given and in some cases judgement calls.
Vets have a duty of care for not only themselves but for their staff, clients, patients.....
In turn if not managed it can lead to impacts such as:
Staff absentee levels increasing
Loss of returning clients
Negativity in the workplace
Compassion fatigue/burnout
Loss of revenue
Lack of customer and staff satisfaction
These are but a few of the most common symptoms of burn out:
Difficulty falling or staying asleep
Irritability/ occassional outburst of anger
Feelings being overwhelmed
Frightened/startled easily
Isolated
Feelings of just not coping- everything is a major effort
Excessive drinking to combat the above
Feeling of not achieving your life goals
Losing sleep over a client and their family’s traumatic experiences
To see where your levels of stress and possible burnout are sitting currently, try taking the ProQOL test -by Dr.Beth Hudnall Stamm PhD
http://www.proqol.org/uploads/ProQOL_5_English_Self-Score_3-2012.pdf
If you attract high levels of stress then the next step is to manage stress with a SMART plan (self care plan):
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Time based
PFR (Paws for Reflection) can assist you with a SMART Plan by giving you the necessary managing and coping skills.
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Contact Karen: kja02001@bigpond.net.au & mobile 0450 482 321